 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Joseph Finan | ||
| Date of birth | (1912-03-01)1 March 1912 | ||
| Place of birth | Old Kilpatrick, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 25 July 1983(1983-07-25) (aged 71) | ||
| Place of death | Old Kilpatrick, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft6+1⁄2 in (1.69 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1933 | Yoker Athletic | ||
| 1933–1947 | Blackpool | 173 | (85) |
| 1947–1949 | Crewe Alexandra | 59 | (14) |
| 1949–1950 | Wigan Athletic | 31 | (12) |
| Total | 263 | (111) | |
| International career | |||
| 1939 | Scotland (wartime) | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robert Joseph Finan (1 March 1912 – 25 July 1983)[2] was a Scottish professionalfootballer. He played as aforward.
Finan was born inOld Kilpatrick inWest Dunbartonshire. He started his career at Scottishjunior clubYoker Athletic before signing forBlackpool, managed by fellow ScotSandy MacFarlane, in 1933. He made his debut for the club in the penultimate league game of the1933–34 season, a 7–0 defeat atGrimsby Town on 28 April 1934. He went on to score three more goals during that league campaign.
Finan scored his first professional goal in the opening game of the following1934–35 campaign, a 5–1 victory atBury on 25 August 1934.
In1935–36, withJimmy Hampson injured, Finan deputised at centre-forward and ended the season as the Second Division's joint-top scorer with 34 goals. He scored twohat-tricks: the first in a 6–2 win againstCharlton Athletic atBloomfield Road on 22 February 1936, and the second in a 6–0 whitewash ofNewcastle United at home on 22 April.
The following campaign,1936–37, Finan (28) and Hampson (16) scored 44 league goals between them, as Blackpool finished the season as runners-up in theFootball League Second Division and were promoted to theFootball League First Division.[3] As he grew older, his speed began to wane, and he was moved to outside-left, where he laid on goals forWillie Buchan and, later,Jock Dodds.
Finan scored 85 league goals for Blackpool before finally leaving the club in 1947, when he signed forCrewe Alexandra, scoring 14 goals in 59 games. In 1949 he moved tonon-League football withWigan Athletic, with whom he finished his career in 1950 having scored 12 goals in 31 games in theLancashire Combination.[4]
After his playing career ended, Finan returned to Blackpool as chief scout.[5]
Finan won one cap forScotland in a wartime international, during the early stages ofWorld War II.[5][6] As the conflict progressed, he went on to serve in theMiddle East and was a regular in theRAF (Egypt) side, once severely injuring his knee in a Cairo Canal-area match atEl Alamein.