59 Facts About Bryan Gunn

Bryan James Gunn was born on 22 December 1963 and is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager.

Bryan Gunn is one of only nine Norwich players to win the club's Player of the Year award twice.

Bryan Gunn was made an inaugural member of Norwich City's Hall of Fame.

Bryan Gunn was a member of the Scotland national football team, making six appearances for his country in the early 1990s.

Bryan Gunn worked for years behind the scenes at Norwich in a variety of roles, from matchday hosting to coaching.

Since the death of his young daughter from leukaemia in 1992, Bryan Gunn has been extensively involved in fundraising to combat the disease and its effects.

Bryan Gunn was born on 22 December 1963 in Thurso, Scotland, "twenty miles from John o'Groats".

Bryan Gunn's parents were James Gunn, a long-distance lorry driver, and Jessie Sinclair, a canteen worker at the Dounreay nuclear power plant; the pair had married despite being on opposite sides of a family feud stretching back to the 16th century.

When Bryan Gunn was four-and-a-half, the family moved to Invergordon, 20 miles from Inverness.

Bryan Gunn attended Park Primary School in the town and joined the school football team.

Future professional Bobby Geddes was favoured over him as first-choice goalkeeper for the team; Bryan Gunn played as an outfield player until Geddes moved on to secondary school.

Bryan Gunn attended secondary school at Invergordon Academy from 1975 to 1980, and gained O Grades in a variety of subjects, including English, maths, history and chemistry.

Bryan Gunn failed his French exam after taking it while "on the road" with Scotland under-15s.

Bryan Gunn later said, "I probably babysat more than I played".

Bryan Gunn ascribes much of his goalkeeping success to the support of Belgian Marc De Clerck, a specialist goalkeeping coach at Aberdeen.

Leighton's presence meant that Bryan Gunn played only 21 games for Aberdeen.

Bryan Gunn made his debut against Hibernian at Pittodrie on 30 October 1982, and went on to keep four clean sheets for the club.

Bryan Gunn received Scottish League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup winner's medals while with Aberdeen, although he was an unused substitute in both finals.

Bryan Gunn made an unexpected appearance in the 1986 European Cup quarter final, against Gothenburg.

Gunn had an excellent match: The Glasgow Herald's match report stated, "Only outstanding work by Willie Miller and Bryan Gunn kept the Swedes at bay".

Bryan Gunn had been bought as a replacement for England international goalkeeper Chris Woods, who had moved to Rangers FC Meanwhile, reserve team keeper Graham Benstead made a series of good performances and Norwich were top of the league.

Bryan Gunn made several saves that kept the Canaries in the match.

Bryan Gunn describes the save he made from Bayern striker Adolfo Valencia as the finest of his career; it has been described as "one of the most outstanding saves by a City goalkeeper".

In November 1989, Bryan Gunn was involved in a controversial incident that attracted significant media attention.

Bryan Gunn saved Lee Dixon's shot, but the ball was not cleared.

That afternoon, Bryan Gunn received a phone call from a Today journalist, who told him that the Arsenal players had said Bryan Gunn had instigated the fight.

Bryan Gunn was censured by The Football Association and warned about his future conduct.

Bryan Gunn made 478 first team appearances for Norwich in all competitions.

Bryan Gunn was voted Norwich City Player of the Year in 1988 and 1993.

Bryan Gunn was unable to save the club from relegation to the First Division, but signed a two-year contract in July 1998.

On his doctors' advice, Bryan Gunn formally retired in March 1999.

Bryan Gunn was part of the squad that won the 1982 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship, but was unavailable to play in the final because Aberdeen had reached the 1982 Scottish Cup Final.

In 1983, Bryan Gunn travelled with the Scotland Under-19s to Mexico for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Bryan Gunn played in all four of Scotland's matches and it was a formative experience, as he faced a variety of challenges in the tournament.

The official attendance at the Azteca Stadium was 86,582, although Bryan Gunn believes the true figure was over 100,000.

Bryan Gunn made six full international appearances for Scotland, conceding 10 goals.

Bryan Gunn was a member of the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but played in none of Scotland's three matches at the tournament, as he was third-choice goalkeeper behind Jim Leighton and Andy Goram.

Bryan Gunn made four appearances for Scotland in 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

Bryan Gunn obtained his coaching certification while still with Aberdeen, in 1983, at Largs.

Bryan Gunn worked in a liaison role in negotiations of possible transfers and loan signings, tasks where he could make use of contacts gained during his playing career.

Later in the season, Bryan Gunn was promoted to head of player recruitment, while retaining his goalkeeping coach role.

Bryan Gunn considered applying for the role on a longer-term basis; he had previously applied without success to be Norwich manager in 1998.

Bryan Gunn was interviewed that afternoon and "by 10.30 am the next day had been appointed manager until the end of the season".

Bryan Gunn appointed a backroom staff of former Norwich colleagues, making Ian Crook first-team coach and John Deehan chief scout.

Bryan Gunn had decided not to continue in the role if Norwich had remained in The Championship, and would have tried to land a job with Norwich that would have allowed more time to be spent with his family.

Bryan Gunn then steered the club through a programme of pre-season friendly matches, in which Norwich was unbeaten.

However, Bryan Gunn was sacked by McNally on 14 August 2009, six days after the defeat by Colchester.

Bryan Gunn was influenced in his management philosophy by former Norwich manager Mike Walker.

Bryan Gunn began work in November 2009 as director of business development for OneStream, part of the Digital Phone Company, based in Great Yarmouth.

Bryan Gunn's role was to "promote their communication and mobile working solutions".

In 2011, Bryan Gunn announced he was leaving OneStream for a new job as a sports agent.

The couple met in Spain, where Susan had a bridal wear company, when Bryan Gunn was there on holiday.

Bryan Gunn proposed within three days of their meeting, and they were married the following year.

Bryan Gunn appeared in an ITV2 celebrity football quiz called "Taking the Pitch" in 1998, alongside singer Fish.

Bryan Gunn said of writing the book, "it brought up a lot of good memories and a lot of awkward memories".

Bryan Gunn describes the period of Francesca's illness and death and how it caused him to reflect on his career:.

Bryan Gunn says this is a habit he began as a youngster, and cannot remember how or why he began to do it.

Bryan Gunn is described as "a legend in Norwich", the result of his long years of service as player and official for the club.

Bryan Gunn is one of just nine players to have twice won Norwich City Player of the Year, in 1988 and 1993, and the only goalkeeper to do so.