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Bobby Gurney

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Bobby Gurney
Mural of Bobby Gurney in Silksworth
Personal information
Date of birth 13 October 1907
Place of birth Silksworth, County Durham, England
Date of death 14 April 1994(1994-04-14) (aged 86)
Place of death England
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1925 Bishop Auckland
1925–1950 Sunderland 348[1] (205[1])
International career
1935 England 1 (0)
Managerial career
1950–1952 Peterborough United
1952–1957 Darlington
1963–1964 Hartlepools United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bobby Gurney (13 October 1907 – 14 April 1994)[2] was an English footballer who played as a forward. He is the highest goal scorer in the history of Sunderland F.C..

Early years

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Born in Stewart Street, Silksworth, Sunderland, his father Joe was a miner at Silksworth Colliery. His mother, Elizabeth, stayed at home to look after Bobby, his three brothers and one sister. Bobby took up football as a child, playing for his village team. His older brother, Ralph, also played football, as a goalkeeper. All his brothers went into pit jobs after leaving school.

Club career

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Bobby was signed to Sunderland in May 1925, after being spotted by Charlie Buchan while playing for top non-league side Bishop Auckland. He made his debut nearly a year later against West Ham United on 3 April 1926, scoring once in a 3–2 defeat. He would play for the next three seasons alongside a striker who hit at least 35 league goals in each of his four full seasons at Roker Park, Dave Halliday, the most prolific goals to games striker in Sunderland's history.[3]

After Halliday's departure Gurney was regularly the club's top goalscorer, garnering his best tally of 33 goals in the 1930–31 season. Among his career highlights were ten hat-tricks and two four-goal hauls. He was also one of just a handful of Sunderland players to score five times in a match.

Bobby went on to make 388 league appearances for Sunderland, scoring 228 goals, which makes him the club's all-time top scorer. He won a First Division Championship medal in 1936. He scored in a 3–1 win over Preston North End at Wembley in the 1937 FA Cup Final.

International career

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Gurney won one international cap, representing England against Scotland at Hampden Park before 129,693 spectators.

Managerial career

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On retiring from playing he stayed in the game and in 1950 became manager of Midland League side Peterborough United. He was subsequently manager of Darlington, and finally had a short spell as manager of Hartlepool United.

Managerial statistics

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Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Peterborough United England August 1950 May 1952 0 0 0 0 0.00
Darlington England May 1952 October 1957 267 85 123 59 31.8
Hartlepools United England April 1963 January 1964 44 9 25 10 20.5

Honours

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Sunderland

Individual

  • Football League First Division top scorer: 1935–36
  • Sunderland top scorer: 228 goals

References

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  1. ^ a b Bobby Gurney, The Stat Cat
  2. ^ Dykes, Garth & Lamming, Doug (2000). All The Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderand AFC. Sunderland AFC. p. 170. ISBN 1-899538-15-1.
  3. ^ Dave Halliday profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website Archived 26 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
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Awards
Preceded by First Division top scorer
1935–36
Succeeded by