Biography
Striker Gary Lund joined Terry Dolan’s Hull City side on loan in August 1992 as the club attempted to bounce back and compete for promotion back to the Second Division. Lund started the first five League games and City began their campaign with four wins and a draw with Lund contributing two goals in wins against Plymouth and Reading. It was therefore a frustration that City were unable to extend the loan and he went back to parent club Notts County – the fact that City failed to win any of their next 11 matches reinforced that sense of loss. It was therefore with considerable joy and relief that City were again able to loan Lund five four months later in late January 1993 with the Tigers now languishing in the bottom half of the table. Gary’s influence was more limited second time around as City won one game against Rotherham – Lund scoring the only goal of the game – drew two more and lost three. Lund returned again to Nottingham at the end of February.
Fast forward two years. City had started the 1994/95 season poorly but six wins and a draw in October and November lifted the Tigers into the top 5 in the League Division 2 table. By late March 1995 City had drifted down to ninth and Gary Lund was again called upon to spark an upturn in form. Despite scoring the winner against Chester in his second start Lund was not able to lift the Tigers sufficiently and the club finished eighth while Lund added two more goals against Wrexham and Crewe. While Lund was often linked with another move to City over the subsequent few years it never transpired.
Gary James Lund was born and raised in Cleethorpes and he came through the youth setup at local side Grimsby Town. He made his Mariners’ debut against Barnsley in September 1983 and scored his debut goal a month later against Brighton. After a spell on the sidelines Lund ended his first season with three goals in two May 1984 games against Blackburn and Oldham. Those goals meant that Lund was a firm part of the Mariners’ first team for the next two years, scoring 17 times in the 1984/85 season, including hattricks in September 1984 against Sheffield United and January 1985 in an FA Cup tie against Notts County. Those goals attracted international attention and his career seemed to be free of upper limits. He added another ten goals in the 1985/86 season and so it was some surprise when in the 1986 close season he dropped down two divisions to find a more regular first team start at Lincoln City, having scored 31 times in 74 appearances for Grimsby, 15 of which were coming off the bench. A fall out with Grimsby manager Mike Lyons was rumoured to be the reason for the transfer.
Lund’s move to Lincoln was not a success, while he made 52 appearances and scored 16 goals Lincoln were relegated out of the Football League in May 1987. In June 1987 Lund joined Notts County, who no doubt recalled the hattrick scored against them by Lund two and a half years earlier. Gary spent the next eight seasons at Meadow Lane, at times a first team regular and at times a bit-part player. In his first season, 1987/88, he netted 21 times – including an April 1988 hattrick against Rotherham – in 52 appearances as the Magpies finished 4th and lost to Third Division play-off semi-final to Walsall. Lund continued to score regularly for Notts County in the next two seasons and at the end of the 1989/90 season they were promoted to the Second Division via a play-off final victory over Tranmere. The Magpies were promoted again in 1990/91 season, reaching the top flight via a play-off final victory over Brighton, but Lund missed most of the second half of the season. County were immediately relegated a year later, Lund playing only 15 times in the 1991/92 season and scoring two top flight goals against Leeds and Oldham.
Lund’s impressive loan spell for Hull City at the start of the 1992/93 season led to his reintroduction to the Magpies first team when he returned in mid-September. After scoring four goals in the Autumn months his form faded and he was out of the side again when he was loaned to City a second time in late January 1993. He again went back into County’s first team when he returned from loan, but his fine goalscoring form from previous seasons was not evident. In 1993/94 season Lund’s form did return, he was ever-present and scored 18 goals as County finished seventh in the second tier and reached the Anglo-Italian Cup Final, which they lost to a Brescia side led by mercurial Romanian Gheorghe Hagi. Lund was once again a peripheral figure during the 1995/96 season – and once again loaned to Hull City – as the Magpies finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the third tier. Lund’s time at Notts County came to an end following that relegation, in eight seasons he made 316 senior appearances and scored 79 goals.
Lund spent the next two seasons at Chesterfield but was rarely used by the League Division 2 side. The last of his 20 appearances for the Spireites came in April 1997, he scored just once for the club. This drew his Football League career to a close in which he scored 133 times in 484 senior appearances – decent numbers.
After a short spell in the non-leagues at Gedling Town Lund hung up his boots and commenced a second career as an estate agent, running his own successful agency in the Nottingham area for the next 30 years.
During his promising days as a youngster at Grimsby Lund attracted the attention of the England under-21 selectors. He won his first under-21 cap against Turkey in November 1984 before adding two more caps against Romania and Turkey, however while some of his team-mates were soon playing for the England senior side Lund ended up at Lincoln and the bottom of the Fourth Division. Ouch.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 13 September 1964, Grimsby
Hull City First Game: 15 August 1992, Stoke City H (Division Two), 27 years, 337 days old
Hull City Final Game: 6 May 1995, Blackpool A (League Division 2), 30 years, 235 days old
Clubs
Grimsby Town (1983-1986), LIncoln City (1986-1987), Notts County (1987-1995), Hull City (1992, loan), Hull City (1993, loan), Hull City (1995, loan), Chesterfield (1995-1997), Gedling Town (1997)
Hull City Record
Career: 22 apps, 6 goals
Gary Lund| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992/93 | 11 (0) | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1994/95 | 11 (0) | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |