Hall of Fame: Marty Quinn

Continuing a weekly series toasting some of the most celebrated names in Cliftonville history, cliftonvillefc.net today delves into the Club’s Hall of Fame to salute the man who achieved impossible dreams as both a player and Manager at Solitude – Marty Quinn.

Scorer of 11 goals in 286 appearances across seven seasons, Quinn – who was inducted to the John McCredy McAlery Hall of Fame in May 2019 – enjoyed a couple of backroom roles at the Club before succeeding Frankie Parkes as boss in October 1994, initially in a caretaker capacity.

Marty Quinn leads the Irish Cup celebrations

His impact was instant and, after assuming the reins on a full-time basis, he duly ended the Reds’ long wait for silverware amid the rather modest surrounds of the Dundonald Ice Bowl, where his team’s victory in the McEwan’s Soccer Sixes in 1995 represented the Club’s first senior honour of any description since that Gold Cup triumph 15 years earlier.

Within 12 months, however, he had delivered the Coca Cola Floodlit Cup and would also reacquaint himself with the Shield in February 1997 before achieving the unthinkable when his serial relegation battlers soared to the Irish League title in the 1997/98 season.

A quick return to scrapping at the wrong end of the table duly followed and Quinn stepped down from his role in October 1999, exactly five years to the day since his appointment.

Being part of the Irish Cup win of 1979 was reason alone for his addition to the Club’s Hall of Fame – and that’s before consideration is even given to his being part of the first ever Cliftonville team to play in Europe – but his tenure as Manager only served to further enhance The Mighty Quinn’s legendary status among supporters of all ages.