Former Northern Ireland international James Quinn looks back on putting his best foot forward for Sheffield Wednesday

Because as the ball tumbled from Lee Bullen’s forehead and deflected breathlessly towards the goalline at the KC Stadium, Hull City defenders were looming.

It was 1-1. There were seconds left and Wednesday needed a goal. Badly. Having ridden high in the League One table for the bulk of the season, the Owls were doing a fine impression of a side bottling their big chance. Entering this, the penultimate match of the season, they’d gone seven without a win.

But in the fifth minute of added time, just metres from the travelling Owls support, Quinn poked it home and secured play-off qualification for the 2004/05 season. There’s a generation of fans that regard Quinn’s goal as the greatest moment of their football-watching life.

Speaking to the now-45-year-old over the phone, you can hear the excitement in his voice as he regales every second, despite the fact a certain current Wednesday coach still cheekily claims credit for the goal 15 years on.

“It was an incredible moment,” he told JPI Media. “There were about 5,000 Wednesday fans behind the goal, my dad and sister were there as well. It was unbelievable.

“It was pretty much the last kick of the game. We had Bristol City in the last game which would have been so nervy.

“There was a long throw and Bully’s gone up with the goalkeeper claiming that he’s got a touch on it. It’s bounced on the line and I’ve managed to smash it in.

“Bully’s run off trying to claim it, I’ve done the same.

“But if I hadn’t have kicked it, It would have been cleared and it would have been 1-1.

“I’ve got photographic evidence, he still isn’t accepting it, but it’s gone down on record that it’s mine. And he’s not taking it away from me!”

One man who wouldn’t have known who got the final touch was then-boss Paul Sturrock, who even in such dramatic circumstances had fulfilled his superstition of heading back to the changing room for extra time.

Quinn laughed: “I was the second man into the dressing room and Paul was stood there. He said, ‘was it 1-1?’

“I told him we won. He said, ‘Oh, you’re kidding? Great.’ And he walked off. That was it.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Quinn provided the assist for Jon-Paul McGovern’s winner in a 1-0 semi-final win over Brentford and delivered a typically committed performance in the 4-2 final win over Hartlepool. In just 15 appearances, the Northern Ireland international wrote himself into Owls folklore.

He’d arrived in January. Quinn had spent nearly three years playing in Holland for Willem II but found himself hankering for a move home during the 2005 winter break. Conversations were had and the Dutch club agreed to cancel his contract.

It wasn’t long before the-then 30-year-old found himself training with MK Dons, but he had little doubt where his future lay when he received a call from Sturrock.

“There was no competition,” Quinn said. “If Sheffield Wednesday want you, you go and play for Sheffield Wednesday. As soon as I knew they were interested, I didn’t care about the length of contract or anything.

“It was only a few months but I still keep in contact with him now. I ask him for his advice on coaching and things like that and he always gets straight back to me.

“He’s one of the best managers I’ve played for and if you’re talking man-management, he was just superb.”

Quinn’s involvement in that famous play-off final is understated and goes far beyond the fact that he was the man to make way for penalty hero Steven MacLean in a historic triple-sub with 15 minutes to go. The forward was a constant threat, especially in the first half.

Alongside starring in Northern Ireland’s shock win over a star-studded England side a few months later, he ranks it as the highlight of his career.

Celebrations? He’s a little coy on the details, other than to chuckle along to one memory in particular.

“The traffic getting out was a nightmare,” he said. “We were stuck on the coach for ages.

“We’d had a few beers on the way and Paul Heckingbottom crashed open the emergency doors and starts running up and down the M4 with the trophy.

“The Wednesday fans were all there sticking their heads out of the cars, out of sunroof windows. It was brilliant.”

Back in Sheffield they spent the night at Dave Allen’s casino and after just a few hours sleep Quinn – now first-team coach at National League Solihull Moors – arrived at Hillsborough for a previously-arranged meeting with Sturrock to discuss the possibility of signing a new deal.

He was told an offer was likely but says there is no ill-feeling around the fact it never arrived. Quinn signed for Peterborough that summer.

“We were honest, working-class lads that bought into what Paul wanted us to do,” he said. “The biggest thing was that we realised the responsibility we had playing for Sheffield Wednesday.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind. It was a fantastic few months for me personally and also for the club, it was the only promotion I had in my career. To do it in front of 45,000 Wednesday fans was something you don’t forget.”