Gulliver was born in
Bishop Auckland, County Durham. The following season he had two more loan spells in Division Three, with
Bury and
Scunthorpe United, before he was released by Boro at the end of the season. He signed for
Rushden & Diamonds where he was a first-team regular in central defence in his two seasons with the club. Indeed, he captained the side in his second season, when Rushden were ultimately relegated from
the Football League. In July 2006 he apparently signed for
Hereford United on a
free transfer and appeared in the squad photo. A few days later he returned to Rushden, pending clarification of his status: if a player aged under 24 rejects the offer of a new deal, the club he leaves is entitled to compensation. He returned to Hereford after an agreement was reached between the two clubs. He was mostly named on the bench for Hereford's opening matches of the season, but after a change in formation to three centre-backs he was given a run in the team. He was named Hereford's joint Player of the Month for December, but for the last three months of the season he was usually confined to the bench. He rejoined Rushden at the end of the 2007–08 season. After a move to his local club,
Corby Town of the
Southern League Premier Division, broke down, Gulliver joined league rivals
Oxford City on a short-term deal. He signed for Corby at the end of 2008, and his arrival in a team which had conceded 14 goals in their last five league games prompted a run of 530 minutes without conceding a goal. Appointed captain, Gulliver went on to help the club to promotion to the
Conference North in his first season. ==Honours==