NIALL QUINN

Whilst chairing a conference in Dublin last week, I found the qualities of a truly inspired leader in the most unlikely of places.

It came from one of the keynote speakers at the event, Sunderland FC Chairman Niall Quinn; a man renowned for taking the back seat and letting others revel in the limelight and adulation, whilst he quietly operates behind the scenes.

Quinn is a proud Irishman. When it comes to football; it is Quinn’s time with Sunderland that has stole his heart.

Sunderland is a text book English North Eastern city – massively wealthy at the turn of the century thanks to steel, coal and shipbuilding. It became a shadow of its glory days once manufacturing disappeared and with it went the best jobs and the city’s confidence.

But, during the boom times Sunderland Football Club was founded and it stood as a symbol of strength, confidence and community throughout the rise, fall and subsequent rebirth of this part of England. No matter how bad it got in the post War period, huge numbers of locals would turn out to cheer on their lads on the football pitch.

At a time when there was so little else to raise spirits - to win meant so much.

And yet in these far more competitive times, fervent support is no longer enough. Sunderland have fought back twice since dropping out of England’s elite Premier League and both times have crashed back into the division below whilst breaking records for the least points achieved.

It was a topsy turvey time for the club but the Board of Directors had the foresight to invest in a magnificent stadium – the Stadium of Light.

Even so, with Sunderland languishing out of the top flight and staring further relegation in the face, Niall Quinn arrived as a former player-turned-saviour with his unique vision and passion for the club.

Quinn had a reputation for integrity and intelligence; one of the games truly “nice guys” that had earned him the nickname Mother Teresa. He found support for his investment back home in Ireland and got the backing of a consortium of property developers and financiers.

With the superb ground justifying the initial investment, he now needed to attract the best players to ensure their promotion back to the Premier League and bring with it the lucrative TV revenues that the league enjoys.

5 years ago only 8 countries had live football on TV. Now 207 countries regularly beam it out to their populations as the global football explosion has taken hold.

Quinn knew he needed a brilliant manager with a high profile and he opted for the controversial, untried but massively popular figure of ex-Manchester United legend Roy Keane to take the mantle.

It was a masterstroke; he turned round the failing team and motivated his players to not only rise up the table but to get promotion in his first season. Keane’s reputation as a player has also enabled him to bring in talent that would have rejected the move to the North East previously.

It is now a career step that is not unrewarded. Sunderland is a city of only 200,000 people and yet 45,000 home fans turn up religiously to every game.

At the Dublin conference Quinn spoke with a conviction, passion and self-depreciating humour that was shot through with authenticity and compelling leadership qualities.

He closed with a story that summed up his time at Sunderland.

As part of the team’s marketing thrust, there was to be a picture of Keane snarling and angry and leading his team on. For this it needed Keane to agree to the publicity, which is something he too spurns and instead opts to concentrate on winning.

Asking Keane was never going to be easy and so the Board drew lots as to who would be responsible for coaxing him into it and Quinn was genuinely relieved it was not him.

Strange behaviour for the Chairman to not step forward when he is the boss? Maybe. But Quinn is always authentic. He has no pretensions to being something that he isn’t and he is happy to admit to being daunted by things he shouldn’t be.

In the end Keane readily agreed and when it came to the shoot he was asked to stand in the corner and pretend to be angry.

He snarled back at the photographer “you’ve got 60 seconds and I’m not pretending”.

He is the exact antithesis of Quinn but therein lies the magic. Like all great leaders he has brought in people to complement his own style. Quinn has charm, vision and an ability to listen and take advice, Keane is all tenacity and presence.

But the real trick is that fundamentally they are remarkably similar. They have a team ethos that trickles through every facet of Sunderland and puts the Club and its success before egos and grandstanding.

As the recently departed Jose Mourinho from Chelsea said, “Great players don’t win trophies, great teams win trophies”.

And Sunderland has a great management team.