John Quinn was born in St. Helens on 30th May 1938 and played for St. Theresa’s FC in Sutton Manor before signing for St. Helens Town at the same time as John Connelly in 1956. An outside left or half-back, he played a number of games for Town before moving to Lancashire Combination rivals Prescot Cables and it was from Hope Street that he signed professional for Sheffield Wednesday on 29th April 1959.

Quinn went on to make his debut for Wednesday against Luton Town on 26th September 1959 and he scored 20 goals in 174 league games for the Hillsborough club. He toured with the Army XI in 1962 and appeared at no. 11 for Wednesday in the FA Cup Final against Everton in 1966, when the Owls lost 3-2 after going two goals up. He was transferred to neighbours Rotherham United in November 1967, then managed by Tommy Docherty, where he was appointed captain. He scored 7 goals in 114 league games during a 5-year spell at Millmoor, before taking up the player-coach position at Halifax Town in July 1972. When George Mulhall resigned in September 1974, Quinn became caretaker manager and was appointed full manager until Alan Ball Senior took over in February 1976. By the time he retired from league football, he had played 92 times (1 goal) for Halifax.

On leaving The Shay, John played for Worksop Town and also opened a sportswear business in the shadows of Hillsborough, which he ran successfully for many years. He also set up “Johnny Quinn’s All Stars” which played charity football games raising large sums of money for various causes up to three years ago. Ex-players such as Emlyn Hughes and Mel Sterland turned out on several occasions.