Gary Rowell: Sunderland mourn ‘legendary’ striker after death aged 68 | OneFootball

Sunderland are mourning former striker Gary Rowell, who has died aged 68 after a battle with leukaemia.

The club said in a statement that he passed away on Saturday, 50 years to the day since his Sunderland debut, and that he was surrounded by his sons Chris and Peter, with whom he entered the SAFC Hall of Fame in 2020.

Seaham-born Rowell was spotted while with Seaham Juniors, joined as an apprentice in 1972 and signed his first professional contract in 1974. He made his league debut as a substitute in a 1-0 win over Oxford on December 13, 1975.

He struck a hat-trick in a 4-1 Division Two win at Newcastle in February 1979, then netted another treble in a 3-0 Division One victory over Arsenal in December 1982. Across 12 years at Roker Park he scored 103 goals in 297 appearances.

Capped once by England at under-21 level, he is one of only three post-war Sunderland players to reach 100 goals, alongside Len Shackleton and Kevin Phillips. He left for Norwich in summer 1984 and missed their 1985 League Cup final win over Sunderland through injury.

Rowell later played for Middlesbrough, Brighton, Carlisle and Burnley. After retiring he worked as a financial consultant and radio pundit. The news comes a day before the Black Cats host the Magpies in the first Premier League derby between the clubs since March 2016.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk