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Allan Gauden Footballer

Fans of Sunderland AFC and Darlington football club will immediately recognize the name Allan Gauden. Allan (64) played for Sunderland during the mid sixties alongside other SAFC football legends including George Herd, Cec Irwin, Jimmy Montgomery and Charlie Hurley.

Allan lived in Langley Park when a Sunderland AFC talent scout spotted him playing for local club Esh Winning. He signed for SAFC during the 1961 - 62 seasons. Allan played part time for 18 months and went full time when he was 19. His first team debut was against the in form Tottenham Hotspurs on 6 October 1965, playing against the likes of the prolific goal scorer Jimmy Greaves and 'hard man' Dave Mackay.

Allan usually played on the right wing but was just as comfortable playing on the left side too. He said, "I was just happy playing anywhere and could play outside left or right".

When asked about his most memorable game for Sunderland, Allan recalls the infamous fifth round of the FA Cup in March 1967 against Leeds. The renowned rivalry between Sunderland and Leeds is well documented and had intensified from the head to head promotion battle of 1963/64. The two teams were well matched and equally determined. It was an epic round. The first game at Roker Park ended 1 - 1 and the return tie at Elland Road also ended 1 - 1 amid a near disaster at the Yorkshire ground when a crush barrier collapsed. A replay was scheduled at Hulls’ Boothferry Park and Leeds were faced with a bottleneck of fixtures including an Inter Cities Fairs Cup game against Bologna.

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Allan scored a crucial equalizer in this high tempo and punishing game when Sunderland were 1 - 0 down.

Unfortunately, Leeds finally won 2 - 1 due to a notoriously dubious penalty decision.

"Football was a very physical game then", said Allan, "but that was a really hard game, I had plenty of marks afterwards to prove it". He still recalls that Billy Bremner apologized to him afterwards for being too rough during the game. The Leeds Captain was well known for ignoring the rules and his uncompromising approach to the game. Allan had stood his ground against Bremner and was amused that Bremner felt that he had to make his apologies.

Allan scored a total of six goals for SAFC during a three-year period in the first team. He went on to become a star player at Darlington from 1968 to 1972, making 128 appearances and scoring 39 goals. Allan then moved to Grimsby Town appearing in 55 games during the 1971 - 73 seasons, scoring 12 goals. The opportunity came to move back to the North East to play for Hartlepool United.

After that, he played for Gillingham and Blyth Spartans. Allan hung up his boots after the 1974 - 75 seasons.

"I just loved playing", said Allan, "I made a lot of good friends during my football days and I really enjoyed every moment". "

Allan, who lives in Witton Gilbert with his wife Eileen, still plays a regular round of golf, and occasionally with some of his old teammates.