Niall Quinn has left Sunderland

kryogen

Just saw it on SSN, didnt look for any details yet, just coming across the bottom that he has left the club with immediate effect.

kryogen

Article on it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/sunderland/9092819/Niall-Quinn-leaves-Sunderland-with-immediate-effect-to-concentrate-on-business-interests-outside-football.html

Niall Quinn leaves Sunderland with immediate effect to concentrate on business interests outside football
Niall Quinn has decided to leave Sunderland after six years to spend more time with his family and concentrate on business interests outside of football.

The former Republic of Ireland international, who as chairman put together the Drumaville consortium which backed Sunderland's return to the Premier League, and then persuaded American tycoon Ellis Short to take over, today announced he is to end his involvement as director of international development.

Quinn stepped aside as Sunderland chairman last year to focus on increasing the club's international profile but is now decided to quit the club with immediate effect.

"I've had the most amazing six years and it gives me a huge sense of pride to see where Sunderland is today," Quinn said.

"Sunderland is in an incredibly fortunate position to have a hugely talented team of people leading the football club right now.

"There is a tremendous amount of energy about the place and the board and the executive management team are a dynamic and committed group, who hold the best interests of the club at the core of all they do.


"Everything is in place for Sunderland to really make a statement, which was always my aim.

Quinn cited bringing in manager Martin O'Neill earlier in the season as "an absolute highlight" and is confident that the Northern Irishman "will harness the immense passion that exists here and take us to new heights".

The former Sunderland striker said he will still get that same "knot" in his stomach before every game but will always get a feeling of pure elation if results continue to go well on the pitch.

Chairman Ellis Short said: "Niall Quinn is and always will be a Sunderland legend. His vision brought me into the club and that vision still inspires what we do.

"His hard work laid down the foundations that we are now building on and the vision and drive he showed both in those early days and indeed in recent times as he focused on our international development, particularly in Africa, should never be underestimated.

"We fully understand his desire to take a back seat now and to concentrate on his own life and interests away from football and he deserves that opportunity."

Good luck to him, have a lot of time for big Quinny!

Father Damo

/Awaits one of the usual suspects to come in lording that Irish barstoolers blah blah blah

He did well, pulled them out of a spiral which could have saw them drop out of league football had it continued.

godtabh

The writing was on the wall when he left as chairman

kryogen

Yeah been kinda waiting for the news since he stepped down/was removed as chairman of the club. Fair play to him for what he did for the club, wish him the best in the future.

ctrl-alt-delete

He is hugely respected in the North East and always will be, has done some really great work at the club and has set a solid foundation for Short to work on.

Have a lot of time for the guy, as I have witnessed him having plenty of time for others on his trips back and forward on Ryanair.

BOHtox

Father Damo wrote: »

/Awaits one of the usual suspects to come in lording that Irish barstoolers blah blah blah

I'm sorry; what?

gustafo

yes fair play to him...an irish legend.

Otacon

Wonder if he could be persuaded to take over the FAI?

_blank_

persuaded by who?

the FAI is a closed shop of cronyism, old boys club and nepotism.

Leiva

Otacon wrote: »

Wonder if he could be persuaded to take over the FAI?

Des wrote: »

persuaded by who?

the FAI is a closed shop of cronyism, old boys club and nepotism.

Absolutely fantastic shout and I would love to see him steer our national football policies , but as DES says never gonna happen with the quango .

_blank_

It's not a quango, it's nothing to do with the government.

kryogen

He apparently wants to focus on his business' and interests outside of football, but I wouldnt mind seeing him take up a prominant position in the FAI either, not going to happen though

Leiva

Des wrote: »

It's not a quango, it's nothing to do with the government.

Quango;quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation

But I suppose since Berties gone there is no more interference from Govt.

Guy:Incognito

Hope he hasnt left to concenrate on Q-Sat. Last time I checked that was not a good product.

dreamers75

/whistles innocently.

Bodhisopha

Niall Quinn's a creep.

_blank_

mother theresa

Paully D

Emotional day to be honest, even though I was expecting it since the day he stepped down as chairman and became an ''international development officer''. It has only really hit home now that it has become official.

To put things into context, he took us over when no-one else wanted anything to do with us, when we were the laughing stock of the country and a complete and utter mess. We had just gone down from the Premier League with a then record low 15 points (thanks to Derby for eventually breaking that :pac:), the squad was a complete and utter joke and the majority of Sunderland fans were pondering life as the next Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday or Charlton.

Then rumours on the forums and local radio started to surface that Quinny and his consortium were going to take over the club and this video from SSN happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBQfJSlTd3w

The negativity started to vanish as we realised maybe, just maybe Quinn could be our saviour. The takeover was completed a couple of weeks later but we had yet to find a manager. No problem for Quinny, he took on the mantel for a few weeks (although he was an awful manager which he'd admit), dealing with the poison in the dressing room etc rather than rushing into an appointment. He hates Roy Keane, Roy Keane hates him, that's no secret despite them publically saying everything is OK with them, but he thought Keane would be the right man for the job and swallowed his pride to appoint him as manager. It worked brilliantly and we were turned from League 1 certainties to Premier League.

Over the following years he oversaw successful survival campaigns in the PL, and kept his dignity when things weren't going well. He gave all of his managers a huge amount of time even when they went on poor runs and always, always backed them when the chips were down. He has done a huge amount for the north-east and was a major player in developing the north east section of the World Cup bid which has improved the area massively. He found Ellis Short who holds the reigns these days and it looks like we are in safe hands.

Now of course he was well paid for his services (as are all PL chairmen), but he took home a salary of about a quarter of what he should have taken. There's no airs and graces about him, he was regular in the local working mans clubs for a few pints at the weekend and would happily chat to any one in the pub, airport, at the stadium etc.

There's talk of renaming one of the stands after him and I really hope it happens. I'd build a statue of the man outside the ground to be honest.

A club legend who takes over a club in dire straits and as chairman leaves with them in 9th place in the Premier League 6 years later. It's a remarkable achievement really.

Credit to all the people who have helped along the way (your Keane's, Spragia's, Bruce's, Ellis Short and Drumaville especially) but none of this would have been possible without Quinny.

I hope his new business venture is a success and he enjoys the extra time with his wife and kids. He certainly deserves it.

Father Damo

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Have a lot of time for the guy, as I have witnessed him having plenty of time for others on his trips back and forward on Ryanair.

*insert Showboating comments*

:pac:

Im surprised with his money he flies Ryanair mind. Not that I think they are as awful as people make out but still.

Pepe LeFrits

Hey Niall, wanna join the Arsenal board? :pac:

stovelid

dreamers75 wrote: »

/whistles innocently.

Well, the article did say he's given up on football.



:pac:

LuckyLloyd

A very intelligent, gracious and committed man. It would be dreamland if he ever got involved in the FAI.

stovelid

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

A very intelligent, gracious and committed man. It would be dreamland if he ever got involved in the FAI.

He's too much of a decent guy to ever get involved in there.

Paully D

http://www.independent.ie/todays-paper/damian-spellman-the-departure-of-a-revered-black-cat-why-sunderland-will-never-forget-niall-quinn-3025101.html

NIALL Quinn enjoys iconic status on Wearside having represented Sunderland with distinction on and off the pitch.

His decision to leave the club after six years as chairman and director of international development will be greeted with sadness by fans, but also gratitude for the work he has done to re-establish the Black Cats in the Barclays Premier League.

PLAYER

Quinn arrived at the Stadium of Light in a £1.3million switch from Manchester City in August 1996 with a cruciate ligament injury still fresh in the memory, but revitalised his career in the north-east.

His partnership with Kevin Phillips proved key to the club's return to the Premier League at the end of the 1998-99 season, 12 months after a memorable, but heartbreaking, play-off final defeat by Charlton.
The pair terrorised top-flight defences to the extent that Phillips struck 30 times in his first season in the big time with Quinn's presence alongside him a major factor.

However, the departure of manager Peter Reid, the man who had brought him to the Stadium of Light, and a niggling back injury ultimately combined to persuade the Irishman to bring his playing career to a close after 220 appearances and 69 goals in a red and white shirt in November 2002.
Quinn's playing career was celebrated with a testimonial against a Republic of Ireland XI on Wearside on a day when the result was largely irrelevant. The proceeds from the game, an estimated £1million, were donated to children's charities on Wearside and in Ireland and India.

MANAGER

Quinn's reign as manager at the Stadium of Light was, by his own admission, mercifully brief.

Kevin Ball had taken over at the helm in the wake of Mick McCarthy's departure in March 2006, and the Irishman and his Drumaville backers inherited a club without a permanent boss when they took over the reins from former chairman Bob Murray weeks later.

Having seen former international team-mate Roy Keane rebuff his initial advances, Quinn stepped into the hot-seat himself, but presided over five successive defeats before, with Keane sitting in the stands at the Stadium of Light following a re-think, a 2-0 victory over West Brom ended his stint on a positive note.

Quinn said in the wake of Keane's appointment: "I realise how hard it is, so perhaps I will be more patient."

CHAIRMAN

While Quinn's on-field contribution was sizeable, it is perhaps his work behind the scenes for which the club's fans will be most grateful.
More than five years in the city had left him with an understanding of both the hunger for success and what was required to achieve it.

Writing in his autobiography long before his return to the club, Quinn said, somewhat prophetically: "I know now the truth of something Charlie Hurley said to me a long time ago: you can leave the area, but you can never leave Sunderland.

"It seeps into you. The people. The landscape. The passion."
The adopted son rode back into town promising a "magic carpet ride", one which took off in spectacular style as Keane secured an unlikely promotion at the first attempt.

Drumaville invested heavily in Quinn's vision, but as the Irish economy went into meltdown and Keane's tenure began to unravel, Quinn knew he had to act once again.

The former Manchester United captain's departure prompted him to ask coach Ricky Sbragia and then Steve Bruce to take over, but perhaps more importantly with the Drumaville consortium unable to continue to bankroll his mission, he tempted Ellis Short to take an initial 30% stake in the club, and then complete a takeover.

In October last year, Quinn, who had only intended to stay in the post for five years, persuaded Short to take a more hands-on role and stood down as chairman to make way for him, accepting an international development role in the process.

That did not stop him from playing a significant part in giving the fans what they had wanted for years in bringing Martin O'Neill to Wearside in December, a triumph which perhaps provides a fitting legacy.

Quinn will be remembered by the club's fans for his commitment, his passion, his ambition but above all, the fact that he was one of them.
It was he who put his hand in his own pocket in March 2007 to pay £8,000 for a fleet of taxis to transport a group of stranded supporters back to Sunderland from Bristol after their flight had been cancelled, and it was he who toured the region's pubs and clubs in an effort to bring stay-away fans back to the stadium.

He leaves having largely achieved what he promised to do and with the gratitude of the thousands who shared his dream.

Kingdom Bhoy

Quinny was a visionary with his ambition passion enthusiasm and drive intelligence made things happen at the SOL. Good Bless you Niall you are a true lengend and will be a big miss on Wearside. Thanks for ALL you have done for SAFC and the city. I wish the SAFC fanzine Seventy3 good luck with their petition for the South Stand to be named after Niall.

http://www.seventy3magazine.co.uk/blog.htm/

irelandspurs

Heard a few rumours that he has bought a few hotels in Ireland with others,one that was mentioned was the hazel hotel in monasterevin,co kildare.Its been empty for awhile now and work men have been in there the past month and is opening in march.

Max Powers

Great complementary write up on Quinninho in Guardian.

The tributes for Niall Quinn following the Irishman's decision to step down from the board at Sunderland on Monday have been profuse, heartfelt and glowing. The club's owner, Ellis Short, anointed the man he succeeded as chairman "a legend", the manager, Martin O'Neill, dubbed him "truly iconic" and "Mr Sunderland" while some fans petitioning the Wearsiders to rename the South Stand at the Stadium of Light in his honour have beatified Quinn as "Saint Niall". In the 16 years since moving to Roker Park he has given service as player, captain, manager, chairman and director, a record of career advancement that can be rivalled only in achievement and veneration by Roy Race. Popularity across the game rarely survives the requirements of tribalism yet remarkably Quinn leaves Sunderland with his esteem not only in tact but enhanced.
When he scored on his league debut for Arsenal at the age of 19 in 1985, he was the epitome of a scrawny, gangly centre-forward who looked as if the traditional diet of sherry and raw eggs had yet to do their work of adding heft to his stature. A year later in George Graham's first season as Arsenal's manager Quinn led the line with a maturity beyond his experience, creating chances for the sprightly Martin Hayes and Perry Groves and the mercurial Charlie Nicholas.
During that breakthrough season when Arsenal won the League Cup his mullet was even more abundant than Chris Waddle's and the denseness of growth at the back made him appear as if he was wearing a Davy Crockett hat made of hair. Despite his impact his emergence was curtailed because Graham believed his sheer presence made the side tactically predictable. "He is brave and workmanlike," his manager said. "But he was such a towering player that too many of our advances were telegraphed." It seemed unfair that he should be jettisoned for the failings of his colleagues, the exceptionally tall player typecast as the equivalent of catnip for team-mates who find one an irresistible target, but the purchase of Alan Smith gave Arsenal more subtle options and for two and a half seasons Quinn became a peripheral figure.
Those lost years were characterised by an uncommon thirst and the type of scrapes in snooker halls and at racecourses that make for anecdote gold in his autobiography. One prize from those days was the battered Jag he won in a bet and, turning up for his first day of training at Manchester City in 1990 when Arsenal finally sold him, his mode of transport immediately endeared him to his new team-mates. He quickly channelled the frustration of having made only 20 league appearances since Smith replaced him in the Arsenal starting XI into a determination to prove he could establish himself as a First Division No9 and his four goals in nine games helped to take City from 18th place on the day he joined in March to the safety of 14th by the season's end.
The next year he scored 20 goals and on the day he reached that landmark against Derby County he gave the Kippax a moment to treasure when he deputised for the red-carded Tony Coton in goal and, in a borrowed shirt that brushed his navel, saved Dean Saunders's penalty. His wholehearted prowess as a forward had already captivated the City fans but he went on to burnish his standing with them with escapades such as this and the clothes he was reduced to on a pre-season tour of Italy in a nightclub after a punch-up with Steve McMahon, which gave rise to the commemoration of his trousers in the song "Niall Quinn's Disco Pants".
His treatment by Alan Ball and Francis Lee during City's 1995-96 season which ended with their relegation after a draw with Liverpool when Ball had thought a point would secure safety and Quinn, who had been substituted, attempted to disabuse his team-mates of that false notion, temporarily soured his affection for the club and he moved to Sunderland with something to prove again. Overcoming injury and another relegation he and Kevin Phillips made a rampant partnership in their first season back in the Premier League, feasting on the crosses supplied by Allan Johnston and Nicky Summerbee to score 44 goals between them.
Even after retirement he could not get the club out of his system and in 2006 he headed the Drumaville consortium that bought out the beleaguered owner Bob Murray. "If you're a Sunderland fan at six, you don't change to Liverpool at 13. It's like the GAA [Gaelic Athletic Association], you're with your club or your county forever," he said. "Somebody else pointed this out to me. Because I am a GAA person first and foremost, that parochialism is probably one of the things that drew me back here. It's like something's got under my skin." For six games he had to sit in as caretaker manager, following the transition made by Jimmy Hill and Dundee United's Jim McLean from dressing room to manager's office to boardroom, before persuading Roy Keane to put their differences aside and take the job.
In five years as chairman he employed his charm and appetite for community and charity work to reconnect the club with its city and leaves it as much a folk hero on Wearside as he is in Ireland. There are no airs to him and he has simply mucked in with whatever task he has taken on. By bringing stability to his beloved club he leaves with many in the game recognising that occasionally some people are not too good to be true.

StephenHendry

a shame that quinny has stepped down from sunderland. would like to see him back in football at some point in the future. best of luck to him.

corcaigh07

off to ride the missus some more, can't blame him for that!

The_Kew_Tour

corcaigh07 wrote: »

off to ride the missus some more, can't blame him for that!

Got better with age too.

Paully D

He can ride mine too if he wants. I'll cook him something to eat and take a few beers out of the fridge for when he's finished.

karma_

Sad to see Niall has left football, football with be a lesser place without him. I know first hand of the mans generosity and he's one of the few real gentlemen the sport had left.

I had hoped when he stepped down as Sunderland chairman there was a chance he would come back to City to assume the mantle for us once more, he's still a City legend and is fondly remembered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFQOoSUbnBs

Inspired substitution

Kingdom Bhoy

Theres 6,600 signed the petition to get the South Stand named after Niall now. Theres also a good piece on the Quinner from a Dublin based SAFC supporter.

http://www.seventy3magazine.co.uk/blog.htm/

dreamers75

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/st-pats-dismiss-quinn-link-3030536.html

1st i heard of this, be mad if he got involved.


Wonder if he could make it work, aware of the irony of him going to pubs and asking people to come to Pats.

Bucko going total football this season, wont win anything but it will look nice and be a nice product.

quarryman

Bodhisopha wrote: »

Niall Quinn's a creep.

wha?

dreamers75

quarryman wrote: »

wha?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IE&hl=en-GB&v=Prep4trYNj4

:pac:

quarryman

dreamers75 wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IE&hl=en-GB&v=Prep4trYNj4

:pac:

ah, knew i was missing something.