Niall Quinn was recently at a South Shields FC game and he was asked about his time on Wearside which led him to reflect on the good times against the Mags.
GREAT TIME
“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by when I’m back in Ireland when somebody comes up to me and talks about it. I had a fabulous time here, had seven great years as a family and when things go well on the pitch for you it’s good. Besides that, the friends and relationships I have in this region are just the strongest of all. I was in London, I was in Manchester, I was here.”
HEALTHY NORTH EAST
“When I played we had a great team, Newcastle had a great team, Boro had a great team. The whole place was bouncing and it was just a wonderful time. I just love coming back up and fair play to the black and whites, they don’t give me too much stick.”
BIGGEST RIVALRY IN THE COUNTRY
“People love their football and it’s more important to them than in other parts of the country. I always say to people, I played in a London derby, I played in a Manchester derby and I played in the Tyne-Wear derby. What was extraordinary was the amount of households that were involved in the build-up and everybody talking about it. With the greatest respect to Arsenal, Spurs, they are not all talking about the derby for weeks before, but in this place they do and it means so much to them.”
RELIGION
“Like the leaders of industry here used to tell me that if you lost the derby, the amount of people that wouldn’t go into work the next day and face their colleagues on the other side of the floor. That kind of tells you it’s religion and it was lovely to be a part of it, as a player to be a part of what was collectively the most exciting time for Sunderland.”
FAVOURITE GOAL
“Oh gosh, I might get into trouble for that. I think scoring against the Mags in the derby, getting the winner. It was a great cross from Micky Gray and I put one past Shay Given."
