Niall Quinn following the Premier League game between Aston Villa and Sunderland at Villa Park on 27 September 2008 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Niall John Quinn / Niall Seán Ó Cúinn | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Perrystown, Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Manortown United | |||
| Arsenal | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1983–1990 | Arsenal | 67 | (14) |
| 1990–1996 | Manchester City | 204 | (66) |
| 1996–2002 | Sunderland | 203 | (61) |
| Total | 475 | (141) | |
| National team | |||
| 1986–1989 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 5 | (0) |
| 1986–2002 | Republic of Ireland | 92 | (21) |
| 1990 | Republic of Ireland B | 1 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2006 | Sunderland | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Niall John Quinn (Irish: Niall Seán Ó Cuinn) honorary MBE[1] (born 6 October 1966 in Dublin, Ireland) is a former professional footballer, and the ex-chairman of Sunderland A.F.C.. He still works at the club as an overseas manager. He received 92 caps for the Republic of Ireland national football team, scoring 21 times, and appearing for the national side at one UEFA European Football Championship in 1988 and two FIFA World Cups in 1990 and 2002. He played club football for English Premier League teams Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
Quinn is also heavily involved in the management side of horse racing. In 2003, he received the prestigious Beacon Fellowship Prize for his contribution to medical and children's charities.
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Both Quinn's parents are from Thurles, County Tipperary.[2] His father as well as his mother's brothers played hurling for Tipperary.[2] He now lives in Kildare.[2] He is married to the Irish model, Gillian Quinn, and they have two children Aisling and Michael. Gillian Quinn is a qualified Pilates instructor.[3] She has appeared on Celebrity Bainisteoir.[4]
Niall Quinn played Gaelic football for Robert Emmets GAC in Perrystown, Dublin 12.[5] He also played underage football and hurling for Dublin GAA (he played in the 1983 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Final) and was offered a lucrative contract to play Australian Rules football before settling on a career playing soccer.[6] He played Gaelic football [7] for Co. Kildare club Eadestown after his retirement, winning a junior C county title in 2008.[8]
"I learned my trade at Arsenal, became a footballer at Manchester City, but Sunderland got under my skin. I love Sunderland."
—Niall Quinn, The Autobiography[9]
He played as a youth for Irish club Manortown United, which was based at Greentrees Park, adjacent to Robert Emmets GAC (it not being unusual in Dublin to play two separate codes of football). After an unsuccessful trial at Fulham F.C. he signed professional forms with English club Arsenal in 1983. He scored on his first-team debut against Liverpool in December 1985, against the mighty pairing of Hansen and Lawrenson earning himself the nickname "Mighty Quinn" and made the headlines on the back page of Sunday World Ireland's biggest selling tabloid- the original plate of which is still in his mother's home, but his form for the rest of that season was decidedly patchy.
Prior to being recruited to the Arsenal youth team Quinn played in the 1983 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship final with Dublin.
Quinn took time to find form, but by 1986–87 had become a regular in the Arsenal side, helping them reach and then win the 1987 League Cup final. However, the arrival of fellow centre-forward Alan Smith that summer forced Quinn out of the Arsenal first team, and he became a fringe player. In all he scored 20 goals in 94 matches for the Gunners. He missed out on a league title winner's medal in 1989 after failing to appear in enough games.
Manchester City signed Quinn for £900,000 in March 1990. He scored 22 times in his first full season, and he went on to spend six years at the club, scoring 78 goals in 245 appearances; his time at City was hampered by a cruciate ligament injury in 1993–94.
His most notable game for City was 20 April 1991 when he scored early on and saved a penalty as City beat Derby County 2–1, relegating Derby in the process.[10] City goalkeeper Tony Coton had been sent off before half time for fouling Saunders to concede the penalty. At this time teams rarely, if ever, named goalkeepers as substitutes, so Quinn replaced Coton in goal.
In the 1993 close season, Everton made a bid to sign Quinn and a further bid was made early in the 1993-94 season, but both bids were rejected and Quinn would remain at Maine Road for a further three seasons.[3]
Quinn finished his career with a highly successful spell at Sunderland, joining the north-east club in August 1996 for a club record £1.3million, although he missed six months of his first season due to a knee injury – similar to the one which ruined his World Cup chances three years earlier. Before his injury, he had got off to a fine start to his Sunderland career, finding the net twice on his debut in a 4-1 win at Nottingham Forest. In his absence from September to March, Sunderland struggled and although he was back in action by the end of the season, they were relegated.[11]
His partnership with striker Kevin Phillips, signed in the 1997 close season, was one of the most prolific in the Football League in the late 1990s and helped the club to promotion to the Premiership. Quinn also has the distinction of being the first player to score at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, against Manchester City in 1997. He became a local legend at Sunderland, winning both the Sunderland and North East Sportswriters' Player of the Year awards in 1999 after scoring 21 goals in Sunderland's record-breaking Division One title-winning season. His final appearance for Sunderland came on 19 October 2002 against West Ham.[12]
Quinn made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1986, and went on to earn 92 caps . He retired as his country's all-time top scorer with 21 goals; this record was surpassed by Robbie Keane in October 2004. Quinn played for his country at two World Cups, in 1990 and 2002; he missed the 1994 FIFA World Cup because of injury. Quinn was also a member of the Irish squad that participated in the 1988 European Football Championship playing just once, as a substitute in Ireland's 1–0 win over England in Stuttgart.
Quinn famously scored the equaliser against the Netherlands in the 1990 World Cup which allowed Ireland to progress to the second round of that tournament. In the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup he scored against Cyprus on his 35th birthday to break the then national goalscoring record. In the 2002 tournament, his header set up Robbie Keane's late equaliser against Germany, which was the only goal Germany conceded before the final. In the second-round, with Ireland behind 1-0 to Spain, it was a foul on Quinn that led to Ireland's last-minute penalty, converted by Robbie Keane, which tied the game and brought extra-time, but Ireland lost 3-2 in the resulting penalty-shootout.
Quinn had a testimonial match between Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland in 2002. He donated the entire proceeds to charity, an act for which he received a number of awards, including an honorary MBE. Instead of receiving an appearance fee for the game, all the players received a letter from a sick child. Quinn played for both teams during the match, which raised over £1 million.[13]
Quinn retired in 2003 at the age of 37, taking a brief coaching role at Sunderland. Quinn has also made appearances as a television pundit and commentator for televised matches involving his former teams with Sky Sports.
Quinn released an acclaimed autobiography Niall Quinn – The Autobiography (2002), which was ghostwritten by Tom Humphries and was nominated for a William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. The book is not structured chronologically, but rather in the context of Quinn's career swansong, the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
Heading the Drumaville Consortium of wealthy Irish businessmen, in June 2006 Quinn successfully brokered a deal to buy a controlling stake in Sunderland AFC.[14] In July 2006 Quinn became the chairman and manager of Sunderland.[15] The deal was finalised on July 27, 2006, with sufficient shares being sold to the consortium in order for them to take complete control.
His managerial career did not get off to a good start as the team lost its first four league games in a row. On 22 August Sunderland played Bury away in the Carling Cup where they lost 2–0.[16] After the match Quinn said that a new manager would be appointed by Sunderland's next game. Contrary to opinion, Niall Quinn didn't sack himself. He was in search of a world class name and stepped to one side (to continue in his role as Sunderland chairman) paving the way for Roy Keane to take charge. This was highly unexpected considering the huge rift between the two arising from Keane's infamous ejection from the 2002 World Cup. Keane was appointed manager of the club on 28 August 2006. The appointment matured into a great success, with Sunderland clinching an immediate Premier League comeback as Football League Championship champions. Quinn has also made substantial amounts of money available for buying new players, as he has a declared ambition to establish Sunderland as a top club.
In 2008, he received the James Joyce Award of the Literary & Historical Society in University College Dublin.
On August 8, 2009, while competing in the Phoenix Park car races, Quinn crashed his car and sustained minor injuries.
In 2010, Quinn was named a patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.[17]
In October 2011 Ellis Short, the current club owner, replaced Quinn as chairman of Sunderland. Quinn will now spearhead international development on behalf of the club.[18]
Niall has his own song titled "Niall Quinn's Disco Pants". The song was originally created by Manchester City fans during a night out on a pre-season tour in Penola, Italy. It was 1992. There had been a bust-up with City team-mate Steve McMahon and Quinn had removed his torn and bloodied shirt and was dancing with Rick Holden wearing just a pair of cut-off jeans. He was "hardly aware" that there were a group of hardcore City fans watching and they treated him to "the first performance of the song that will follow me till the end of my career."[9] The chorus went, to the tune of the standard football chant Here We Go:
The song was adopted by Sunderland fans and released as a single by the club's devoted fanzine A Love Supreme (Sunderland).
Club football (all competitions, including substitute appearances)
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1983–84 | Arsenal | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984–85 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1985–86 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| 1986–87 | 35 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 12 | ||
| 1987–88 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | ||
| 1988–89 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 1989–90 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1989–90 | Manchester City | First Division | 9 | 4 | ||||||||
| 1990–91 | 38 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 1991–92 | 35 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 39 | 9 | |||||||||
| 1993–94 | 15 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 1994–95 | 35 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 1995–96 | 32 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 1996–97 | Sunderland | Premier League | 12 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1997–98 | First Division | 35 | 14 | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | 39 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 1999-00 | Premier League | 37 | 14 | |||||||||
| 2000–01 | 34 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | 38 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2002–03 | 8 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | England | 473 | 141 | |||||||||
| Career total | 474 | 141 | ||||||||||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Sunderland | 25 July 2006 | 30 August 2006 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16.67 | |
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bob Murray |
Sunderland chairman 2006–2011 |
Succeeded by Ellis Short |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Kevin Ball (caretaker) |
Sunderland manager 2006 |
Succeeded by Roy Keane |
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