Tinnion was born in
Stanley, County Durham Tinnion's first season in charge saw Bristol City fail to make the play-offs and the 2005–06 season started inconsistently, leaving the City fans unconvinced about his ability to make his move into management successful. City's league results failed to improve in 2005/6, and capitulating in a 7–1 thrashing by
Swansea City on 10 September 2005 was the final straw; facing a wave of discontent among the supporters, Tinnion stepped down as manager the following day. After his departure from Bristol City, Tinnion trained with
Cheltenham Town, turning out for them in a reserve match, and then joined
Conference side
Aldershot. He subsequently played for
Conference South side
Weston-super-Mare and in January 2007 joined
TeamBath. Tinnion has since retired from playing in the summer of 2007 and now coaches youth football, running soccer schools both in Southern Spain and at The Imperial Ground in Bristol. In addition to this, he now works in the
Bristol City youth setup, managing the loan moves of young players. In October 2021, Tinnion was promoted to the role of Academy Director. In November 2022, Tinnion was appointed as Technical Director. ==Honours==