Combative ‘Crazy Gang’ leader
JOE Kinnear guided Wimbledon to a sixth-place Premier League finish in 1993/94, a year after The Dons had languished at the bottom of the table.
Known for his sweary, combative style of leadership, Kinnear reshaped the so-called “Crazy Gang” of players under his charge, building a strong, physical team who took no prisoners on the pitch.
Kinnear subsequently won the League Managers Association Manager of the Year award in 1994. He also secured two more top 10 finishes and two cup semi-finals before he left the club in 1999 after suffering a heart attack ahead of a game against SheffieldWednesday.
Yet his achievements were often undermined by a snobbish attitude towards the club which was the butt of many sporting jokes, including Gary Lineker’s famous 1993 jibe that Ceefax was the best way to watch them.
Dublin-born Kinnear managed clubs including Newcastle United, Luton Town and Nottingham Forest during a 30-year career in the dugout. During his playing days, Kinnear won 26 caps for Ireland and in his 10 years at Tottenham Hotspur between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s he won the FA Cup, the Uefa Cup and also the League Cup on two occasions.
Joseph Patrick Reddy was one of three children born to Joe Sr, a Guinness Brewery worker, and his wife Margaret, nee O’Reilly.
His parents separated when he was eight and he moved to a council estate inWatford with his mother and sisters, adopting his stepfather Gerry Kinnear’s surname. He played for his school’s football teams at LeggattsWay Secondary Modern, and later played for non-league sides until Spurs manager Bill Nicholson spotted his talent and took him on as an amateur in 1963.
Three years later, he made the first team as a solid full-back. He left White Hart Lane for Brighton in 1975 but a knee injury cut short his playing career. He started out in management in the United Arab Emirates, India and Nepal.
Kinnear died of complications relating to vascular dementia and is survived by his wife Bonnie and their daughter Russelle. Kinnear’s son Elliot predeceased him.