Ogden's Cigarettes / Cohen, Weenen & Co. - William Gunn

1890's

William Gunn

Ogden's Cigarettes / Cohen, Weenen & Co.

6 cards

William Gunn was an English cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire from 1880 to 1904 and represented England in 11 Test matches. He also played football as an amateur for Nottingham Forest and Notts County. He signed for Forest some time during the 1880-81 season but only played one game for them. In February 1882 he joined Notts County. He made his debut in an F.A. Cup tie against Sheffield FC. Prior to 1888 games were mostly friendly fixtures interspaced with a variety of cup-ties. Gunn made his Football League debut on 29 September, 1888 in a 9-1 thrashing at Aston Villa. It was his only League appearance of the season. He played twice for England in the inaugural 1883-84 British Home Championship, making his debut against Scotland in Glasgow on 15 March 1884 and two days later scored the last goal when they beat Wales at Wrexham, his last game for England. He is number 113 in the Football Association's Legacy Register. He retired from football in 1893, having made 28 appearances for Notts County, though only 3 of those were League games. He scored 14 goals, just 1 of them in the League.

He was renown for his throw-ins, being able to throw the ball one-hand 'inhuman distances'. Rules for throw-ins were not formalised across the various bodies overseeing football in different areas of the country. In one game in 1882, against a Scottish team, his throws "repeatedly hurtled into Scotland's penalty area from well inside England's own half" and eventually the Football Association were forced to amend and standardize the rule for throw-ins.

The original draft of the Football Association's rules in 1863 read  "when the ball is out of bounds it should be kicked or thrown in straight (perpendicular to the touch line) by the person who should first touch it down." When the rules were eventually published reference the ball being kicked was removed. In 1867 the Sheffield F.A. rules stated that the throw-in be given against the team the that kicked the ball out of play and the award should be a kick-in rather than a throw-in. The F.A.'s rules were amended in 1873, with the throw-in given against the team that kicked the ball out of play. In 1875 and 1876 there were heated debates about the throw-in but nothing changed until 1877 when Clydebank FC's suggestion that a throw-in could go in any direction. There was still no restriction on how the ball could be thrown. In 1882 Glasgow club Third Lanark suggested a change so that ball could be thrown in any direction, but with two hands over the head, as it is today. The proposal was accepted and the rule change became law in 1883. I wonder if the game referred to earlier, that William Gunn played in against a Scottish team, might have been against Third Lanark?

He doesn't feature on any football cards, but is shown on six contemporary cricket cigarette cards, as shown here.

Ogden's Cigarettes - Guinea Gold - C Base

485.  W. Gunn (The Notts County Batsman)

Ogden's Cigarettes - Tabs - General Interest - Series 'A'

146.  W. Gunn (Notts)

Ogden's Cigarettes - Tabs - General Interest Series 'F'

275.  W. Gunn

Ogden's Cigarettes - Tabs - Our Leading Cricketers

Gunn (Notts)

Ogden's Cigarettes - Cricketers & Sportsmen

William Gunn (Notts)

Cohen, Weenen & Co. - Sweet Crop Cigarettes - Celebrities ~ Cricketers, Footballers & Jockeys

W. Gunn (Notts)