Queen’s Park travel to face Alloa Athletic in one of biggest Third Division games of the season this weekend however, for many fans of The Spiders, the biggest event of the season takes place next weekend. The club's Social Club has been sold out as fans, players and officials of the Hampden side get together to mark the decade of service that Tony Quinn has given the club.
The 30-year-old joined Queen’s from the Under-21 side of Junior outfit Kirkintilloch Rob Roy in 2001 and he has gone on to recover from two broken legs in quick succession and a host of other niggles to play in 276 games, notching 24 goals.
Quinn’s status as a hero to fans of the Third Division side will probably grow further when they discover that the profit from his Dinner will not be going to him to compensate him for a decade of unpaid service, as he is donating the proceeds to Marie Curie Cancer Research.
Former referee, Willie Young, former team-mate, Jonny Whelan, and former boss, Billy Stark, are providing the tributes at the Dinner and such is the high esteem that Quinn is held in, it was easy to find people from all areas of Queen's to speak highly of him.
Quinn’s first Head Coach at Hampden was John McCormack and he said: “When Tony first came about the club, he was an apprentice plumber with Glasgow City Council and he had to manage training around those demands.
“I had played him in Dundee's reserve team for a few games when I was in charge there, so bringing him to Hampden from Rob Roy was an easy decision to make. He was strong and athletic with an eye for goal and more importantly, he always had a really good positive manner.”
McCormack added: “To stay with the one club since then is highly commendable and it has been a good marriage. Queen’s Park have had good service from him and they have been good to him as they looked after him well when he suffered bad injuries.
“He put himself about the park for me but he was always a nice guy on the pitch. I have never heard a bad word about him. It is great that a player, who is quite a big unassuming guy but is good with the coaching staff and his fellow players, is being recognised in this way.”
Scotland Under-21 Manager Billy Stark, Quinn’s second Head Coach at Queen’s Park, said: “Stalwart is a word that gets banded about a lot but Tony is the genuine article. He combines his plumbing job and playing football with great commitment.
“He was a great player to have at the club as he could play one or two positions and pop up with the odd goal as well. He enjoys playing at Queen’s and was a big part of the camaraderie when I was there. He was never that tempted to play at professional level, he was a player who just wanted to play football.”
Stark continued: “He was just coming back after his first leg break when I went there and then he broke it again really quickly which was a horrible thing to happen. He just got on with things in terms of his comeback, there were no histrionics and no fuss.”
After coming back, Quinn played his part as Queen’s Park were promoted in at the end of season2006/07 with Stark saying: “He was a big part of that great squad and I am delighted that he is having this well deserved night. There are fewer and fewer of these events in football nowadays but Queen’s Park have had two in recent times with Ross Caven and Richard Sinclair being rewarded. That shows that you can get some players who can have a long career at a club because they enjoy it and everything that goes along with it.”
The donation to Marie-Curie is no surprise to Stark who said: “That just sums the guy up. A hard working boy from Carntyne that has not taken anything from football financially but has given a lot back.”
Current Head Coach, Gardner Speirs, said: “Tony is very similar to our club captain Richard Sinclair in that he epitomises what Queen’s Park is all about. Like Richard he has had the opportunity to leave but he has shown us loyalty.
“It sounds gushing to say it but he is very respected here and is a guy that all the players look up to.”
Speirs has used Quinn frequently this season when he has been fit because of what he brings to his side as the Hampden chief explained: “Tony has a presence about him on the park and we always feel better when he is in the team. He is not a player I knew much about before I came here four years ago but I have got to know him well.
“I have played him in midfield, played him upfront and played him in-between midfield and upfront. Wherever he is asked to play, he gives you one hundred percent and he is the same in training where he helps keep our standards and intensity high.”
Speirs added: “He does that all despite suffering more injuries than any other player I know but he just keeps bouncing back and is a great example to everyone at the club.”
Club captain and long time team-mate, Richard Sinclair, said: “Big ‘Quinno’ is a fantastic guy on and off the pitch who I regard as a real gentleman and a true colleague. He had two leg breaks early on in his career here and came back from that to play with a fantastic attitude which is great.
“He is a great character about the dressing room where he has always been a joker. If there are any practical jokes happening then he is usually involved but I do not want to say what these jokes involve all the same.”
Sinclair added: “I am proud to have him as a team-mate and last season in a game against Albion Rovers, he typified what he brings to this club. They are local rivals and were winning 1-0 when he popped up with two injury time goals to win that game. That victory set us up for a run of wins that helped us get into the Play-Offs. He dug us out of a hole that night.
“I have been through promotions and cup runs with him and he is always geeing people up as he is a big character in our squad.”
The pair have had one disagreement with Sinclair saying: “We played Celtic in the Scottish Cup in 2009 at Parkhead and just before we walked out, he asked me for the armband as he was a Celtic fan when he was younger.
“He wanted to lead us out at Celtic Park to fulfil a childhood dream but I told him to beat it all the same.”
Quinn almost has veteran status at the club which makes Sinclair chuckle as he said: “To be playing at 31 is not that unique but after the injuries he has had, it is a great feat. He and I are the butt of the jokes from the rest of the squad as they are only in their early 20s.”
The age gap was seen recently when Quinn ran from his own half to beat Montrose’s offside trap and score an injury time goal at Hampden despite a posse of Gable Endie defenders chasing him with Sinclair saying: “After the game, Tony said that the only thing that was missing was the Benny Hill music. All the youngsters in the team just looked at him blankly as they did not know what he was talking about.”
Sinclair finished by saying: “I can’t speak highly enough of Tony and I remain glad that he has not been lured away by the temptation of becoming a paid professional.”
Club President, Alan Hutchison, said: “Tony is one of the longest serving amateur players in the game and a guy that will always give you one hundred percent effort and one hundred percent honesty. That honesty stretches to the rare occasion he does not play well. He admits it and just gets on with things.
“Tony and Richard Sinclair encompass the spirit and ethos of this great club and we have been lucky to have the two of them here over the past decade.”
Hutchison added: “He showed great determination to get himself back fit after two broken legs in quick succession and other injuries. Sometimes you think that he will not be back and then he fights his way back again to the first team.
“He does that quietly as he is a very, very modest, honest and delightful guy. It is no surprise to me that his Dinner is sold out. We obviously have to treat Testimonials differently as we are an amateur club but it is no surprise to me that he is handing over the proceeds to Marie Curie.”
Like Sinclair, Hutchison remembers Quinn at his best in the January 2011 game against Albion Rovers as he explained: “He played that night with a troublesome hip injury and we snatched victory in a game where we had been outplayed. He helped the team that night and we then went on a long unbeaten run and owe a lot of that to the spirit Tony showed that night.”
Finally, Queen’s Park Supporters Association chief, Keith McAllister, paid tribute to Quinn when he said: “He is probably the epitome of the sort of guy we want to be playing for Queen’s Park. He simply just wants to be playing football and he has done that through injury and done that on occasion straight from his work.
“The fans really like him as he wants to play football and he wants to play football at this club. His level of commitment is high despite a number of injury problems that he has struggled to shake off. He has been in and out of the team as a result but he is not the type of guy that will say, well that’s it I am off.”
Quinn’s recent return after a broken rib pleased McAllister who said: “He is now back in the first team and scoring goals and that is great. He is a favourite at Queen’s Park because he is a player that puts everything into the game for no financial reward.
“It costs him money to play football as he is in demand as a plumber and he gives that up for three nights a week and on a Saturday for us. He can travel up to Peterhead and Elgin and maybe just be on the bench but playing for Queen’s Park is more important.”
Quinn’s fine form for the club in season 2009/10 was recognised when he picked up their Player of the Season Award with McAllister saying: “It is no surprise that he won that season as he was great for us and it completed a two year period when he was virtually a man amongst boys. Richard Sinclair missed spells through injury and the great side that Billy Stark put together that saw us promoted had been broken up with the likes of Stuart Kettlewell, Alan Trouten and Paul Paton moving up to the First Division.
“There was a huge gap experience but Tony stayed and helped the youngsters along. He stepped up fantastically and ran the midfield for us during that time. He deservedly won the Player of the Year and also the Supporters Bus Player of the Year Awards for his performances in away games in a canter.”
Quinn joins a select group in being recognised with a Dinner and McAllister said: “Only Ross Caven and Richard Sinclair have been around long enough to be recognised this way in the past two decades. Players do not normally stay here that long as they do not get paid.
“Sometimes they get the chance to go full-time or get a step-up to a bigger part-time club. That step-up can sometimes even mean less time being spent on football than a Queen’s Park player does due to the geographical nature of the Third Division or only having two training nights but Tony has remained.”
That loyalty is now being rewarded with McAllister who said: “It is just a small way to say thank you. We can’t do a Testimonial Match and give him lots of money and we wouldn’t do it anyway because of our amateur beliefs, but we are delighted that any profits are going to Marie Curie - a mark of the guy.
“We are delighted that his mum, dad and girlfriend are coming along to the Dinner as they have supported him fantastically throughout his time.”
As well as being a top guy, McAllister admires Quinn the player as he said: “Tony has great worth on the pitch and the rest of the players grow when he is on the pitch. We do not have a great physical presence in our team but when Tony is there, we are stronger.
“He sorts things out on the pitch in a nice way. All in all, a great guy.”
.png){kind=logo}
