Quintin Young

Quintin Young was a Scot whose stay at Highfield Road whilst fleeting, gave the fans a glimpse of an outstanding but flawed talent.

A talented schoolboy player he gave up the game at the age of 16 because he ‘was fed up with playing’. Three years later after considerable pressure from his friends and family, he relented and joined Ayr, managed at the time by Ally McLeod, later to gain notoriety as the Scottish team manager at the ill-fated 1978 World Cup. Soon Young, a Rangers fan, was attracting scouts from Scotland and England with some dazzling displays on the wing for the Somerset Park men.

In the 1970-71 season he won Scottish Under 23 honours, playing alongside City’s Willie Carr and by this time City boss Noel Cantwell was interested. A £40,000 cheque secured the services of ‘Cutty’ as he was nicknamed at Ayr, and Cantwell expected big things from the speedy Scot with the wicked shot.

Quintin’s first appearance in a City shirt was in a pre-season friendly at Brighton when he set up two first half goals for Brian Joicey and John O’Rourke in a 2-1 win. Derek Henderson’s verdict in the Pink that night was categorical: ‘ He is an old-fashioned raiding winger and there were times when he gave the Brighton defence a tormenting taste of what First Division full-backs can expect in the months to come.’

He made his league debut in a 2-2 home draw with Derby County and was a regular first choice on the right wing over the next four months. He was the star of a 1-0 home win over Tottenham – creating Carr’s winner with a superb dribble and pinpoint cross and giving former England international full-back Cyril Knowles a roasting. A week later he scored a spectacular left foot goal to help the Sky Blues to a 2-1 win at Goodison Park. City’s third win in a row, over Leeds, saw Young have another storming game with Henderson eulogising that he was: ‘already well on the way to being the biggest crowd favourite since George Hudson’. He gave current England left back an ‘afternoon of misery’ in City’s famous 3-1 victory, their first over Revie’s Leeds since they had won promotion four years earlier.

City’s form tailed off after these results and within months manager Cantwell was sacked. Young’s form declined too and although he scored a brilliant 25-yarder in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford his inconsistency cost him his place following the shock home FA Cup defeat to Hull.

After Gordon Milne and Joe Mercer took over in the summer of 1972 Young was given five games to show his mettle. His final game, a woeful 0-1 defeat at the Hawthorns convinced Milne that new signings were desperately needed and Young, was the makeweight in Colin Stein’s £150,000 move from Glasgow Rangers. Quintin quickly made an impact at Ibrox, scoring 16 goals that season as the ‘Gers won the Scottish Cup and finished second in the league. In 1974-75 he won a League championship medal but the following season lost his place soon after winning a League Cup winners medal.

In 1976 he joined East Fife, managed by his old City team-mate Roy Barry and played there until 1980 when at the age of 33 he retired. In 1984 he was known to have been managing a pub in Ayr but has returned to Coventry for to attend the Legends Day.

Free kick goals (2)
1971-72
2 October 1971 v Everton A, ball rolled to him by Ernie Hunt
27 December 1971 v Manchester United A, ball rolled to him by Ian St John