The Gunn that fires gems
The genius of 'Bryan's Gunn', capturing the funny side of football
Is the phrase national treasure still in use?
If so, Will Powell is one.
Who? Better known as Bryan’s Gunn, and if you don’t know what that is, but have any interest football whatsoever, you’ve got a treat awaiting you. A treasure trove. It’s one of my favourite three things on social media. Nuggets of gold in the dung pile.
Bryan Gunn is a popular Scottish ex-goalkeeper mainly associated with a good Norwich City team in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
Bryan’s Gunn is football footage and punditry chopped up to make hilarious short videos on the same theme. As a work of production the short videos are majestic, not a second or moment wasted. But that’s only part of the genius.
The level of research to find the footage is undoubtedly of the highest quality. And the satire could not be sharper. Editorially these are masterpieces of a genre that didn’t really exist.
Effectively reviewing a good site on social media can is like reviewing a good pop song. Ultimately there’s only so much you can say before just urging people to go listen to the song, and often then flagging up the back catalogue if there’s similar quality to be found there too.
But Will Powell deserves more recognition for the cultish joy he’s brought us many of us over the last few years. This is my small contribution to his fan mail.
There’s a short interview with him on BBC Sounds that gives some fascinating insight into the man behind the Gunn, why he’s using this title, and why he’s doing. It. Delightfully, though it would never have been a deal breaker, Will is exactly how you hoped he'd be. Dry, funny, humble, and doing it for reasons we can get behind.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0h8qb89?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
It started in lockdown with football footage. From revisiting old-fashioned sights like goalkeepers booting it upfield, to quirky things like balls somehow staying in play at corner flags. It progressed to the language of the cliches of football, one of my favourite subjects. Potential banana skin anyone?!
If you typed what I need from football archive into Chat GPT (please don’t, AI is already overplaying its part!) it would be these videos of barely two minutes, with an almost unfeasible amount crammed in by the slick editing.
In the interview Will was asked for his favourite, and said its usually the last one he’s done, until he starts to analyse it and think about that he’d have done differently (for the record they are all perfect to us fans! The example he gave was a beauty. Former Derby county manager Paul Warne’s Disney obsession. This is vintage, pure Bryan’s Gunn.
https://x.com/bryansgunn/status/1720159407676211247?s=46
A recent post, European ‘Knights’, was what stirred me to finally try and pay a little tribute to the content, on behalf of many of us who truly appreciate the laughs – it was pleasing to hear one of the reasons he carries on doing it is messages thanking him for a bit of light amongst the doomscrolling.
https://x.com/bryansgunn/status/1921105624655446404?s=46
While every video is unique, running themes add to the satisfaction, with familiar football faces popping up in the mode we expect. Will perfectly nails how to take the piss gently with affection, these videos delight in the foibles of the ex-pros, managers and players rather than try to belittle them. Wonderfully, many of the ‘contributors’ inadvertently play-up to their reputations.
The mainstay of video is former player and Homes Under the Hammer presenter Dion Dublin – whose clips are always for that programme yet somehow fit the football theme. Digging these out can’t be easy, but this one is an open goal from one of my favourites. Ceiling.
https://x.com/bryansgunn/status/1753706657245209020?s=46
I hear Dublin loves Bryan’s Gunn, and according to Will it’s the Dion factor which took the hits and clicks to the next level, the perfect cameo. It’s just so daft, yet so clever. No wonder tens of thousands of us bloody love it.
The quirks of our football, whether action or punditry, are captured to perfection. And because of that it captures our language and mannerisms too. I haven’t seen much, if anything, with such an acute sense of British mannerisms and culture since Danny Boyle’s majestic 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.
In the BBC interview he says he works in media sales, which I presume is still the case, but like too few on X he is a force for good, recently providing a bespoke video for the Trussell Trust, a wonderful and sadly necessary organisation that has become the main charity my family tries to support (respect and love to Will and people like dear friends Chris and Teresa Green, who give their time to help these people and families in need via their volunteering for Trussell.
I can draw a direct line between Will and Coldwar Steve, the man whose subversive art has held our wretched political leaders to account better than anyone, like a modern day Hogarth or Gilray. As it happens, the early work of Steve, real name Christopher Spencer, a humanitarian from the Midlands, used much of the same daft subversion in his early work, such as football line-ups using cult celebrities. If you aren’t aware of it, Steve is Steve McFadden, Phil from Eastenders of all people, the ‘everyman’ in the art having to process the horrors around him.
This progressed to more vital, current work during the angst of Brexit into the pandemic. Coldwar Steve’s work was getting even darker and ever more relevant. All with a cheap phone app, adding to the extraordinary nature of remarkable quality he’s produced.
Unless I’m mistaken, Chris has stayed on Twitter to take on Elon directly, with much of his incredible work featuring him, though not as much as the orange man in the White House. And as we need some light with the shade – Cilla Black has long been in the Dion Dublin role, with Coldwar Steve’s admirers scrambling to find her hidden in the artwork.
The third beloved account belongs to art expert and author Ruth Millington, someone who has championed Chris’s work. I never fail to take an opportunity to flag up her work, because what do I know about art? (much more than I did, thanks to her). Ruth is effectively holding our hands with what needs or deserves to be seen, from the greats to the up-and-coming artists of her home city Birmingham.
More power to these beacons of X. I hope Will keeps on doing this for as long as possible, and maybe even finds a new outlet for his genius further down the line.
For now, there’s plenty of life still in Bryan.
If you hadn’t heard of Bryan’s Gunn, or even if you are already a fan, please do give to the Trussell Trust if you can. Trussell.org.uk
Lee Wellings is an author, sports journalist and broadcaster for BBC, ITN, Sky News and other global media organisations. His book Football Fables is available now. New online fables and articles are available with a subscription to ‘The Sports Specialist’ and a monthly fee is available should you want to try it first. Lee recommends the annual subscription which is less money per month (around £2).