Alan Quinn (born 13 June 1979) is an Irish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is one of nine brothers; both

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

and Keith were on the books at Alan's former club,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

while another brother, Gerry, played for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

, the club which his cousin Joe Redmond also plays for. Quinn also played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, and is the only player to have scored for both teams in the

Steel City derby The Steel City derby, or the Sheffield derby is a local derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams in the city of Sheffield, England. the teams have met 146 times in competitive games, ...

. During his playing career he also played for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

Club career

Quinn played youth football in Dublin for Old Church United,

Manortown United Manortown United F.C. is a football club based in Perrystown, Dublin, Ireland. The club has senior teams competing in the Leinster Senior League and Ireland's cup competitions including the FAI Cup and the FAI Junior Cup. The youth set-up ha ...

and Cherry Orchard.

Sheffield Wednesday

Quinn started his English club career at

, making his first appearance as a substitute during 1997–98 and his first start the following season. After two games in his first two seasons his career took off during 1999–2000 and he eventually played 178 League and Cup games for Wednesday, scoring 17 times. After six games on loan to

, and winning OwlsOnline.com player of the year award for the 2002–03 season he moved to Wednesday's rivals

on a free transfer in 2004 after no clubs came in with a bid for the out of favour player.

Sheffield United

After a couple of substitute appearances he made his full debut for the Blades in a 1–0 away victory at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

on 8 August 2004. He scored his first goal for the club a couple of weeks later in a 2–1 home defeat by

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He was a regular in the starting eleven in his first season at Bramall Lane but in later years Quinn found first team football more difficult to come by. With the Blades promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for the 2006–07 season he could not hold down a regular spot, with his younger brother

being preferred ahead of him for a time. Despite that Quinn made 19 Premier League appearances that season and was rewarded in July 2007 with a contract extension until 2010. Following United's relegation back to the Championship, Alan failed to impress new manager

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

enough to convince him that he was worth a place in the first team and made only a handful of appearances. The club allowed him to leave for free during the January transfer window, meaning Quinn never commanded a transfer fee throughout his career.

Ipswich Town

On 18 January 2008, Quinn signed for

on an emergency loan, after an undisclosed fee was agreed. The transfer was made permanent on 23 January 2008, with Quinn signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. He was allocated the number 25 shirt and scored four minutes into his second appearance for Ipswich against his former team

. He also scored a goal in the

East Anglian Derby The East Anglian derby is a term used to describe football matches held between Norwich City and Ipswich Town, the only fully professional football clubs in the neighbouring East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk respectively. In recent ...

Portman Road Portman Road is a association football, football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one E ...

in April 2009.

Handsworth

In 2014, he signed for Handsworth.

International career

At Youth level he won the 1998 U-18 European Championships with Republic of Ireland in a team that also featured Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne, scoring in the final. the match finished 1–1 AET with Rep. Of Ireland winning on penalties. Quinn won his first senior cap for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on 30 April 2003 and went on to earn 8 caps.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sheffield United *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

runner-up: 2005–06 Individual *

Player of the Year: 2002–03

References

External links

Alan Quinn player profile
at itfc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Alan 1979 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Cherry Orchard F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Handsworth F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Manortown United F.C. players