He most notably played in the Premier League for Coventry City, although his previous spells with Portsmouth and Newcastle United brought his best goals tally and his most appearances for any one club.
[4] Quinn began his career as an apprentice with Derby County signing for the East Midlands club upon leaving school in 1978.
Now having proven his worth, Quinn attracted the interest of manager Joe Royle at Second Division Oldham Athletic and joined the club for £53,000 in January 1984.
After scoring 34 goals in 80 Second Division games for Oldham, Quinn joined Portsmouth in March 1986, with manager Alan Ball paying £150,000 for Quinn's services in an attempt to push for promotion to the First Division, but Portsmouth just missed automatic promotion on the final day of the season – just as had happened the previous season.
In April 1986, Quinn was found guilty of drink-driving and received a £100 fine, as well as a one-year driving ban for a similar offence committed in Liverpool during 1985.
[5][6] At the end of Portsmouth's home fixture against West Bromwich Albion on 25 October 1986, Quinn and teammate Paul Wood were both ejected from the ground by police officers after being overheard swearing at a linesman during the second half of the game.
Portsmouth manager John Gregory had demanded £1.5 million for Quinn (an exceptionally large sum for a Second Division player at the time), but Smith had offered just £250,000 and the fee was set by a tribunal.
Quinn scored 20 goals for the Magpies the following season, but the club's league form slumped and they finished down in tenth position.
Bobby Gould paid £250,000 for his services, after a bid from Aston Villa who were in the Premier League title race at the time was rejected by the North East England club.
Quinn had been seriously considered for inclusion into the England squad in early 1993, at a time when Alan Shearer and David Hirst were both unavailable due to injury, but the rumoured international call up from Graham Taylor never materialised.
[citation needed] Quinn then had unproductive loan spells with Plymouth Argyle in November 1994,[16] and Watford in March 1995, before newly appointed manager Ron Atkinson released him on 1 May 1995, the day before his 33rd birthday.
Quinn left the Greek club in February 1996, and applied for the manager's job at Burnley, but it went to Adrian Heath instead, so he decided to retire from football.
[19] Quinn appeared on the BBC's Football Focus as part of their "Cult Heroes" series in 2005, inspired by his relatively prolific two seasons at Highfield Road.