Ex-Wimbledon & Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear leaves eye-watering amount to his wife in will after death aged 77
FOOTBALL legend Joe Kinnear left more than £800,000 in his will, probate documents reveal.
The ex-Tottenham player and Newcastle manager died last April aged 77 following a lengthy battle with dementia.
Court records show the father-of-two, who won two European Cups in a storied career, bequeathed his entire £840,000 estate to his beloved wife Bonnie.
After costs, fees and debts were settled the sum was reduced to £833,000.
Kinnear’s family have previously claimed heading the ball through his 11-year professional career contributed to his mental decline after he was diagnosed with dementia in 2015.
The right-back revealed he was fighting the degenerative brain condition in 2021.
Born in Dublin to a dad who worked in a Guinness brewery, the talented footballer was snapped up by Tottenham at 17.
In a decade-long stint at the club between 1965 and 1975, he made 258 appearances in all competitions.
His trophy cabinet with Spurs includes the 1967 FA Cup, the 1972 Uefa Cup and the 1971 and 1973 League Cups as well as a shared 1967 Charity Shield.
After leaving Spurs he joined Brighton, where he remained for one season.
Kinnear, who played twice for the Ireland national team, hung up his boots in 1977 and moved into management.
He took charge of Wimbledon’s youth team in 1989 before taking the senior team job in 1992.
His appointment proved to be a masterstroke as he took the Wimbledon “crazy gang” up to sixth in the 1993/94 Premier League season.
The achievement earned him the 1994 Manager of the Year award and he was voted manager of the month three times.
Spells with Luton and Nottingham Forest followed before he joined Newcastle in 2008.
In 2008 Kinnear launched an explosive rant against journalists in which he swore 50 times in the first five minutes of a press conference.
Joe Kinnear's football career
JOE KINNEAR played for Tottenham between 1965-1975.
He won the FA Cup, Uefa Cup and two League Cups in the glittering spell before a 12-month stint at Brighton.
During his playing days he earned 26 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
After retiring, he got his first coaching break as assistant manager in Dubai with Al-Shabab in 1983.
Managerial spells at India and Nepal followed.
He returned to England in 1989 when he was appointed caretaker manager of Doncaster Rovers.
Kinnear’s longest manager stint came at Wimbledon in the days of the ‘Crazy Gang’ between 1992-1999.
The Irishman led Wimbledon to one of their most successful seasons ever in 1997 when they reached the semi-finals of both domestic cups.
He went on to manager Luton and Nottingham Forest before a controversial spell at Newcastle in 2008/09.
Kinnear returned to the Toon as Director of Football in 2013/14 – his final year in football.
His second spell on Tyneside as Director of Football saw him give an infamous interview on talkSPORT where he mispronounced a number of his own players’ names.
Kinnear resigned from his post in 2014 and did not manage another club after undergoing cardiac bypass surgery.
Three weeks after his death, Kinnear’s family joined a group of 35 former players in a lawsuit against the FA, the Football League and the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
They claim the sport’s authorities failed to take enough action to prevent professionals from suffering brain damage.
John Hartson, who Kinnear famously claimed he had signed on a free when he in fact had been a £7.5million buy for the Toon, led tributes after his death.
He said: “Sad news hearing that my ex-boss Joe Kinnear has passed away.
“My thoughts are with Joe’s wife Bonnie and the Kinnear family .. RIP Gaffer.”
Former Tottenham owner and Apprentice host Lord Sugar added: “Sad news Joe Kinnear has passed away R.I.P.”