Niall John Quinn

Niall John Quinn (Irish name: Niall Seán Ó Cuinn) (Honorary) MBE (b. 6 October 1966 in Dublin, Ireland) is a former Irish international footballer, and the current chairman of Sunderland AFC. He is also heavily involved in the management side of horse racing. In 2003 Niall received the prestigious Beacon Fellowship Prize for his contribution to medical and children's charities.

Club career

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). 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 Hanson 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 £800,000 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 Dean Saunders penalty as City beat Derby County 2-1, relegating Derby in the process. 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.

Quinn finished his career with a highly successful spell at Sunderland, joining the north-east club in 1996, 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. His partnership with striker Kevin Phillips was one of the most prolific in the Football League 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.