Louise Quinn

Quinn began playing organised soccer with Blessington Boys' at under-6 level, alongside her friend Derek Balfe and his father Vincent, who coached the team. Quinn then played girls' football with Lakeside FC of Wicklow before joining County Dublin club Peamount United in 2004. When Eileen Gleeson took over as Peamount United coach in 2006, she noticed Quinn's potential and appointed her to the club captaincy at 16 years old. Quinn captained Peamount to the 2008 FAI Women's Cup final at Richmond Park, where they lost 2–1 to St Francis. In 2010 Peamount won the FAI Cup final, after defeating Salthill Devon 4–2. Quinn missed the occasion as she was on a work placement in the United States. In August 2011, Quinn scored a hat-trick against ŽNK Krka, as Peamount won 7–0 in the UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying round in Slovenia. In the inaugural 2011–12 Women's National League season, Quinn helped Peamount United secure the League title and was named in the Team of the Season. After playing in Peamount's Champions League last-32 elimination by Paris Saint-Germain Féminine in September and October 2011, Quinn began to consider playing professionally overseas: "It was then that I started to think: 'Could I go abroad? Would I be good enough?'" Quinn moved to Swedish club Eskilstuna United in January 2013. She proved a success in Sweden as Eskilstuna were promoted from the Elitettan in her first season and finished seventh in the top-level Damallsvenskan in her second. In 2015,…

Youth

Quinn captained the Ireland women's national football team at under-19 level, making a total of 25 appearances to add to her five caps for Ireland under-17s. She had been called into the national under-17 team as a precocious 14-year-old, but the following year her progress was temporarily derailed by a hip fracture which took 10 months to heal.

Senior

Quinn made her senior bow in February 2008, as a last-minute substitute for Niamh Fahey in a 4–1 friendly win over Poland at John Hyland Park in Baldonnel, County Dublin. In October 2008 Quinn was named in a 22-player squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying play-off against Iceland, described by Ireland's manager Noel King as: "without doubt, the biggest game in the history of women's football in Ireland." In February 2009 Quinn won a second cap after making another substitute appearance, in a 2–0 friendly defeat by France. After securing a regular position in the centre of Ireland's defence, Quinn was named the FAI Senior Women's International Player of the Year in 2013. Quinn continued to be selected by national team coach Susan Ronan and participated in Ireland's failed 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign. On 5 April 2014 in a fixture against Germany at Tallaght Stadium, Quinn's header from Megan Campbell's long throw-in secured a 1–0 lead at half-time. This was the first goal the Germans had conceded in the series, but Ireland lost 3–2 when Melanie Leupolz scored an injury…

Quinn is a commanding central defender, described as "towering" and "a rock". She is particularly dominant in the air: "most of what I do in football involves heading the ball". After scoring a typical headed goal against Australia in June 2022, Player of the Match Quinn jokingly referred to it as "the auld trademark".

Having become known as a strong, unshowy defender, Quinn developed other aspects of her game while playing for Arsenal: "There, I changed the sort of player that I was. I'm generally a real centre-back – tough, I love big tackles, get the ball as far away from goal as possible, literally do whatever it takes. But now you see that centre-backs are changing. It's more modern, you've got to be a ball-playing centre-back and I learned that at Arsenal. I learned to pass the ball around my own box and to play out of tight situations. I completely developed a new way of football, and to do that at 27, 28 and 29 – I loved it." Also renowned for her leadership qualities, Quinn's Birmingham City manager Scott Booth said of her: "I just know how much of a leader she is. She stands out, because of her physique [height], she's head and shoulders above the rest, she's a complete leader." Ireland manager Vera Pauw likened Quinn to a tiger for her fighting qualities.

Louise Quinn was born and raised in Blessington, County Wicklow, the daughter of Jacinta and Pat Quinn. She has two older sisters, Vivienne and Sinead.

Gaelic football

Her father had played Gaelic football for Wicklow GAA and Louise joined Blessington GAA, playing in the adult team as a 12-year-old goalkeeper. After a break from Gaelic football, Quinn returned to playing with Kilcullen GAA at around 18 or 19 years old, alongside her best friend and Peamount United team-mate Jenny Murphy. Although Quinn was subsequently called into training camps with the Kildare GAA team, she wanted to stay loyal to Wicklow.