ON THIS DAY 21ST AUGUST
WORDS: John Coyle
Mark Hawthorne (second from right, back row)
This day in 1979 saw the birth of MARK HAWTHORNE in Sunderland. The young defender was only 18 when he made his league debut for Rovers on 28th December 1997 at Brisbane Road against Leyton Orient.
In October 1965 he moved on to Bradford Park Avenue where he played alongside the prolific Kevin Hector. His final league club was Hartlepool United, having signed in February 1967 by the club’s then manager, Brian Clough.
Hawthorne had the traumatic experience of playing in a team that lost 0-8, Rovers’ biggest league defeat in what was a miserable season. He went on to make eight appearances, one coming in a 1-0 win over Hull City. He later played for Grantham Town.
Albert Broadbent’s record for Rovers was 231 appearances and 43 goals. In his overall professional career, he made 533 appearances and scored 107 goals. He died in 2006, aged 72.
A more notable career was enjoyed by a player born on 20th August 1934, ALBERT BROADBENT. Broadbent was a talented, if at times mercurial, inside-forward who started his career in 1953 with Notts County, before moving on to Sheffield Wednesday (where he won a Division Two Championship medal) and Rotherham United. He joined Rovers in July 1959 and enjoyed his best season for the Belle Vue club in 1960/61, playing in every league game and scoring 13 goals. In November 1961 he was transferred to Lincoln City, but he re-joined Rovers two years later, playing alongside the likes of Colin Booth, Alfie Hale and the returning Alick Jeffrey.
Possibly the most memorable game played by Rovers on this day came in 1965, when they opened their Division Four campaign against Lincoln City. Rovers were expected to do well and a crowd of 11,566 was not to be disappointed. Graham Ricketts, Laurie Sheffield (on his debut) and Alick Jeffrey had Rovers 3-0 up at the interval and Sheffield added a second in the second half for a 4-0 victory. Rovers ended the season as Champions of Division Four.
Albert Broadbent
Nine years ago, on this day in 2012, Rovers enjoyed a 2-1 win over Bury, with Kyle Bennett and Chris Brown scoring. Again, Rovers went on to be champions, this time of League One. Maybe a win on this day is a good omen.
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