‘Liam Gallagher wore my jersey when Oasis played Maine Road, but I was more interested in Joe Dolan’ - Manchester City and Ireland legend Niall Quinn
Manchester City fanatics Oasis played Maine Road in 1996.
by Mark McCadden · Irish MirrorNiall Quinn says he regrets the fact that Liam Gallagher was a bigger fan of his than he was of Oasis when the newly-reformed rockers were in their prime.
Quinn was at Manchester City when the Gallaghers - Liam and Noel - played two sold-out gigs at the club’s old Maine Road ground.
Then-manager Alan Ball and several of his teammates attended - and met the band afterwards, but Quinn’s musical tastes at the time were a little less rock n’ roll.
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“I missed out on the Oasis generation,” he told Mirror Sport. “I was still listening to Joe Dolan when he was coming over to the Ardri Ballroom in Moss Side, about a mile away from Maine Road.”
Oasis played twice at their beloved Maine Road in April 1996 as part of their (What’s the Story) Morning Glory tour.
Quinn continued: “I remember my cousin came over and stayed with us for the first Oasis concert at Maine Road.
“He came back and said, ‘Liam wore your jersey on stage, do you not realise how big this is?’.
“In those days I couldn’t even get a jersey. You never got to keep your own jersey because the reserves got them the next year.
“My cousin was devastated that I didn’t realise the importance of that.
“It’s not that I had no interest. Truthfully I probably was going to see Big Tom or something.
“That was the kind of life I was leading in those days. I suppose I was happier listening to Big Tom at the time.”
Quinn was in his sixth and final year at City when Oasis played at Maine Road, four months before his move to Sunderland. His 76 goals made him a hero at the club.
He understands now what a big deal it was to be adored by one of music’s most influential voices of the time.
“Oh, I absolutely understand how big it is now. It’s a huge regret, obviously. Looking back I wish to God I’d gone to the concert and met them and enjoyed it.
“At the time Alan Ball was the manager and I think he and some of the players met them all afterwards.
“The next Monday at training all the chat was about how great it was. I was like, hang on lads, we were beaten at the weekend. I had my Roy Keane head on that day.”
He also appreciates how big it was for City - long before the days of bottomless-pocketed owners - to have such high-profile fans.
“The good thing about Liam and Noel is they remember when it was the old way,” he said.
“At a time when City needed friends in high places, they were really strong supporters of the club.
“Just to give it some context, at that very time, the washing machines broke at the training ground. For about six weeks until they were fixed, we had to wash our own training kit every day.
“There’s a pointer to what life at Man City was like when Oasis played at Maine Road.
“Eventually the washing machines got fixed.”
Quinn recalled how, long before they were famous, the Gallagher brothers washed the cars of footballers on both sides of the Manchester divide.
“I can’t quite remember them. I didn’t really have a car decent enough to get washed,” he said. “The story goes that they were involved - the roadie and the two Gallaghers.”
Indeed, former United striker Brian McClair recalled how the two brothers approached the Old Trafford club with an offer of free labour.
“A lad called Paul Ashby had a car washing business – he had started washing the cars at Man City by saying he’d wash the manager’s car for nothing if he could wash the players’ cars,” said McClair in a May 2023 interview with FourFourTwo.
“He came over to United and he was brazen, he just waited for Fergie (Alex Ferguson) to come out and then said the same thing. Fergie said yes, and two of his helpers were Liam and Noel.
"One day, Noel came to my house with Paul to wash my car. He never said a word, apart from, ‘Thank you’ after I gave him coffee and chocolate biscuits.
“Paul said, ‘Listen to that’. I don’t think it was a demo. It was just a tape – their songs before they were famous. I said, ‘Aye, they’re not a bad Beatles soundalike’.”
Quinn, meanwhile, is giving his backing to the newly-formed Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association, ahead of its inaugural annual Golf Classic at Limerick Golf Club on Friday September 27.
The ex-players’ organisation has been established to offer assistance to former professionals, male and female, who are facing health and financial challenges.
Patrons Quinn, John Giles and Eoin Hand will donate memorabilia that will be auctioned at the dinner that follows the golf classic.
“I was delighted to support what the guys are doing,” said Quinn.
“We can see the lack of investment in the League of Ireland when you see the players who made it what it is with issues, and nothing was ever laid out to assist them.
“The PFAI do everything they can, but a bit like in England they are really charged with looking out for current players, and it is so difficult to spread the net, so there is a real gap.
“I think the beauty of this is that it will reintroduce people to each other, having events like the golf day.
“Yes it makes money for the group and it helps in areas where it’s going to help, but it also rekindles relationships.
“I just know that every time I meet an ex-colleague, either from the Arsenal or Man City dressing room, it feels great.
“And particularly when the Irish lads meet up, there is a bond or a bit of electricity that doesn’t exist anymore that comes alive again.
“I think that, to me, is as important - putting networks in place where all of these ex-colleagues come together again.
“That is huge and I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
# A limited number of places for teams of four (€300) are still available for the golf classic with enquiries to 087-8107155 or 086-6097544
Associate sponsorships are still available as is the sponsorship of greens and tee boxes, while individual donations will be gratefully accepted by the IPFBA.
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