Chris Gunter

Christopher Ross Gunter (born 21 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a defender.

An attacking full back, he was capable of playing on both flanks but usually played on his preferred right side.

Since 2023, he has been a coach for the Wales national team.

He and his brother Marc support Cardiff City, beginning to follow the club from the age of nine, and he continued to go to away games that did not clash with his own youth team fixtures on supporters' coaches until 2006.

Gunter also holds a BTEC National Diploma in Sports Studies.

Gunter started his career as a striker when he played for local youth sides Durham Colts and Albion Rovers in Newport but switched to playing as a full back at a young age and signed for the Cardiff City youth side at the age of eight.

He signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 August 2006 along with fellow Cardiff academy graduate Darcy Blake.

Primarily a right-sided defender, Gunter made his senior debut for Cardiff on 22 August 2006 against Barnet in the League Cup first round, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–0 loss at Ninian Park.

After being included in the first team squad on several occasions, his league debut came in a 1–0 home loss to Queens Park Rangers on 17 November 2006.

Gunter was praised for his performance by manager Dave Jones, who commented "Chris did the right things, let nobody down, and will only get stronger."

Gunter would later describe his second league appearance, a 4–1 defeat to Hull City, as one of the lowest points of his career.

However, he was able to maintain his place in the squad, competing with Kevin McNaughton and Kerrea Gilbert.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, having made sixteen appearances in all competitions, he became Cardiff's youngest player to win a senior international cap after making his debut, beating the 48 year old club record held by Graham Moore.

He made his full international debut in 2007, earning 109 caps in a 15-year international career.

In March 2007 he won the Football League's Apprentice of the Year award after impressing in the first team squad due to injuries to some regular players and during the summer of 2007, Gunter was the subject of two bids of £500,000 and £1 million from Premier League club Everton.

Both, however, were rejected.

According to reports on 21 December 2007, Cardiff agreed a substantial fee with Tottenham Hotspur and therefore allowed Gunter to enter into talks with the club.

Cardiff also stated that Tottenham had "met their valuation of the player" which had previously been reported at £4 million.

On 22 December Gunter passed a medical at White Hart Lane with a view to a £2 million move.

He joined Cardiff City's youth system and was signed by Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for £4 million in January 2008.

The move was made official on 24 December and he joined the club after the transfer window opened on 1 January 2008.

Gunter made his debut for Spurs on 15 January in an FA Cup third round tie against Reading at the Madejski Stadium, playing the entirety of a 1–0 victory.

Fifteen days later, he made his top-flight debut for Spurs, playing 62 minutes of a goalless draw at Everton before being replaced by Kevin-Prince Boateng.

He made only one more league appearance that season, filling in for Didier Zokora for the final 17 minutes of a 4–1 loss at Birmingham City on 1 March.

He was cup-tied for their win in the 2008 Football League Cup Final.

His second season did not see him become a regular, as he featured in only three league matches, playing the full 90 minutes in none of them.

On 12 March 2009, Gunter moved on loan to Nottingham Forest for the rest of the 2008–09 season.

On 17 July 2009, Tottenham Hotspur accepted a bid of £1.75 million from Nottingham Forest.

Forest completed the signing of Gunter on 20 July on a four-year contract.

He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory at Plymouth Argyle on 27 September 2009.

It was also Gunter's first goal in senior football.

In the match between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace on 23 March 2010, Gunter made his 100th senior club appearance.

Rarely used at Tottenham, he returned to the Championship with Nottingham Forest, initially on loan, before joining Reading in 2012.

He was part of the Wales squad that reached the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 2016, also featuring at Euro 2020 and in the 2022 World Cup squad.

In 2017 he was named Welsh Footballer of the Year.

He beat Neville Southall's record of 92 caps in 2018, and in 2021 became the first Welshman to earn 100 caps.

Gunter was born in Newport to Gerald and Sarah Gunter.

As a youngster, he attended Durham Road Junior School before moving on to St Julian's High School as a teenager.

He made 314 appearances for Reading before being released in 2020 and moving to Charlton Athletic and AFC Wimbledon.

Gunter was a Welsh international since under-17 level and holds the record as the second youngest debutant for the under-21 team.