Sunderland legend Gary Rowell deserved loudest of Roker Roars

Tributes are something of a minefield for football clubs, given every minute of the matchday experience is so carefully choreographed ahead of the game, writes former Sunderland writer Graeme Anderson as remembers his friend and club legend, Gary Rowell.

- by Sport Reporter

The penalty taken by Gary Rowell that completed a thumping 4-1 win over North East rivals Newcastle United at St. James' Park in 1979.

Sunderland Football Club marked the passing of one of its most beloved sons on Sunday. For Gary, it was a minute's applause. And, one last Roker Roar. It's what he would have wanted - he loved nothing more than the sound of a Sunderland crowd making noise.

It's also entirely right that his passing was marked by an appreciation of a life so richly lived, as much as sadness at his leaving us too soon. He was a sunny, happy-go-lucky character with a great sense of humour and a quick wit. For those of us lucky enough to get to know him, he enriched our lives immeasurably.

And, at the Stadium of Light, a fixture that meant more to him than any other, offered the perfect moment for fans to say their own farewell to him at a moment of maximum poignancy. He always did have a great sense of timing. I grew up in a 'Gary Rowell world' long before I met him.

Local hero Rowell was a fan's favourite from the start, and it wasn't difficult to see why.

Sunderland spent the early 1980s in the top flight, but sometimes if felt like the only area where they made much of an impression was in the table of top goalscorers, where Sunderland's Gary Rowell would regularly feature on the same list as the likes of Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish, Steve Archibald and Garth Crooks.