
Quinn was the first of the Ancell Babes to make their debut, a pint sized inside-right, he had been provisionally signed by manager Bobby Ancell in December 1955 after the player impressed both he and Director James Collins when they seen him in action for Bridgeton Waverley vs St Roch’s, Pat would make his first team bow in unusual circumstances as he was a substitute in a friendly match against Preston North End, a game which was to mark the official opening of the clubs new floodlighting system.
The night before Motherwell were to play their first fixture under the newly installed floodlight system Bobby Ancell advised Pat “You turn up tomorrow night for the Preston match, you’re down as a substitute. ”
“It was the time before the regular use of substitutes had arrived, we could only use them in friendlies. They nominated me for the floodlit game with Preston. I was petrified. There I was sitting on the bench in voluminous track suit – It could have housed another couple of subs – when Billy Reid was injured, Mr Ancell gave me the nod and I was on! I was so excited. I was told I must have covered every blade of grass that night. Unfortunately we lost 3-2, but playing against Tommy Doherty and Tom Finney was a great experience.” – Pat Quinn
He made his league debut for Motherwell in a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Kilmarnock with his first goal coming only a matter of weeks later in a 1-1 draw versus Aberdeen.
Pat was arguably the linchpin of the talented ‘Ancell Babes’ side, he possessed a terrific footballing brain as he could deliver pin point passing spraying the ball around the pitch with relevant ease and possessed a terrific first touch, rather than relying on power and pace. In his early career at Fir Park he still had to complete his National Service, he would go on to represent the Army on many occasions, the 1958/59 Official Club Handbook noted that on one particular fixture the Army torpedoed the Navy 8-1. When the 1959/60 season came round, Pat had completed his National Service which allowed him to now concentrate his football career.
Quinn enjoyed many highs at Motherwell, he scored four times in the 9-1 hammering of Falkirk in a League Cup tie (the ‘Well led an astonishing 9-0 at half time in a game that marked the opening of the new Main Stand), he also netted three times in the 7-0 thrashing of Leeds United and he played a key role in the 5-2 Scottish Cup win at Rangers. Pat was capped 4 times by Scotland and 6 times by the Scottish League, he made his debut in the 9-3 debacle against England at Wembley in 1961.
Having taken in the European Cup Final at Hampden between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt he realised the importance of set pieces, he was noted for ability with penalty kicks rarely missing when the chance presented itself, furthermore his dead ball wizardry gave the young side the advantage over many sides of the era. Quinn won the Motherwell Supports Player of the Year Award at the end of the 1960/61 season.
In November 1962 he moved to England and he scored on his Blackpool debut in a 3-1 win over Bolton Wanderers. A year later he came back north of the border with Walter Galbraith’s Hibernian side, then he moved on to East Fife and with the Bayview outfit he was to be player/assistant manager. Pat later took up coaching roles at Partick Thistle, Hibernian, Motherwell and Hamilton Accies.
Name: | Patrick Quinn |
Height: | 5′ 5″ |
Weight: | 10st |
Date of Birth: | 26th April 1936 |
Place of Birth: | Glasgow |
Position: | Inside Forward |
Nationality: | Scottish |
Football Career:
Bridgeton Waverly | – | 1955 |
Motherwell | 1955 | 1963 |
Blackpool | 1963 | 1964 |
Hibernian | 1963 | 1969 |
East Fife | 1969 | 1971 |
Well Career:
Apps | Goals | |
League:
|
196 | 86 |
Scottish Cup:
|
16 | 7 |
League Cup:
|
39 | 26 |
Other:
|
0 | 0 |
Total:
|
251 | 119 |