Quinn, Francis

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Fullname: Francis Quinn
aka: Frankie Quinn, Frank Quinn
Born: 12 September 1926
Died: 18 October 2008
Birthplace: Saltcoats
Signed: 30 Nov 1946
Left: 1948 (free); Aug 1948 (to Dundee Utd)
Position: Outside-Right
Debut: Celtic 2-0 Partick Thistle, League, 22 Mar 1947
Internationals: none

Biog

Francis ‘Frankie’ Quinn was a Saltcoats born outside-right (winger), described as “a sparkling graceful and effective winger“.

A welder at Ardrossan shipyard, Quinn signed for the Bhoys in November 1946 after impressing in the junior game with Saltcoats Victoria. He made a scoring debut as he netted once in a 2-0 defeat of Partick Thistle in a league match at Parkhead on 22nd March 1947, but probably this was the highlight of his time for the club, but Celtic were abject in this era.

He made a total of six League & Cup appearances for Celtic – with two goals to his name – before being released by the club in 1948. This was at the end of the season (1947-48) when Celtic had just thankfully escaped relegation.

His record wasn’t necessarily poor either. In the league, Celtic won three out of the five games, and drew one. In the Glasgow Charity Cup at the end of season 1946-47, he played in the run of matches to the final, and scored the vital goal that got Celtic a draw v Third Lanark in the semi-finals (Celtic went through on corners 6-1). Celtic sadly lost to Rangers 1-0 in the final.

His last game was the first game of the next season, as Celtic again lost to Rangers, this time in the League Cup 2-0.

Frankie Quinn went on to sign for Dundee United in 1948 where he established himself as a firm favourite. He had actually been looking to revert to being a junior when Dundee Utd stepped in and asked him to trials. He scored a hat-trick on the day he signed, and the rest as they say is history.

At Dundee Utd, he was a free-running, hard-shooting winger (partnered by another ex-Celt Kinnaird Ouchterlonie), and is recorded to have scored around 109 goals in six seasons in 200 games, which is a phenomenal statistic for a winger at any level.

It was said about Frankie Quinn later in his career:

“He delighted to have three of four opponents round him and to beat them with a few deft moves. How he squeezed himself through a group of players and still held the ball I don’t know… on his day… the most entertaining player in the country.” (Peter McKay, 24 July 1954).

To rub salt into the wounds for Celtic, he was part of Dundee Utd’s then unrated Division B (tier two) side that defeated Celtic in the first round of the Scottish Cup in 1949, in which Quinn’s “devastating crosses… brought disaster to his old club”, and he created the first two goals in a 4-3 defeat of Celtic.

He is remembered very fondly as one of Dundee United’s ‘Famous Five’ combination of Quinn, Grant, McKay, Dunsmore and Cruickshank (formations in those days were W-M or 2-3-5 formations).

Losing Frankie Quinn appears to be another big error that Celtic made during the 1940s, and there were so many poor decisions both at board and coaching level, but this appears high up. As Celtic were bereft of scorers at the time and were almost relegated at the end of the 1947-48 season (in which he only played one game in), it doesn’t help matters.

If he’d have played more games in that miserable season of 1947-48, then there is a case that Celtic could have done better. We should at least be thankful that he was not lost to the senior game, and moved to Dundee Utd to have a good career, which we should respect.

He later moved to Hamilton, Cowdenbeath and Stranraer, hanging up his boots in 1957. Notably, he had an excellent scoring record wherever he went, which again makes you question why Celtic let him go when they did.

He passed away in October 2008, and was posthumously inducted into the Dundee United Hall of Fame in 2016.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

Pictures

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Source: http://www.cowdenbeathfc.com/index.php?act=viewPlayer&productId=435

Frank Quinn (Forward 1955-57) – The slightly built Frank Quinn was in fact a robust, speedy winger with a flair for scoring goals. He started his senior career at Parkhead and played 5 times for Celtic in season 1946/47. In 1948, he was released by Celtic and joined Dundee Utd. For the next 6 years he was a mainstay of the United attack scoring 90 goals in 157 League appearances. In 1954, Frank was freed by Dundee United and signed for Hamilton. Frank’s spell with Hamilton was brief. Cowdenbeath then stepped in to sign Frank at the start of season 1955/56. The hard-shooting Quinn had the occasional off-day but when on form was a regular marksman for Cowden. His dribbling was incredible helped by the fact that he wore two left boots. In 1955/56 he was top scorer at Central Park and his goals took Cowden to the brink of promotion in 1956/57 before a late slump produced a3rd place finish. In 2 seasons, Frank had notched 46 goals (he had a liking for scoring against his previous clubs and notched hat-tricks against both Dundee Utd and Hamilton). Frank then ended his career with Stranraer.