Signed for Celtic by Willie Maley from junior club Smithston Albion in 1900, Quinn took several seasons to make his mark, playing at outside- then inside-left before being moved to centre. Like so many players of the time and since, he was a coal miner.
He scored 216 competitive goals in 331 appearances – 187 in the league (273 appearances) and 29 cup goals in 58 appearances, 7 or 8 of those goals in finals (1904, 08, 09, & 1911). He won six successive championship and five Scottish Cup medals with Celtic and was capped eleven times for Scotland, scoring seven times, including four out of five goals v Ireland in 1908. His strike rate of 0.65 – almost two goals every three games – is surpassed among Celtic goalscorers only by Jimmy McGrory, Henrik Larsson and Sandy McMahon. As a scorer of league goals, his total of 187 is surpassed only by McGrory’s.
