Sean Graham
Legendary Aberdeen and Norwich City goalkeeper Bryan Gunn was interviewed by Inside Futbol’s Sean Graham recently. Gunn is a legend at Carrow Road, and has had an interesting career to say the least!
Being at a club like Aberdeen, it must have been great for the Dons to have had two top keepers but despite being rivals for the number one jersey, were you and Jim Leighton friends off the field?
“Definitely, that was something that was evident, we worked very hard and competitively with each other and against each other and off the field I was very close to Jim’s family, I even used to go round for my dinner once a fortnight, once a month.
It was good competition for me that I had somebody like Jim, who was the Scotland number one keeper at the time and I forced myself into the under-21 squad. At one stage Aberdeen had both national keepers which I suppose it proved what a good scouting network they had because both Jim and I had joined the club as young goalkeepers and we both developed that way.”
Would you say that Jim helped you develop as a keeper?
“We were lucky, certainly in my first season at Aberdeen in that there was a goalkeeper called Marc De Clerk who came over from Holland. In those days, there were no goalkeeping coaches and Marc was slightly older than Jim and I and he introduced some new training techniques which we took on in the future years after that, but we did join in with the crossing and shooting practice and we liked to work ourselves warming up for the first 20 minutes to half an hour before the actual main training session started. But that was in the era before goalkeeping coaches started, so Jim and I used to go away and work each other and as I say it was very competitive and I think that we both got the benefit from that.
Had it been in this day and age, we may have had somebody working and speaking with us about the rights and wrongs that we were doing and that was something that we missed out on at the time, but it is certainly something that didn’t hinder us throughout our careers.”
You may have not been the number one goalkeeper at Aberdeen at the time but you certainly seemed like the number one babysitter, how did that come about?
“That was something that developed when Sir Alex (Ferguson), or Alex as he was at the time, used to look for a babysitter every Saturday night and it always seemed to be me in the early days that got caught!
As soon as the lads heard his voice coming up the stairs after speaking to the press and shouting where were all the younger players? I would be the only standing there with a broom and I was down as number one babysitter.
I probably babysat more than I played for Aberdeen as well but it seemed to stand me in good stead with Sir Alex Ferguson anyway.
I have kept in close contact over the years and obviously when I came down to Norwich he moved to Manchester United and one of my first games at home was against Manchester United. I walked off the pitch with the Man of the Match champagne and a clean sheet and although he was cursing me, he was obviously proud of me and the way that I had performed at that level. He also took a Manchester United side down for my Testimonial in 96 and I suppose that was the biggest babysitting fee that anyone could ever ask for!”
How big an influence was Teddy Scott on your career?
“A massive influence- Teddy expected hard work and dedication both on the training pitch and behind the scenes. He played a huge part in the history of Aberdeen FC and the development of the Youth Team. Every club really wants a man like Teddy to bring out the best in the young players at the club. He is someone I hold in high esteem, who has helped me in my career.”
Was the success at Aberdeen shared by the whole squad?
“I think it was! We had a special bond and togetherness throughout the whole club, even right through to the fans; all top clubs have that bond.
It may have helped that many of us came through the youth ranks together.
Guys like Neale Cooper, Neil Simpson, Eric Black, John Hewitt and I and were blended into the team with the more experienced members of the team like Alex McLeish, Willie Miller and Gordon Strachan.
The club had a very wide scouting network at the time with Bobby Calder picking the best players from the west of Scotland from under the noses of Celtic and Rangers and bringing them north to Aberdeen to share in the success the club had not only in Scotland but in Europe also.
Should you get the credit for sending the Dons on to glory in the Scottish Cup Final v Rangers in 81-82?
“I don’t know if I should take the blame or the credit for that?
When Teddy packed the boots hamper away, big Alex’s boots were not packed so he had to wear a pair of mine, I may not have played in the Cup Final but I can always say a part of me scored in a Scottish Cup Final, not many people can say that!
He actually scored a goal similar to his Cup Final one at our training camp at Cruden Bay!”
After winning the Cup, the Dons went on a European adventure that would lead to the greatest moment in the club’s history, what was that like?
“It was a great experience for me as a young goalkeeper. I had been lucky enough to play in youth tournaments with Scotland going to foreign destinations, but this was the next level going to countries like Romania, Albania, Poland, places you wouldn’t expect to go.
The club had a taste of European action beating Ipswich, the holders of the UEFA Cup, but now they were on a run in the Cup Winners Cup and matches against Bayern Munich were the agenda.
The boys managed a great 0-0 draw in the Olympic Stadium and then beating them 3-2 at Pittodrie was like winning the final itself!
We knew we still had two semi-final matches against Waterschei (a Belgian club dissolved in 1988) to play and even after a 5-1 win in the first leg we still had to do a job in the second leg. Although the lads lost the match 1-0 we still did the job in a professional manner.”
What about the Final and that rain in Sweden?
“I suppose it was a great leveller, the wet conditions on the pitch in Gothenburg meant that Real Madrid could not play their fast, flowing football, but we were a passing side also so who knows what would have happened if we played on a nice dry pitch – the result may have stayed the same!”
At the end of the match Sir Alex landed flat on his face on the dirt, what happened there?
“It was red ash ! As soon as the final whistle went we all wanted to rush out on to the field to congratulate the lads, but unfortunately I crossed Sir Alex as he was running out and managed to trip him up, and unfortunately the rest of the guys ran out and trampled over the top of him!
The next thing I remember was him running towards us with red ash running through his hair and his adidas coat. He was running towards us, I thought to give us a rollicking, but he was running to congratulate Johnny Hewitt for scoring the winning goal!
I always remember him (Sir Alex) spending the first couple of minutes trying to get this red ash and red water away from his face as he was being interviewed!
When Sir Alex brought his Man Utd side to my Testimonial, I had managed to find a few great pictures of the trip and I managed to get one blown up and I presented him to him. It was a magical moment in his career and I believe it still hangs in his snooker room in his house.”
What kind of man and manager was Sir Alex Ferguson?
“He was a great man, there are not enough adjectives used to describe what he does for individuals!
He was given the trust by the families of the younger players who he took to the club and he was like a father and mentor all rolled into one.
Sir Alex has to take a lot of credit for the development of his players not only as footballers but as men. If you look at the number of former players from both Aberdeen and Manchester United who have gone on to become successful managers or coaches, and who have had the Fergie influence in their careers you can see that.”
You did get European experience with the Dons by playing against Gothenburg, how did that come about?
“It was a great experience being involved with the team, and it shows you that you have to be ready for the unexpected.
Jim and I were warming up, and he lost a contact lense and could not see in the floodlights. Jim could not go in goals and I ended up being included in the starting line up. Having been part of the warm up I knew what was expected of me. Unfortunately the game ended in a 2-2 draw and we drew 0-0 away and went out on the away goals rule."
Before moving to Norwich, you could have gone to Rangers, what happened and why did the move fall through?
“Walter Smith was the under-21 manager when I was the goalkeeper and he thought that I could do a job, but this was just before the Graeme Souness revolution and he decided that he needed an experienced keeper. Playing top level football (I had played 25 games for Aberdeen and many under-21 games) I felt that I was building my reputation up, but he ended up signing Chris Woods and that left an opening at Norwich City.
Sir Alex with his many friends and contacts in football, picked up the phone to Ken Brown and recommended me as an able replacement and 20 years on I am still working at the club, so obviously I have got a lot to thank Sir Alex for – pointing me in the right direction and to be able to carve out the career that I have been lucky enough to have.”
How was your time at Carrow road?
“When I left Aberdeen, Sir Alex told me to set my sights high (a top four or top six club), and when I moved to Norwich, the club had just been promoted from Division Two (as it was then )to Division One. We actually finished 5th that season and two seasons later we finished 4th and got to the semi-final of the FA Cup and had finished 3rd also. Sir Alex’s words of wisdom had proved right, I was playing in a team that was playing top six football and would have qualified more times for European football had the English clubs not been serving a five year ban.
In 1992-93 we finished third in the first Premiership after pushing Manchester United all the way, I knew that I had made a fantastic decision to move to Carrow Road. Not only was I playing in the top division in England, but I also played with Scotland during my time there.”
Did your old diet work wonders down there or did Delia put a stop to it?
“The Mars Bars and Golden Wonder crisps are off the agenda!”
You had many highs in your career Bryan, but the lowest point of your life was the passing of your lovely daughter Francesca. After her death an appeal was set up to help people with Leukaemia, how is that doing?
“That is what the “Gunn’s Golden Goals Appeal” is all about.
It has been running for 15 years now and it has closed in on one million pounds.The money that has come in has gone out to different areas to focus on various projects which we felt was right to do, and we are delighted if we have helped people with Leukaemia ( we know that it has already ). That is the aim of the charity, to find a cure and we will keep going until we do find a cure.
People continue to raise money for Gunn’s Golden Goals appeal and support the charity in Francesca’s memory and if we do find a cure that would be the biggest testimony to my daughter that we could ever ask for.”
It must have been tough writing your autobiography ‘ In where it hurts’?
“The book was special in terms of writing and in that it brought up a lot of good memories, and a lot of awkward memories as well. Having written it and having had comments from people who love football, but also who don’t know anything about me and are just book readers was nice!
It is heart warming, as is the fact that it has helped raise money for the charity as well. The more people who buy the book the more money it continues to raise for charity.”
Anyone who reads the book “In Where It Hurts”, will enjoy it, they will laugh, they will cry, but above all they will be giving to the appeal to help in the battle to fight leukaemia (www.charitygiving.co.uk)
This article is dedicated to Francesca Gunn in heaven with the angels but smiling down on Bryan, Susan, Melissa and Angus always.