Niall Quinn

Where is Niall Quinn now?

Former Premier League striker Niall Quinn hung up his boots in 2002 after six successful years playing for Sunderland.

Starting his career with Arsenal in 1983 he went onto make over 550 first team appearances and scoring 163 goals for just three clubs winning the League Cup with the Gunners and the First Division title with Sunderland.

He was also an important member of the Republic of Ireland national side winning 92 caps and representing them at the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cup finals as well as the 1988 European Championships.

Embed from Getty Images

Upon retiring from playing, Quinn spent time coaching at Sunderland on a part-time basis and released his autobiography to much criticial acclaim

In 2006, he fronted a consortium of wealthy Irish investors which bought a controlling stake in Sunderland and was made manager and chairman of the club. Relinquishing his coaching duties after only six games to concentrate on his chairman role, he stayed for five years before moving aside when Ellis Short took over.

After a brief spell as Sunderland’s Director of International Development he left the club to spend more time with his family and concentrate on his other business interests including a satellite broadband company.

In May 2016, Quinn set up a new initiative called Catch A Falling Star which aims to educate athletes in their psychological well-being before they retire and attempt to combat potential depression. The initiative is a project close to his heart as he personally suffered from depression upon retiring from playing.

Away from his coaching and business interests, Quinn worked for Sky Sports as a pundit and co-commentator on their Premier League coverage for many years but left in 2017.

In January 2020 he was appointed interim deputy chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland but stepped down after eight months stating that he didn’t want the job on a permanent basis.

In October 2022 graduated from Dublin City University with a masters degree in history fulfilling a 40-year promise to his mother after leaving school at 16-years-old.

Back to Manchester City / Sunderland



#One2Eleven

Niall Quinn was a guest on Sky Sports programme The Fantasy Football Club in 2014 where he picked the eleven best players he had ever played with in their #One2Eleven section of the show.

Niall Quinn One2ElevenGK – Tony Coton – a great goalkeeper who I played with at Manchester City. Many say that the reason he was never an England regular was down to his bad boy image early in his career.

CB – Steve Bould – hard as nails player who was also a very cute defender. He came up to Sunderland and taught the club how to prepare, how to defend and how to go out on the field as a unit.

RB – Terry Phelan – he was fantastic – we used to call him the Tasmanian Devil as he used to whip up and down the line.

CB – Paul Lake – I could have put him in any position to be honest. A fantastic footballer who never recovered from a bad knee injury. The old timers at the club said that he was the new Colin Bell which tells you how good he was.

LB – Michael Gray – had a real engine and could work up and down. He had a great relationship on the left with Allan Johnston. He was a left back but all he wanted to do was get forward.

CM – David Rocastle – although by the time he arrived at City his career was going downwards after his knee injury he still oozed class. A great tragedy that he left us so young.

CM – Peter Reid – Reidy led by example, driving the team on, standing up to the nasty 6ft 4 lads on the other team and giving it to the referee.He led by example and I learnt a lot from him.

CM – Lee Clark – we really missed him when the club let him go for disciplinary reasons. He was the backup to what myself and Kevin Phillips were doing.

RW – Nicky Summerbee – could put the ball on a sixpence and was the best striker of the ball from open play I have ever seen.

Striker – Kevin Phillips – Super Kev added five years onto my career and they were my five best years.

LWAllan Johnston – he hit it off with Mickey Gray on the left and they just clicked. Teams couldn’t stop the pair when they were playing together.


Niall Quinn: Premier League Statistics

NationalityIrish
PositionForward
Appearances250
Goals59
Yellow Cards26
Red Cards1
Premier League Teams Played forManchester City, Sunderland

Statistics courtesy of www.premierleague.com

Last Updated on 28 October 2022 by Admin