Marco Gabbiadini

Marco Gabbiadini (born 20 January 1968) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. His career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003, during which he played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.

Playing career York City Gabbiadini was born on 20 January 1968 to an English mother and an Italian father in Nottingham, and was brought up in York, where he was educated at Nunthorpe Grammar School in Southbank.

Darlington Gabbiadini then joined his eighth club Darlington, where he spent a further two-years of his career. Gabbiadini was an immediate success for Darlington and he went on to score more than 50 goals for the club. During his second season, Gabbiadini helped Darlington reach the play-offs. However, after the first semi-final leg against Hartlepool, Gabbiadini was assaulted by a fan. During that season he was also named as Sky Sports Division Three Player of the Season and he would later be named as Darlington's greatest ever player. Gabbiadini left the club in June 2000 after Darlington were beaten in the Division Three playoff final.

Northampton Town During his first season at Northampton, Gabbiadini established himself in the first team and played in all of their league teams and scored a memorable goal against Cardiff City at Ninian Park where he managed to score from the halfway line. However, he only managed to score six league goals. During the next two seasons for Northampton, injuries stalled Gabbiadini's progress and he would find it more difficult to establish himself as a regular first team player. He also found himself often used as a midfield rather than as a striker. At the end of Gabbiadini's third season his contract was not renewed despite him scoring 14 goals and finishing as Northampton's top scorer. Gabbiadini participated in over 100 league and cup games for Northampton and scored over 30 goals.

Hartlepool United and retirement Gabbiadini's availability alerted his former club, Darlington, who offered him a contract and even let him train with them. However, Gabbiadini decided to sign for archrivals Hartlepool United instead. Gabbiadini's signing was initially met with discontent as a Hartlepool fan had previously assaulted him and he was considered an enemy of the club. However, Gabbiadini won the fans over by scoring seven goals in 12 starts and six substitute appearances. His final two goals were in Hartlepool's 4−0 FA Cup victory over Whitby Town. Gabbiadini then suffered knee injuries and was advised by doctors not to continue playing and was then denied to play against his old club Sunderland in Hartlepool's FA Cup match. Gabbiadini announced his retirement in January 2004, after making over 750 appearances in all competitions.

International career Gabbiadini represented England U21 in the 1989 Toulon Tournament, which was won by France, his first appearance came in a 3−2 loss against eventual finalists Bulgaria on 5 June 1989, his second coming in another loss, this time 2−0 to the USA team in the third place play-off game on 11 June 1989. Gabbiadini would go on to represent the England B squad. The game was played at Roker Park on 24 April 1990 against Czechoslovakia. England won the game 2−0.

Life after football

After retiring, Gabbiadini and his wife ran an award-winning restored Victorian hotel in York. He runs a sports management company based called Quantum Sport which represents professional footballers, international cricketers and rugby players. Since August 2009, Gabbiadini has co-presented Total Sport on BBC Newcastle with Simon Pryde and John Anderson.

Career statistics

Honours Sunderland Third Division: 1987–88

Individual PFA Team of the Year: 1999–2000 Third Division

News articles Knee problem forces Marco to hang up boots, Northern Echo Career Retrospective: Marco Gabbiadini, PoolsOnline.tk