SAFC Legends Series – Niall Quinn

Born in Dublin in 1966, Niall Quinn began his playing career at Arsenal where he scored 20 goals in 93 games for The Gunners.

Quinn was a typical ‘target man’ and he regularly scored goals for all 3 clubs that he played for.

At the age of 24, he made the move to Manchester City in 1990, and he was a regular during his 6 year spell, scoring 76 goals in 240 matches, in all competitions.

At the age of 30, in 1996 he made the move to Peter Reid’s Sunderland and in his first season, he scored just 2 goals in 12 matches as Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League.

Quinn’s form soon changed in the next season, scoring 15 goals as Sunderland narrowly missed out on promotion in an epic play-off final against Charlton, which ended 4-4 and went to penalties as Sunderland lost 7-6.

The Black Cats were promoted the following season, as his partnership with Kevin Phillips really came to life, as he scored 21 goals and Phillips netted 25 to help secure the title.

Their partnership was feared by many in the Premier League as he scored 14 goals, and he was vital in Kevin Phillips netting 30 and winning the European Golden Boot award.

During that season, Sunderland secured their highest ever Premier League finish as they narrowly missed out on the UEFA Cup places and finished in 7th.

Sunderland replicated this finish the following season, finishing in 7th again with Phillips and Quinn combining to score another 21 goals between them.

Niall Quin. Retired in 2003 after making just 8 appearances as Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League.

Since retiring, in 2006 he became Sunderland Chairman as he bought stakes in the club during the Drumaville take-over.

He also started the Championship season as manager, but he won just 1 game in his first 6, before stepping back and bringing in Roy Keane, who secured Sunderland’s immediate promotion.back to the big time.

Quinneft the club in 2012 and Ellis Short took over as Chairman, and since then he has had stints as a pundit on Sky Sports and in 2020 he was appointed as interim deputy chief executive officer of the Ireland FA before stepping down 8 months later.

Quinn had a good international career too, scoring 21 goals on 92 Caps for Ireland, including a goal in the 1990 World Cup against The Netherlands.