Career
During his time on the List he was based in Sussex, initially Burgess Hill and later Chailey, near Lewes. Gunn became a Football League linesman in 1974 and two years later made the Supplementary Referees List. After a successful season at that level he was promoted to the full List in 1977.
Over the next few years he made frequent appearances in the then Football League Division One.
In 1986 he was senior linesman to Alan Robinson in the FA Cup Final between Everton and Liverpool. He replaced the retiring Robinson on the Fédération internationale de football association list for the following season (1986-1987).
He took charge of an increasing number of key domestic games. In 1987 he refereed the Associate Members Cup Final between Mansfield and Bristol City.
This was the first professional English Cup Final to be settled by a penalty shoot-out.
Two years later, in April 1989, he handled the Final of the Full Members Cup (a short-lived tournament for sides in the top two divisions) in which Nottingham Forest overcame Everton 4–3. On the international scene, he was referee for a number of club ties but his most notable match was a World Cup qualifier in April 1989 in which Portugal beat Switzerland 3–1. Originally he was due to retire at the end of the 1990-1991 season.
However, in common with a number of high-performing referees at that time, he was granted an extension.
This gave him a few more months at Fédération internationale de football association level before the world body reduced its own retirement age to 45 and, along with many other referees, he had to stand down at the end of 1991. However, he continued to referee in England.
He was chosen for the new Premier League in 1992, and in 1993 took charge of the League Cup Final between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. He was then granted a further domestic extension.
Early in 1994, though, he decided to retire at the end of the season at the age of 51, after a 17-year career on the full List.
He died in 2004. Internet.
