As a player, he played as a midfielder, beginning and ending his career with Bishop Auckland, with spells with Scarborough and Blyth Spartans in between.
[4] At the age of 12, Dunn was involved with the youth team of Burnley for four years, before joining Derby County's academy set-up.
[4] His debut with hometown club Bishop Auckland was in 1971,[1] and he joined Scarborough in 1975 with whom he gained two FA Trophy winners medals, having scored in the 1977 final at Wembley against Dagenham.
[11] However, he did not stay long at Croft Park as he was appointed as manager of Whitby Town in December 1995, steering the Blues to their first-ever promotion from the Northern League in 1997.
[20] In October 2017, Dunn followed Martin Gray to York City as chief scout, and is also heading transfer policy and "assessment of forthcoming opponents".