Hall of Fame: Marty Quinn

Marty Quinn was inducted to the John McCredy McAlery Hall of Fame in May 2019.

As well as making a colossal contribution to Cliftonville’s successes as a non-nonsense central defender in the late 1970s and early 80s – when the Irish Cup, County Antrim Shield and Gold Cup all took pride of place at Solitude – Quinn would guide the Reds to the Irish Premier League title during an historic spell as Manager in the mid-to-late 90s.

Scorer of 11 goals in 286 appearances across seven seasons as a player with Cliftonville, Quinn enjoyed a couple of backroom roles at the Club before succeeding Frankie Parkes as boss in October 1994, initially on a caretaker basis.

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, but his tenure as Manager only served to further enhance The Mighty Quinn’s legendary status among supporters of all ages.