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.

Early years

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

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

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

Managerial career

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

Team Nat From To Record
GWLDWin %
Peterborough United England August 1950 May 1952 00000.00
Darlington England May 1952 October 1957 267851235931.8
Hartlepools United England April 1963 January 1964 449251020.5

Honours

Sunderland

Individual

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

References

  1. 1 2 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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