Joe Kinnear

Lore & Background

Kinnear moved to England at the age of eight. His father died when Kinnear was young and his mother brought up five children on a council estate in Watford. Kinnear captained his school and the Hertfordshire team and was noticed by St Albans City. He made an impression as a player with St Albans City.

In 1963, aged 17, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur as an amateur footballer. He made his Tottenham debut on 8 April 1966 in a 4–1 home defeat by West Ham United. He played in the 1967 FA Cup final, beating Chelsea, a game Tottenham won 2–1. He made almost 200 league appearances for Tottenham, scoring two league goals.

He won four major honours during his time at the club: the FA Cup in 1967; the UEFA Cup in 1972 and the Football League Cup on two occasions (in 1971 and 1973). In 1975, he moved to Brighton, where he made 16 appearances before retiring aged 30. Kinnear was capped 26 times by the Republic of Ireland, scoring no goals. His debut came in the 2–1 defeat by Turkey on 22 February 1967.

Reader's Guide

After his retirement from football in 1977, Kinnear spent five years in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates managing Sharjah and Al-Shabab (alongside Dave Mackay), also spending time coaching in Malaysia. He spent three months coaching India and one year coaching Nepal, later returning to England to assist Mackay at Doncaster Rovers. He briefly took charge of Doncaster after Mackay's departure in 1989, but was replaced by Billy Bremner. He was appointed reserve team manager of Wimbledon later that year before being appointed manager at the club following Peter Withe's dismissal in January 1992.

He led the Dons to a 6th-place finish in the Premier League in the 1993–94 season. He was voted Premier League Manager of the Month three times. The next season Wimbledon finished 9th. He turned down the chance to replace Jack Charlton as manager of the Republic of Ireland national team in 1996.

He guided Wimbledon to semi-finals in both major domestic cup competitions in 1997 as well as finishing 8th. He suffered a heart attack before a league game against Sheffield Wednesday in March 1999 and stood down in June of that year. He was briefly involved as director of football at Oxford United during the 2000–01 season. In January 2001, he resigned.

Just a few weeks later he was handed a similar role at Luton Town. He demoted then-manager Lil Fuccillo and appointed himself manager. He could not save the club from relegation. In the summer of 2001, he released the majority of the relegated squad and brought in a number of his own men.

The team stormed to promotion, finishing runners-up to Plymouth Argyle. The next season they managed a 9th-place finish. In May 2003 the club was sold to a consortium, leading to Kinnear and his assistant Mick Harford being sacked. He was out of work until Nottingham Forest offered him the manager's job in February 2004.

He got the club up to 14th position by the end of the 2003–04 season. The following season began with talk of promotion but went badly, with just four wins from the first 23 games. A 3–0 defeat by rivals Derby County at Pride Park signalled the end, with his resignation coming on 16 December 2004. On 26 September 2008, Kinnear was named as the interim manager of Premier League side Newcastle United until the end of October, following the shock resignation of Kevin Keegan.

The Spurs Defender and Trophy Cabinet

Joseph Patrick Kinnear established himself as a stalwart defender during a decade-long tenure at Tottenham Hotspur, where he learned his craft under the legendary Bill Nicholson. After joining as an amateur in 1963, his breakthrough came following an injury to teammate Phil Beal, which propelled him into the right-back position for the 1967 FA Cup final victory over Chelsea. Over nearly two hundred league appearances, Kinnear was instrumental in securing four major honours for the club: the FA Cup in 1967, the UEFA Cup in 1972, and the League Cup in 1971 and 1973.

His defensive solidity helped Tottenham dominate domestic competitions throughout the late sixties and early seventies. Following his successful spell at White Hart Lane, he concluded his playing days with a single season at Brighton & Hove Albion in 1975–76, making sixteen appearances before retiring from professional football at the age of thirty.

International Service for Ireland

Born in Dublin but raised in England after moving there as an eight-year-old, Kinnear proudly represented the Republic of Ireland on the international stage. His national team career spanned twenty-six caps, during which he served as a reliable defender without scoring any goals. He made his debut in February 1967 against Turkey, coinciding with his early days at Tottenham Hotspur. Despite never finding the back of the net for his country, his consistent performances earned him a significant place in Irish football history. His international career was defined by his defensive duties and loyalty to the national side, bridging the gap between his club success and his broader identity as an Irishman living abroad.

The Wimbledon Revolution

Kinnear's most celebrated managerial achievement occurred at Wimbledon, where he transformed a modest outfit into a Premier League force. Appointed in January 1992, he guided the 'Crazy Gang' to a remarkable sixth-place finish in the 1993–94 season, finishing above established giants like Liverpool and Everton while earning Manager of the Month accolades three times. He continued this defiance of expectations with ninth and eighth-place finishes in subsequent years. In 1997, he led the team to semi-finals in both major domestic cups. Although his tenure was cut short by a heart attack in March 1999, Kinnear remained manager until June that year, leaving behind a legacy of overachieving against the odds before the club's eventual relegation under his successor.

Resilience and Rebuilding at Luton

After a brief period as director of football at Oxford United, Kinnear took charge of Luton Town in January 2001 to prevent their relegation from the Second Division. Although he could not save them that season, he orchestrated an immediate turnaround by releasing most of the relegated squad and recruiting new talent like Kevin Nicholls and Chris Coyne. Under his guidance, Luton stormed back to secure promotion as runners-up in their first successful campaign in twenty years. However, the following season proved disappointing with a ninth-place finish. His time at the club ended abruptly in May 2003 when he was dismissed under mysterious circumstances by a new consortium led by John Gurney, despite his earlier success in rebuilding the team's fortunes.