Friday, 9 August 2024

EAST ANGLIAN DERBY AND BRYAN GUNN

On 8th August 2009, Norwich slumped to a huge defeat as Bryan Gunn's Championship return ended in disasterous fashion. The Canaries' opening League One fixture of the 2009/10 season against Colchester United at Carrow Road, was a bit of a disaster! Losing their first League match of the season, at home, is bad enough, but to lose 1-7 at home against traditionally ‘junior’ neighbours is a disaster!! 

Norwich goals: Cody McDonald after 72 mins.                                                                              Colchester goals: Lisbie after 10' and 38', Platt 13 and 19', Fox 22', Perkins 76', Vernon 90'. 

Norwich attempts on target                                    off target

  • Norwich5
  • Colchester10

Colchester attempts on target                                off target

  • Norwich13
  • Colchester5


Norwich manager Bryan Gunn lost his job within a week and was replaced by Colchester manager, Paul Lambert. Norwich later won the return match at Colchester 5-0, taking the League 1 title. It’s funny old game! Gunn played 390 times for Norwich and won 6 caps for Scotland.

Norwich City v Colchester United

Games won:10
Games drawn:7
Games lost:9

DateMatchResultScoreCompetition
23 Sep 1950Colchester United v Norwich CityW2-3Division Three (South)
03 Feb 1951Norwich City v Colchester UnitedD1-1Division Three (South)
23 Aug 1951Colchester United v Norwich CityD1-1Division Three (South)
29 Aug 1951Norwich City v Colchester UnitedW5-2Division Three (South)
26 Dec 1952Norwich City v Colchester UnitedW3-0Division Three (South)
02 May 1953Colchester United v Norwich CityW0-4Division Three (South)
09 Sep 1953Norwich City v Colchester UnitedW2-1Division Three (South)
17 Sep 1953Colchester United v Norwich CityW0-1Division Three (South)
23 Sep 1954Colchester United v Norwich CityL1-0Division Three (South)
29 Sep 1954Norwich City v Colchester UnitedL0-2Division Three (South)
21 Sep 1955Norwich City v Colchester UnitedD1-1Division Three (South)
28 Apr 1956Colchester United v Norwich CityL3-2Division Three (South)
25 Dec 1956Colchester United v Norwich CityD1-1Division Three (South)
26 Dec 1956Norwich City v Colchester UnitedL1-2Division Three (South)
14 Sep 1957Colchester United v Norwich CityW1-2Division Three (South)
18 Jan 1958Norwich City v Colchester UnitedD1-1Division Three (South)
25 Aug 1958Colchester United v Norwich CityL2-1League Division Three
03 Sep 1958Norwich City v Colchester UnitedL1-2League Division Three
03 Oct 1959Norwich City v Colchester UnitedW3-2League Division Three
20 Feb 1960Colchester United v Norwich CityL3-0League Division Three
31 Oct 2006Norwich City v Colchester UnitedD1-1League Championship
31 Mar 2007Colchester United v Norwich CityL3-0League Championship
15 Dec 2007Colchester United v Norwich CityD1-1League Championship
22 Mar 2008Norwich City v Colchester UnitedW5-1League Championship
08 Aug 2009Norwich City v Colchester UnitedL1-7League One
16 Jan 2010Colchester United v Norwich CityW0-5League One

Gunn worked for years behind the scenes at Norwich in a variety of roles, from matchday hosting to coaching. He was appointed temporary manager towards the end of the 2008-9 season and then confirmed as permanent manager during the summer. However, after a 7–1 home defeat in the opening game to local rivals Colchester Utd, he lost his job a week into the 2009-10 football season.

In 1992, Gunn's two-year-old daughter, Francesca, was diagnosed with leukaemia. Norwich City fans were at first astonished by the sight of the goalkeeper running out with a completely shaven head. In the words of author and Norwich supporter, Kevin Baldwin, "Occasionally, the gap between the crowd and the players can cause unfortunate misunderstandings. A few months ago, Gunn shaved his head and we all laughed at him ... I was especially keen ... to shout "Baldy!" ... It now turns out that his daughter was undergoing chemotherapy at the time, which made her hair fall out. He shaved his head to show her that this was nothing to be ashamed of. Sorry, Bryan." When news spread of the reason for Gunn's shaven head, he received "support from the whole of the sporting world and the people of Norfolk".

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

"We had a charmed life ... then Francesca became ill. There was a game in the autumn of '92 ... that we lost 7–1 at Blackburn. The team stayed in a bleak hotel and it rained endlessly. I just wanted to get back home. With hindsight you think, 'Why the bloody hell was I playing?' Very soon afterwards, Francesca died. She was sleeping between us. I realised what was happening and woke Susan. We cradled Francesca and cried."

Francesca died in 1992, aged two. Gunn played a match for Norwich against QPR at Carrow Road just days after his daughter died; he said of it, "When I ran out, I thought, wow, I could feel the whole stadium was with me. I never thought about packing it in." At the end of the season, Gunn won Norwich Player of the Year as the club finished third in the Premiership, its highest ever league position.

Following Francesca's death, Gunn established "Bryan Gunn's Leukaemia Appeal", a fund to raise money to combat the disease. He initially set a target of £10,000, but by 2011 he has raise £1,000,000, under the auspices of The Dove Trust The fund aims to address three issues:

"Equipping local hospitals to be better able to deal with children suffering from the disease on both in-patient and out-patient bases. Providing training for nurses and other staff involved in the care of children with leukaemia over and above that which is available from their employers. To support further research into the causes and cures of leukaemia."

The third of these ambitions has prompted the funding of research into leukaemia at the Norwich-based University of East Anglia. Gunn says:

"The ultimate aim is to find a cure and if that can be done in the laboratory at the University of East Anglia bearing Francesca's name, then it would be the biggest testimony of all. Norwich is now one of the leading centres for leukaemia research and, with links to computer systems around the world, hopefully we'll get there."

In addition to the research, Gunn set up a telephone support line that offers advice and assistance for parents of children who have leukaemia or other forms of cancer. Known as gaps:line (an acronym for Gunn Appeal Parent Support), the service quickly grew. From its initial pilot launch in Norfolk in early 2004, it expanded to cover the "eastern region" by the end of the year, and launched nationally in early 2006. The appeal has also funded other research and support work. He is 60 years old now.
















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