Leigh James Gunn (born 24 December 1980) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

–

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward for Fraser Park FC. He has also represented the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

at international level.

Career

Club career

Gunn played in various Australian clubs during his career. Gunn became the top scorer of Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic during the 2002–03 season with 12 goals. He also aspired to play abroad sending resumes to secure trials in clubs in England.

International career

Gunn is eligible to play for the Philippines through his mother who hails from

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

. He contacted then-

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

General Secretary Chris Monfort regarding the prospects of representing the country.

Philippines U23

Gunn had his first called up to the Philippines national U-23 team for the 2000 Summer Olympics preliminary qualifiers from June to July 1999.. The team is mentored by Juan Cutillas who is aware of Gunn's experience in playing in Australia. He made his debut on June 12, 1999 when the Philippines lopsidedly loss to Japan; 0–13. He also scored his first international goal in the qualifiers in the 2–2 draw with Nepal.

Philippines

Shortly after the Olympic qualifiers, Gunn was called up to the full national team for the

1999 Southeast Asian Games The 1999 Southeast Asian Games ( ms, Sukan Asia Tenggara 1999), officially known as the 20th Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. This was the first time Brunei hosted th ...

. He played in two of the Philippines' three matches during the tournament; against

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and Laos. Gunn featured again for the Philippines during the 2000 Tiger Cup. He played in the first two of the Philippines' three matches but was only used as a substitute. It would be his last international appearance until 2006. In 2006, he was called up again by the Philippines, now coached by Aris Caslib, for the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup. Again only playing in two of the Philippines' three fixtures; against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. They failed to advance from the group stage and the two appearances he made would be his last at international level. However, later that year, he would be part of the Philippines squad that was to compete in the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship qualification tournament but was sacked by then coach Aris Caslib one week before the qualifiers for speaking out on the terrible conditions of the training venue and the coaching methods. On 10 May 2011, it was reported that Gunn would be returning to the national team for the start of their preparations for their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification first round tie against Sri Lanka. However he would not play in a full international match, with his last outing with the national team being the scrimmage against the

Central Philippine University The Central Philippine University (also referred to as Central or CPU) is a private research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through a benevolent grant of the American industrialist and philanthropist, John D. Roc ...

's football team in Barotac Nuevo which ended in a 1–1 draw.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Gunn became a coach under the

and is a holder of a FFA C License. He was an assistant coach of the Philippines U23 led by Jim Fraser and team manager Jeff Cheng that played in the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship qualifiers.

Triathlon

After retiring from football, Gunn has shifted focus to triathlon and is aiming to represent the country at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it shares ...

Personal life

Gunn's mother Viol Noval is from

Liloan, Cebu Liloan, officially the Municipality of Liloan ( ceb, Lungsod sa Liloan; tgl, Bayan ng Liloan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 153,197 people. Liloan lies wi ...

. Gunn is married and has three daughters. By 2020, Gunn has settled back in Australia in Sunshine Coast,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and owns Australia Wide GPS & Radio Installations, a GPS communications company.

References

External links

*
Australian Player Database – GU
at OzFootball.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Leigh 1980 births Living people Australian people of Filipino descent Filipino people of Australian descent Soccer players from Sydney Men's association football forwards Filipino men's footballers Philippines men's international footballers Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC players Filipino male triathletes