James Michael Gunning (25 June 1929 – 27 August 1993) was a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

winger. He played in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

for Hibernian and in the English Football League for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and

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. Born in Helensburgh, Gunning was a junior with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but was unable to settle and returned to Scotland in 1946, signing for Hibernian as an amateur.Jeffrey, p65. He then joined the Royal Air Force; a posting in the Highlands allowed Gunning to play Highland League football for

Forres Mechanics Forres Mechanics Football Club are a senior Scottish association football club from the town of Forres, Moray, currently playing in the Highland Football League. They play at the town's Mosset Park. Forres Mechanics are the oldest association f ...

. After leaving the RAF, Gunning returned to Easter Road, but he found first team opportunities very limited as Hibs enjoyed the services of

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. He played once for Hibs in a league match, during the 1950–51 season. Gunning signed for

in November 1950. During three seasons with the club, Gunning made 13 league appearances. He left City in 1953, joining non-league Weymouth but in 1954 returned to the Football League when he joined

, playing ten times in the 1954–55 season. Gunning played once for Mossley in the 1957–58 season.

References

* 1929 births 1993 deaths People from Helensburgh Men's association football wingers Scottish men's footballers Hibernian F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Forres Mechanics F.C. players Footballers from Argyll and Bute Highland Football League players {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1920s-stub