Gary Rowell

Gary Rowell (6 June 1957 – 13 December 2025) was an English footballer, most notably with Sunderland, and later a local newspaper columnist in north east England.

Career Born in Sunderland and raised in Seaham, he left school and joined Sunderland as an apprentice in 1972. His professional career was split (1976–84) between playing as a striker for two seasons (albeit often coming from deep) but mainly playing in midfield. He scored 103 goals for The Rokerites in all competitions, surpassing the previous record post-war goalscorer, Len Shackleton, who had scored 101 goals. Rowell's record stood until it in turn was beaten by Kevin Phillips in the early 21st century.

Gary was a talented player who many supporters felt was destined to become 'fully' capped by England. Unfortunately, his career was severely disrupted by a serious knee injury that he sustained during a game against Leyton Orient (in which he had already scored the winning goal) during March 1979. Following a lengthy recovery, Rowell continued to score goals in the First Division at a healthy strike-rate, but he always looked likely to struggle to maintain full fitness for the whole of any season.

Sunderland manager Len Ashurst forced Rowell out of Roker Park as part of a huge rebuilding plan in 1984, part of the slide which would ultimately take them to the third tier of English football for the first time in the club's history. Rowell moved to Norwich City in the summer of 1984,