Joseph Peter "Joe" Hinnigan (born Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, 3 December 1955) is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former professional football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player. His clubs included Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic F.C.

Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

, Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

, Preston North End

Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

, for whom he made over 100 Football League appearances, Wrexham

Wrexham A.F.C.

Wrexham Football Club are a professional football team based in Wrexham, north-east Wales, who play in the English football pyramid.Founded in 1872, they are one of the oldest surviving football clubs in Britain and the oldest professional club in Wales...

 and Chester City

Chester City F.C.

Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

.

Playing career

Hinnigan joined Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic F.C.

Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

 from South Liverpool

South Liverpool F.C.

South Liverpool F.C. are a football club from Liverpool, England. They are currently in the West Cheshire Amateur Football League and play their home matches at Jericho Lane. The club's colours are white shirts, black shorts and red socks.-First incarnation:...

 in August 1975 for a fee of £1,200. After initially struggling to make the first team at the club and being transfer-listed, he turned his career around and played in 120 Northern Premier League games before Wigan's election into the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

.

As well as playing in Wigan's first ever Football League fixture, he was also the scorer of the club's first ever Football League goal, against Newport County

Newport County A.F.C.

Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

 on 2 September 1978. Hinnigan soon attracted the attention of bigger clubs and was signed by Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

 for £130,000.

Post-playing career

After finishing his playing career in 1990, Hinnigan began the first of four spells as a physio and coach with Chester City

Chester City F.C.

Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

. He also worked at Wigan Athletic, Rochdale and Bury

Bury F.C.

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

 (all alongside manager Graham Barrow

Graham Barrow

Graham Barrow is an English former footballer who has since become a lower division manager. He is currently part of the coaching staff at Premier League side Wigan Athletic, where he has previously been both a player and manager.-Barrow the Player:Barrow first entered the Football League at the...

), before moving from Chester to become physio at Shrewsbury Town

Shrewsbury Town F.C.

Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

 in October 2006. He has been the physio at Accrington Stanley

Accrington Stanley F.C.

Accrington Stanley is an English association football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North West of England, who play in Football League Two, the fourth-highest division in the English football league system....

since 2008.