One of Darlington’s best ever players, Marco Gabbiadini, has agreed to play in the MarathonBet #NonLeagueChallenge Legends game on Sunday 29^th July.

Marco was a prolific scorer in two seasons for Quakers scoring 53 times, most of them top quality. Darlo fans from that era will always remember his ability to score goals out of nothing, and it was a great pity that his efforts weren't rewarded with a win in the play offs at Wembley in 2000.

Marco started his career at York City in 1984, and scored 18 times in 71 games for them before moving to Sunderland. He helped them win two promotions in three seasons and scored 87 goals for them before he was transferred to Crystal Palace.

He then moved on to Derby County, helping them win promotion to the Premiership with 68 goals in total, before he moved on to Panioios in Greece.

Brief spells at Stoke and York followed, before Darlington manager David Hodgson snapped him up.

Here he is in action against Hartlepool in our 2-0 derby win in 1998.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=bmU9TyYnufE

He left us after the play off defeat at Wembley in 2000, and went to Northampton for three seasons – scoring 30 goals there – before finishing his career at Hartlepool in 2004. He scored a total of 276 goals in 791 games in his career.

Marco now works as a pundit on BBC Radio Newcastle.

Tickets for the game are available here:

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/dfcsg

The squads look like this at the moment:

The Marathon Bet Legends (managed by Sir Geoff Hurst)

Richard Dunne

Chris Waddle

Kieron Dyer

Wayne Bridge

Danny Mills

Julio Arca

George Boateng

Luke Young

Alan Stubbs

Yakubu

Marco Gabbiadini

The Darlo Legends:

Craig Liddle

Robbie Painter

Amar Purewal

Liam Hatch

Steve Foster

Ian Miller

Alan White

Tommy Wright

Graeme Armstrong

Leon Scott

Chris Moore

Peter Jameson

Chris Senior

Micky Cummins

Martin Smith

Jamie Chandler

Plus two fans who successfully bid for places:

Michael Barrass

Michael Matthews