Stephen Jude Quinn (born 1 April 1986) is an Irish 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and y ...

. He has also represented the Republic of Ireland national team. He started his career with

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

club

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origina ...

before moving to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

in 2005. Quinn made over 200 appearances for the Blades, being their player of the season in 2011 and being in the Football League One PFA Team of the Year 2011–12. In 2012, he moved to Hull City and was a part of the team that won promotion back to the Premier League. Quinn also started the

2014 FA Cup Final The 2014 FA Cup Final was an association football match contested by Premier League clubs Arsenal and Hull City at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 17 May 2014. It was the 133rd FA Cup final overall and the showpiece match of English foot ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He is known for his set piece taking.

Club career

St Patrick's Athletic

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Quinn came through the youth set up of

in the

. He made his senior debut in a 2–1 loss to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

on the 23rd of April 2004, which also proved to be his only senior appearance for the club.

Sheffield United

Stephen Quinn SUFC Jon Candy Owned Image

Quinn signed for Sheffield United in 2005 and he made his first team debut for the Blades in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

on 20 September 2005. Quinn spent some of the 2005–06 season on loan with

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

respectively, becoming a fan favourite at ''The Millers'' where his performances helped them to avoid relegation. Quinn made his Premiership debut for the Blades against

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 ...

, and could have almost scored within the first 40 seconds of the game. In his second appearance, a match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall family of file and graver manufacturers. ...

, he did score his first goal for the club. Quinn ended the season by winning the young player of the season award and was rewarded with a new contract. Sheffield United warded off interest allegedly from numerous

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

clubs during the summer 2011 transfer window, with Quinn being made aware of an offer – rejected by Sheffield United – from Blackpool (who also signed

Daniel Bogdanović Daniel Bogdanović (born 26 March 1980) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker and coach for Għajnsielem F.C. in the Gozo Football League. Born in Libya, he represented the Malta national team. Club career Bogdanović spent s ...

) by his agent. By 9 April 2012, Quinn provided more assists (14) than any other player in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. He also scored four goals in the 2011–12 season.

Hull City

Quinn joined Championship club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee on 31 August 2012. It was later revealed that Hull City would pay Sheffield United £2,000 per game for his first 50 games, plus a further £100,000 if the Tigers were promoted to 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 1 September 2012 at the KC Stadium against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

, great work from

Jay Simpson Jay-Alistaire Frederick Simpson (born 1 December 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Welling United. A product of the Arsenal Academy, he never played a league game for Arsenal, spending most of ...

on the right edge saw him pull the ball back for Quinn, who marked his home debut with a simple finish past Ádám Bogdán from close range. Quinn enjoyed a highly successful first season in East Yorkshire, ending the campaign by winning Hull's Players' Player of the Season award as the Tigers were promoted to the Premier League under new manager

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising school ...

. On 13 April 2014, he scored Hull's fourth goal in their 5–3

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

semi-final win over

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. On 17 May 2014 he started in the

against

. On 4 May 2015, Quinn scored for Hull City in a 1–3 defeat to

at the KC Stadium.

Reading

On 30 June 2015, Quinn signed a three-year contract with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

after his deal with Hull City expired. Quinn scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

on 30 April 2016. Reading announced on 11 May 2018 that Quinn would leave the club at the end of his contract.

Burton Albion

On 22 August 2018, Quinn joined

club

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

on a short-term deal until January 2019. On 15 January 2021, Quinn joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

Mansfield Town

After having finished the season with Mansfield Town on loan, Quinn joined the club on a one-year permanent deal on 14 June 2021. In June 2022, having missed out on promotion in the 2022 play-off Final, Quinn signed a new one-year contract at the club.

International career

FIFA WC-qualification 2014 - Austria vs Ireland 2013-09-10 - Stephen Quinn 02

Quinn was called up by the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

for the first time as part of the senior squad to face

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

qualifier at the Serravalle Stadium on 4 February 2007. He made his U21 international debut in the 1–0 loss against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Venlo Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...

on 27 March. Quinn scored his first international goal in a 3–2 victory against Sweden U-21 in October 2007. Quinn won his first senior cap on 2 June 2013 when the

beat

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

4–0. He would also go on to win a second cap against

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and European Champions

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. On 7 September 2014 in

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his pla ...

's first competitive game in charge of Ireland, Quinn started his first competitive game against Georgia alongside

Glenn Whelan Glenn David Whelan (born 13 January 1984) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bristol Rovers. He has represented the Republic of Ireland national football team. Whelan started his career at Manchester ...

and James McCarthy in midfield. Ireland won the game 2–1 thanks to a last minute winner by

Aiden McGeady Aiden John McGeady (born 4 April 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Hibernian. Born in Scotland, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team from 2004 until 2017. He started his c ...

. Quinn admitted after the game that there was a "weight lifted off his shoulders" after making his competitive debut. Quinn started in a 1–1 draw against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Quinn was criticised in the media for the German goal for standing off and allowing

Toni Kroos Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Kroos plays mainly as a central midfielder, but has also been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in his career. He is kn ...

the time to shoot and score.

Personal life

Stephen Quinn is the younger brother of former

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

and

midfielder

Alan Quinn Alan Quinn (born 13 June 1979 in Dublin) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is one of nine brothers; both Stephen and Keith were on the books at Alan's former club, Sheffield United while another brother ...

and the older brother of former fellow Sheffield United midfielder Keith Quinn. His cousin Joe Redmond is also a professional footballer. He is nicknamed ''Mini Quinny'' in reference to older brother Alan.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Hull City *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

runner-up: 2013–14 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2011–12 League One * Sheffield United Player of the Year:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

References

External links

*
Ireland profile
at Soccerscene {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Stephen 1986 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football midfielders St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Reading F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2016 players People from Clondalkin Sportspeople from South Dublin (county) FA Cup final players