Obituary: Joe Kinnear, footballer

Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Sunderland at St James' Park on February 1, 2009 in Newcastle, England. Photo: Getty Images

Irish footballer Joe Kinnear won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup as a player with Tottenham Hotspur, before going on to Wimbledon and Newcastle in English football’s top flight. A tenacious defender, he made 196 appearances for Spurs before moving to Brighton, for whom he turned out 16 times before retiring. The 26-cap Irish international began his managerial career in the UAE and India, before briefly taking control of Doncaster Rovers. Dismissed after the club was taken over, Kinnear became the reserves coach at Wimbledon before ascending to the top job and steering the club to its highest ever league finish, sixth in the Premier League in 1993-94. He stepped down in 1999 after suffering a heart attack just before a league match, but restored to health he went on to manage Luton, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United before retiring in 2015. In 2021 it was announced that Kinnear had been suffering vascular dementia since 2016.

He died on April 7 aged 77. — Agencies