Ex-Tottenham defender Joe Kinnear grew up in Watford

Dublin-born Kinnear, who won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup as a player with Tottenham, also went on to manage Luton, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle.

A family statement released yesterday said: “We are sad to announce that Joe passed away peacefully this afternoon surrounded by his family.”

Kinnear had been living with dementia since 2015.

AFC Wimbledon hailed their former boss as a “true legend of the club”.

Joe Kinnear in action for Spurs against Burnley in 1970 (Image: PA)

Kinnear was born Joseph Reddy, the youngest of three children to Guinness Brewery stoker Joe and Margaret Reddy, in Dublin on December 27, 1946. He and older sisters Shirley and Carmen spent their early years in the Kimmage and Crumlin areas of the city.

The marriage was not a happy one and his mother, who was just 20 when he arrived, eventually walked out and went to look for work in England, with her children – custody had been awarded to her husband – divided between their grandparents.

Having met and set up home with Gerry Kinnear in Watford, she returned for her children when her son was six and, along with the couple’s daughters Louise and Amelia, the Reddy children took on their stepfather’s surname.

Kinnear excelled at sports at both Kingswood Primary and Leggatt’s Way Secondary Modern schools, where his ability helped him be accepted swiftly.

A career as a professional was his dream from an early age and he looked to be on course when he played for and captained Watford Boys and then Hertfordshire Boys before being granted a trial by Watford at the age of 15.

To his intense disappointment, the Hornets did not offer him a contract and, having left school with no qualifications, he took a job as an apprentice printer and played part-time for non-league St Albans City, where he was spotted by Spurs’ chief scout Dick Walker.

After a successful trial, he signed amateur terms with the club’s youth team, having been asked to switch from his accustomed right-half role to right full-back, and won his first professional contract at the age of 18.

Joe Kinnear during his time as Newcastle manager (Image: PA)

The Watford Observer reported on the start of Kinnear’s career with Spurs on February 19, 1965.

Here is a transcript of that report:

“When this photograph was taken yesterday [February 18, 1965], Joe Kinnear was employed as a printing apprentice. He is seen leaving his home in Queen’s Road, Watford, after lunch to go back to work for Witherby and Co., the printers in Carey Place.

“On Monday morning, the same Joe Kinnear will open the front gate and once again nod goodbye to his mother (seen, above, in the background).

“But by then he will no longer be a print apprentice. He starts as a full time professional footballer for Tottenham Hotspur.

“Kinnear is captain of the Herts Youth FA side and skipper of Spurs’ under 18 team. After two years with the White Hart Lane club as an amateur, Joe signed paid forms on Thursday. Today he goes into full time training alongside the household name players Jimmy Greaves, Alan Gilzean, Cliff Jones, Maurice Norman, Peter Baker and Ron Henry.

“With him at White Hart Lane will be his old Leggatts Way School pal Roy Lowe, who has already made the Tottenham first team.

“Kinnear’s ambition, of course, is first team football. He has already had 20 games in the Metropolitan League sides and has trodden the famous Tottenham turf in a great number of under 18 floodlit matches.

“An ambition which did not materialise for Joe was his longing to wear Watford’s colours, although he did have a trial with them. Arsenal, Chelsea and Fulham also tried to obtain his services.

“He came to Watford from Ireland at the age of six and played for Watford and Hertfordshire Boys.

“Kinnear, who plays outside right for the Watford Sunday League XI (he plays on Sundays for Bournehall Press) and for the Herts County Sunday XI, was spotted by Tottenham when playing for St Albans City Reserves.”