Gabbiadini was born on 20 January 1968 to an English mother and an Italian father in Nottingham, and was brought up in York,[4] where he was educated at Nunthorpe Grammar School in Southbank.
[4] He became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for York City at the age of 18 in an Associate Members' Cup victory against Darlington in November 1986.
He would quickly establish himself as a key player and a crowd favourite for Sunderland by scoring on a regular basis, and is known in Wearside folklore as part of The G-Force thanks to the partnership he struck up with Eric Gates.
In his first season at the club Gabbiadini scored 21 goals in 35 league appearances to help fire Sunderland to the Third Division championship.
However his disciplinary record was brought to light as he received his first red card in an FA Cup replay defeat to Oxford United.
Despite missing 11 games through suspension Gabbiadini finished as Sunderland's top scorer, notching 18 goals in 36 league appearances as well as 5 in 8 cup matches.
His final appearance in a red and white shirt would come four days later in a 2−1 defeat to Grimsby Town at Roker Park on 21 September 1991 in front of a crowd of 16,535.
[citation needed] In total Gabbiadini made 185 appearances for Sunderland scoring 87 times, an average of a goal every 2.13 games.
[citation needed] Shortly after the start of the 1991–92 season, Gabbiadini was sold to Crystal Palace for a club record transfer fee of £1.8 million.
In a bid to mount a serious promotion challenge, Derby County invested heavily in players around the period of Gabbiadini's arrival.
Gabbiadini's first full season at the Baseball Ground, saw him featuring up-front alongside fellow million pound strikers Paul Kitson and Tommy Johnson, signings from Leicester City and Notts County, respectively.
[citation needed] In order to survive relegation Derby sought to bring in new players and Gabbiadini found his first team opportunities limited and he was also hampered by knee injuries.
[citation needed] Gabbiadini then decided to move abroad and signed for Greek side Panionios on a one-year contract.
[8] Gabbiadini's signing was initially met with discontent as a Hartlepool fan had previously assaulted him and he was considered an enemy of the club.