Football manager JOE KINNEAR leaves his entire estate to his wife Bonnie following his death at 77

Friday, January 03, 2025 - Legendary football manager, Joe Kinnear left his entire estate to his wife Bonnie in his will after passing away at the age of 77.

The former Wimbledon and Newcastle manager died last April, having endured a long battle with vascular dementia since he was diagnosed in 2015.

Now court records have revealed the father-of-two has left his £840,000 fortune to his wife Bonnie, probate documents show. After fees, debts and costs were deducted, the total amount was £833,000.

Kinnear's grieving daughter, Russ Duffman, previously blamed his death on heading the ball throughout his 11-year footballing career.

The Dubliner revealed he was fighting the degenerative brain condition in 2021.

An autopsy confirmed that his brain had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disorder that is caused by repeated head injuries and leads to dementia.

His family donated his brain for research and an autopsy was carried out by Dr Willie Stewart, consultant neuropathologist at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

'Dr Stewart intimated to me that CTE was the cause of his dementia and his death,' Ms Duffman told BBC Sport. 'He was a defender, so it was from heading the ball.'

'The autopsy] gives you closure, but thinking about it, we just feel angry again because I feel like his career has killed him. We learned a lot but weren't surprised by the outcome. It does give you clarity.'

Following his death, his family said in a statement: 'We are sad to announce that Joe passed away peacefully this afternoon surrounded by his family.'

Born in Dublin to a father who worked in the Guinness brewery, Kinnear moved with his family to Watford at the age of seven.

After captaining Watford and Hertfordshire Schoolboys, then impressing at junior level at St Albans City, he was signed by Spurs in 1963 as a promising right-back.

Kinnear made his senior debut in 1966 and played 258 games for Tottenham, winning the FA Cup, the League Cup twice and UEFA Cup. He also received 26 international caps for the Republic of Ireland.

He went on to play one season for Brighton before retiring aged 30.

Kinnear took his coaching badges and began his management career at Al Shabab Al Arabi Club in Dubai alongside former Spurs colleague Dave Mackay.

After short stints coaching the Nepal and India national teams, he returned to assist Mackay at Doncaster Rovers.

But it was his role at Wimbledon, where he arrived in 1992, that cemented his managerial legend.

After leading them to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League in the 1993–94 season, he was voted Premier League Manager of the Month three times as his team finished above the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur.

Kinnear continued in the role until he suffered a heart attack before a league game in March 1999. He stood down in June of that year and Wimbledon was relegated from the Premier League.

After spells at Luton and Nottingham Forest, he returned to management with Newcastle in 2008 after a four-year hiatus in a famously defiant spell.