How Niall Quinn's disco pants became famousUpdated: June 9th, 2008
The following story comes from he excellent Niall Quinn: The Autobiography, which is available from Amazon :
In 1992 the City squad were on a pre-season tour in Penola, Italy. Michael Carruth, who went to the same primary school as Quinn, had just won a boxing gold medal for Ireland at the Barcelona Olympics and Quinn is celebrating.
A boxing ring had, for some reason, been set up in the town square and coach Sam Ellis and some of the players decide to organise their own Olympic boxing tournament.
As other players drunkenly slap each other in the sun, Quinn gets into an argument with a drunk Steve McMahon in the toilets in the corner of the square.
Ellis encourages the two to settle the argument with a fight. After a flurry of punches from McMahon the fight ends with Quinn splitting McMahon’s nose with his first punch.
Quinn then goes off with new signing Ricky Holden in search of entertainment. Finding a dance bar Quinn takes off his ripped and blood-splattered shirt to get past the bouncers.
Wearing only a pair of cut-off jeans he begins dancing frenetically, unaware there is a group of City fans watching. He is soon treated to the first performance of the famous chant:
Niall Quinn’s disco pants are the best
They go up from his arse to his chest
They are better than Adam and the Ants
Niall Quinn’s disco pants
The story then turns more violent. McMahon has followed Quinn, who is now chatting with Holden, into the bar and hits him hard on the back of the neck.
Quinn chases him out of the bar and another brawl ends with McMahon being pushed through the plate-glass window of a tailor’s shop.
As he lies motionless in a pile of toppled tailor’s dummies and broken glass Quinn for a moment thinks he has killed him.
Miraculously he was unharmed and the two made up after a dressing down by Peter Reid at 7.30am the next morning. Showing his gift for finance, Quinn persuaded McMahon to pay for the broken window.
The damage to Reid was more lasting though. After another incident where Ellis held up the team plane for 20mins while playing cards, the board wanted Ellis out.
Later that season they issued an ultimatum to Reid: “Sam goes or the two of you go”. Reid stood by his assistant and was sacked five games into the following season.
How Niall Quinn's disco pants became famousUpdated: December 20th, 2006
News that Roy Keane has been appointed Sunderland manager will come as a surprise to anyone who has read Niall Quinn’s autobiography.
Although Quinn has many kind words for his former Ireland team-mate in the book, he openly admits his relationship with Keane has always been a difficult one.
Shocking details of Keane’s bust-up with Mick McCarthy in 2002 also make you wonder whether Keane has the temperament to become a successful manager.
Quinn’s is an excellent autobiography with plenty of detail about his time at City, including how he successfully overcame the same type of knee injury that finished Paul Lake’s career.
But for me, his explanation of how the “disco pants” chant came into existence was the real highlight.
In 1992 the City squad were on a pre-season tour in Penola, Italy. Michael Carruth, who went to the same primary school as Quinn, had just won a boxing gold medal for Ireland at the Barcelona Olympics and Quinn is celebrating.
A boxing ring had, for some reason, been set up in the town square and coach Sam Ellis and some of the players decide to organise their own Olympic boxing tournament.
As other players drunkenly slap each other in the sun, Quinn gets into an argument with a drunk Steve McMahon in the toilets in the corner of the square.
Ellis encourages the two to settle the argument with a fight. After a flurry of punches from McMahon the fight ends with Quinn splitting McMahon’s nose with his first punch.
Quinn then goes off with new signing Ricky Holden in search of entertainment. Finding a dance bar Quinn takes off his ripped and blood-splattered shirt to get past the bouncers.
Wearing only a pair of cut-off jeans he begins dancing frenetically, unaware there is a group of City fans watching. He is soon treated to the first performance of the famous chant:
Niall Quinn’s disco pants are the best
They go up from his arse to his chest
They are better than Adam and the Ants
Niall Quinn’s disco pants
The story then turns more violent. McMahon has followed Quinn, who is now chatting with Holden, into the bar and hits him hard on the back of the neck.
Quinn chases him out of the bar and another brawl ends with McMahon being pushed through the plate-glass window of a tailor’s shop.
As he lies motionless in a pile of toppled tailor’s dummies and broken glass Quinn for a moment thinks he has killed him.
Miraculously he was unharmed and the two made up after a dressing down by Peter Reid at 7.30am the next morning. Showing his gift for finance, Quinn persuaded McMahon to pay for the broken window.
The damage to Reid was more lasting though. After another incident where Ellis held up the team plane for 20mins while playing cards, the board wanted Ellis out.
Later that season they issued an ultimatum to Reid: “Sam goes or the two of you go”. Reid stood by his assistant and was sacked five games into the following season.
Niall Quinn: The Autobiography is available from Amazon (link) for £6.39 (plus p&p), or from 94p (plus p&p) used.
City discover a creative midfielder in the ranks
Maybe it was all the “lifestyle coaching” he received at Tony Adams’ clinic, but it seems Joey Barton has been getting in touch with his feminine side recently.
According to the NME, Barton was seen backstage at the Leeds Festival hours after the Arsenal game, strutting around and “apparently wearing make-up”. (link)
With sarong-wearing David Beckham now exiled from the England squad, is Barton making a late play to replace him?