Thomas James Quinn (11 August 1908 – 11 November 1969) was a leading

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er of the 1920s and 1930s, playing for

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

and

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

. Born in

Birkenhead, South Australia Birkenhead is a north-western suburb of Adelaide 14 km from the CBD, on the Lefevre Peninsula, in South Australia, and lies within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is adjacent to Peterhead, Exeter and Glanville. It is bounded to the ...

, the son of former Port Adelaide captain John Quinn, Sr. and the older brother of dual

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willi ...

list

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surname) * Bob (dog), a dog that received the Dickin Medal for bravery in World War II * Bob t ...

, Quinn showed aptitude for football from a young age, and standing 170 cm tall and built like a tank, Quinn made his

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL) debut for Port as a rover in 1928. Quinn immediately made his mark, becoming a key member of the 1928 Port premiership team. Quinn played 59 matches for Port in three seasons plus six for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

before finding himself unemployed in the wake of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Quinn had attracted interest from

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) clubs at the

1930 Adelaide Carnival The 1930 Adelaide Carnival was the seventh edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian football interstate competition. It was held from 30 July to 9 August and was the second carnival to be hosted by the South Australia c ...

with his performances for South Australia, and when Geelong offered Quinn employment with the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, a club sponsor, as a machine operator, Quinn leapt at the opportunity and transferred to Geelong for the

1931 VFL season The 1931 VFL season was the 35th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 2 May to 10 October, comprising an 18-matc ...

. Gaining the nickname "Maggie" for his Port Adelaide heritage, Quinn immediately proved a success in the VFL, being a key player in Geelong's 1931 premiership team and became a firm favorite with Geelong fans. Quinn won Geelong's best and fairest awards in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

and

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

and was appointed club vice-captain for the 1937 season, captaining Geelong for seven matches when captain

Reg Hickey Reginald Joseph Hickey (27 March 1906 – 13 December 1973) was an Australian rules footballer who was a player, the captain, the captain-coach, and the non-playing coach for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) be ...

was injured. Quinn capped off 1937 with a best on ground performance in Geelong's 1937 Grand Final win, gaining 31 possessions and six marks in a performance considered "completely error free". Quinn retired early in the

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

season after having been dropped to the reserves. He had played 168 games for Geelong, kicking 169 goals. In

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

Quinn was appointed coach of Geelong but was sacked from the position at the end of the

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

season after failing to raise Geelong above 7th place.Stephens, R. (1996) ''The Road to Kardinia: the Story of the Geelong Football Club'', Publishing Pty. Ltd: Sydney. In 2001 Quinn was selected as an Emergency in Geelong's official 'Team of the Century'.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Tommy 1908 births 1969 deaths Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players Geelong Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Carji Greeves Medal winners Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian people of Irish descent VFL/AFL premiership players