Early onset vascular dementia was identified as Kinnear’s diagnosis in 2015; nevertheless, the public remained unaware of this diagnosis until 2021, when his wife Bonnie made it public. Since then, his life has been kept quiet, until on Sunday night, terrible news of his passing broke.
During one of Tottenham’s more prosperous seasons, Kinnear was a defender who appeared in 258 games and helped the team win two League Cups, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Cup in 1971–1972. He was forced to retire at the age of thirty after just one season at Brighton, but he later returned to England as Doncaster Rovers’ interim manager after serving as manager of Nepal and India.
Then, during Wimbledon’s notorious “Crazy Gang” era in the 1990s, Kinnear managed players like Vinnie Jones, Dennis Wise, and John Fashanu for seven years. With the Premier League team, he experienced several highs and won over many fans.
Following stints at Luton and Nottingham Forest, Kinnear was hired in 2008 to manage Newcastle; he took over as manager in November of that year, after being appointed manager temporarily. His time at St. James’ Park wasn’t without incident, though, as in February 2009 the Republic of Ireland international had to be rushed to the hospital for heart bypass surgery. In 2013, Kinnear rejoined Newcastle as director of football, but he was only there for seven months until he left.
