Early Life
Gunn was born on 22 December 1963 in Thurso, Scotland, "ten miles from John o’Groats". His 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. James was an amateur sportsman, playing football on the right wing for local team Invergordon F.C. and winning medals at highland games events.
The Gunn family home in Thurso was a farm, and the young Bryan would often pester the farmhands to play football with him. They would use a turnip if no ball was available. By the age of four he was keen on goalkeeping; he was fearless of injury and enjoyed diving on the ball. When Bryan was four-and-a-half, the family moved to Invergordon, 20 miles from Inverness. He 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; Gunn played as an outfield player until Geddes moved on to secondary school.
Gunn attended secondary school at Invergordon Academy from 1975 to 1980, and gained O Levels in a variety of subjects, including English, maths, history and chemistry. He failed his French exam after taking it while "on the road" with Scotland under-15s. At the age of 13, he was invited to play for the under-15 Invergordon F.C. team by one of his school teachers, who managed the team. The team was beaten 9–0 in Gunn's debut, but his subsequent performances attracted the attention of national selectors, and he joined the Scotland under-15 squad around the same time he signed for Aberdeen at age 14.
Read more about this topic: Bryan Gunn
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“I taught school in the early days of my manhood and I think I know something about mothers. There is a thread of aspiration that runs strong in them. It is the fiber that has formed the most unselfish creatures who inhabit this earth. They want three things only; for their children to be fed, to be healthy, and to make the most of themselves.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“In ‘70 he married again, and I having, voluntarily, assumed the legal guilt of breaking my marriage contract, do cheerfully accept the legal penalty—a life of celibacy—bringing no charge against him who was my husband, save that he was not much better than the average man.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)