DESPITE almost 19 successful years in football with Arsenal, Manchester City, Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland, it is the image of Niall Quinn as the genial giant who gave away £1m to charity that seems the one destined to endure.

In truth, at 6ft 5in, Ireland's record goal scorer has always stood out.

But in a sport that is hardly renowned for its generosity of spirit, it is the lanky Irishman's incredible act of largesse that will stand out.

He could have bought himself an expensive yacht in Marbella with the proceeds of his testimonial, but instead he chose to go against the grain by building two children's hospital units in Ireland and Wearside, and use any surplus cash to help street children in Calcutta.

However, the lasting image of Quinn as some kind of Angel of Mercy will no doubt provoke more than a chuckle from the man himself, who was described by a former Arsenal teammate in his younger days as a man who drank more than Tony Adams and had more flutters than Paul Merson, but was addicted to neither.

"Oh, I'm no angel," he said, prior to his testimonial at the Stadium of Light against Ireland.

"I was a bit of a wild rover in my younger days."

It is probably these jarring memories of a younger and more self-indulged Quinn that first sparked his decision to donate such a large amount to good causes.

Such an act fulfilled a need in the affable Irishman to redress self-perceived wrongs in one single act of penance.

"Really and truly, the game has been so good to me I thought I've got to push myself now and do something," he said at the time.

"What can I do now to ease the conscience a little bit before smuggling off into my retirement?

"This game and the money we are going to raise, it isn't me standing up and deserving credit. This is me fighting my demons."

Such demons, he admitted, came to the fore in the dressing room: "There is a humour, a so-called humour, in dressing rooms which is very callous.

"Brutal, in fact, and very efficient at weeding out the weak. I got it when I was young and innocent, I survived it, became a big man in the dressing room and couldn't wait to give it out. Sure it was funny, but it was nasty too.

"So before I could tell you I'm a nice bloke, I would have to wipe out the last 15 years in the dressing room for a start."

Such honesty afforded Quinn hero-status on Wearside, his passion and raw enthusiasm for football only matched by their own. His feeling for the North-East, which has now become a home-from-home for the native Dubliner, was captured after a stranger turned up on his Sedgefield doorstep in May 1998 to thank him for helping Sunderland fans to believe.

Believe they did as Quinn's prolific partnership with Kevin Phillips helped the Black Cats bounce back to the Premiership a year later with a then-record points tally.

His partnership with Phillips would go on to become the bane of many Premier League defences - as one silent, rain-swept St. James' Park in August 1999 would testify.

His early times on Wearside were not so fruitful, however.

Rejoining Peter Reid - his ex-boss at Maine Road - for £1.3m in the summer of 1996, Quinn scored twice in 12 games, but then suffered a repeat of the cruciate knee ligament injury that had threatened to curtail his career in 1993.

The injury had also denied him the chance to play in the World Cup in 1994.

Quinn returned during the 1998-99 season and his 14 goals helped Sunderland reach the ill-fated play-off final against Charlton.

Indeed, such an ability to bounce back, to take life as it comes, offers little insight into where the Dubliner will turn next following his decision to finally call it a day.

Well aware that after celebrating his 36th birthday, a point at which the candles cost more than the cake, Quinn knew his time was up after suffering years of stifling back pain.

But how does somebody who has always paid more attention to what happens today, suddenly focus onto tomorrow?

Many believe he will go on to become a manager - and a good one at that.

And time spent helping both Peter Reid and Mick McCarthy out on the training field may well have whetted his appetite to step into coaching full-time.

But Quinn has never made any secret of his disillusionment with the way football is going and the immediate signs certainly point to a life away from the game.

"I have been offered a coaching role here by Howard, he has offered me it twice, but it's not what I want to do," he said, after announcing his decision.

"I don't think I want to be a football coach. It looks like I will not sever all my ties here because I've been offered an ambassadorial role.

"But I enjoy the horses now. It's a hobby to have and I like having them out the back. I don't want to try to make money out of it, it's just a hobby I have."

Whether he stays out of football is questionable. With two pubs and a multitude of close friends, Quinn would certainly eke out a comfortable existence back in Ireland. But for almost his entire life football has meant everything.

As a young lad he would bunk off school to watch Ireland's Wednesday afternoon games at Lansdowne Road before it was fixed up with floodlights. Even when he was an established player in the Ireland set-up, he would still get a buzz from seeing his name on Teletext.

If Quinn walked away from the game for good then football really would lose a true giant.