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 ...

, 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 of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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

Dave Bassett David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. During his career he has managed Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Leicester City ...

, who promoted Quinn to the first team squad. He made his debut, along with youth teammate Danny Boxall, in the last league game of the season in 1996, at home against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

. Palace made the play-offs and, due to injuries in the first team, Quinn was in the starting line up to face

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

in the semi-final, which Crystal Palace won. Palace were through to the play-off 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 north-west Londo ...

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

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. Palace lost and were forced to carry on in the First Division 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, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and ...

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

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

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 the current manager of Yokohama F. Marinos. As a player, he represented the Australia national team at international level winning 46 caps and scor ...

Later career

After spells with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

and several non-league clubs (most recently

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The cl ...

and Welling United) he signed with Cray Wanderers 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 parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the tradition ...

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 premierleague.com
Rob Quinn
at fai.ie {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Rob 1976 births Living people Footballers from Sidcup English footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers 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