Robert John Quinn (born 8 November 1976) is a 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 ...

, and current youth team coach. He played as midfielder, predominantly in the centre, but also played at centre back. He represented the Republic of Ireland under-21s and Republic of Ireland B team.

Career

Crystal Palace

Quinn began his career at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, where he came through their youth ranks. Whilst he was learning his trade in the Palace youth team, he was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and led the team every week to win the Southeast Counties League. His hard work at youth level was recognised by Crystal Palace's manager

Dave Bassett David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. Bassett won a total of seven promotions and is one of a select number of managers who took charge of over 1,000 matches. After a playi ...

, who promoted Quinn to the first team squad. He made his debut, along with youth teammate

Danny Boxall Daniel James Boxall (born 24 August 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right back for Brentford, Bristol Rovers, Oldham Athletic and Crystal Palace. After two seasons in Ireland with Dublin City, he returned to ...

, in the last league game of the season in 1996, at home against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. Palace made the playoffs and, due to injuries in the first team, Quinn was in the starting lineup to face

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the semi-final, which Crystal Palace won. Palace were through to the playoff final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, and due to players still being injured list Quinn was picked to start against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. Palace lost and were forced to carry on in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

for the 1996–97 season, where Quinn was a regular in the team, making 24 appearances and scoring two goals. Later on that season, Bassett left and

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, Coppell was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed, technical ability and work rate. He won domestic honours with ...

was brought in, with Quinn falling down the pecking order. Quinn made his first and only appearance in 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 ...

on 27 September 1997 in a home match against Bolton, coming on as a substitute after 72 minutes for

Kevin Muscat Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and he is the currently head coach of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port. As a player, he played as a defender, and represented the Australia n ...

Later career

After spells with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

and several non-league clubs (most recently

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

and

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

) he signed with

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional association football, football club based in Chislehurst, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St ...

for their inaugural season in the Isthmian Premier League for 2009–10. Quinn joined Kent League side

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

as a player-coach for the 2010–11 season.

Coaching career

, Quinn is a coach at Crystal Palace, with responsibility for the under-18 side, having previously coached the under-16s.

References

External links

* *
Rob Quinn
at fai.ie {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Rob 1976 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Bexley People from Sidcup English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Crystal Palace F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Welling United F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players Sevenoaks Town F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players National League (English football) players English people of Irish descent Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff