Steve Finnan

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Steve Finnan
Personal information
Full name	Stephen John Finnan
Date of birth	24 April 1976 (1976-04-24) (age 33)
Place of birth	Limerick, Ireland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current club	Espanyol
Number	15
Youth career
1990–1993	Wimbledon
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1995 1995–1996 1996 1996–1998 1998–2003 2003–2008 2008–	Welling United Birmingham City → Notts County (loan) Notts County Fulham Liverpool Espanyol	041 00(1) 015 00(1) 017 00(2) 080 00(5) 173 00(6) 145 00(1) 004 00(0)
National team2
2000–	Republic of Ireland	052 00(2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:58, 12 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 21:58, 9 September 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Stephen John "Steve" Finnan (born 24 April 1976) is an Irish international football player who currently plays for Espanyol at right back.^[1] He is the only player to have played in the World Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup, all four levels of English League football, the English Conference and La Liga.^[2]

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Fulham 1.3 Liverpool 1.4 Espanyol 2 International career 3 Statistics 4 Career honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Finnan was born in the Janesboro area of Limerick City, and moved to Chelmsford, England at a young age. He began his career playing in Wimbledon's youth team,^[3] but joined non-league Welling United after being released at 16. He turned professional with Birmingham City in 1995, but, after only a handful of appearances, he was soon on his way to Notts County, initially on loan, then permanently. There he established himself in the first team and attracted a considerable amount of interest from higher division teams.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Fulham

After some strong showings for County in 1997–98, Fulham paid £600,000 for his services in November 1998. He became an instant regular at Craven Cottage and a fans' favourite.^{[citation needed]} With Fulham he won the old Second Division championship in 1999 and then the First Division in 2001.

Finnan had an impressive first season in the Premiership, helping Fulham qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup and being voted into the 2001–02 PFA team of the year by his fellow professionals. Fulham then went on to win the Intertoto Cup, giving Finnan his first taste of European football.

[edit] Liverpool

In the summer of 2003 Finnan found himself courted by many of England's top clubs and eventually joined Liverpool for a fee of £3.5m. The incumbent right back, Jamie Carragher, greeted his arrival with the warning "If Steve gets ahead of me in the team then I'll just have to find out where he lives and I'll send the boys round." ^[4] Finnan's first season at Anfield was disrupted by a succession of injuries. However, the campaign ended on a high as Liverpool clinched fourth place and a UEFA Champions League qualifying spot.

During the 2004–05 season with Liverpool, he established himself as the first choice right back (wih Carragher moving to centre-back) and a firm fans' favourite.^{[citation needed]} This successful season saw him play in the Carling Cup final which Liverpool lost 3–2 to Chelsea. Finnan also started in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final against A.C. Milan, which the team went on to win. Unfortunately he picked up an injury and was substituted at half time. He had a highly successful 2005–2006 season in which at the end of the season Liverpool won the FA Cup and Finnan added another medal to his collection.

Finnan played for Liverpool as first choice right back for the 2006–07 season despite heavy competition from newly arrived team-mate Álvaro Arbeloa. The season was a very successful one for him as he was very consistent throughout the season and many fans considered him to be one of their top performers as evident through the high amounts of vote he collected in a poll in the official Liverpool website.^{[citation needed]} He participated in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final and was substituted after 88 minutes for Arbeloa. Liverpool went on to lose the game 2–1. In July 2007, Finnan agreed a new three-year contract to remain with Liverpool.^[5]

In August 2007, Finnan was involved in a controversial penalty decision in which Chelsea's Florent Malouda dived to the ground. Although no Chelsea player appealed, referee Rob Styles awarded a penalty because he thought Finnan had fouled Malouda. Video replays later showed that there was no illegal contact between the players, and Styles was suspended from refereeing for a week, as well as issuing an apology to Liverpool.^[6][7] The final score was Liverpool 1–1 Chelsea when Frank Lampard converted the penalty to equalise Fernando Torres' 16th-minute goal.

Finnan made it into the top 100 Liverpool appearances of all time when he came on as substitute in the 4–0 victory over Toulouse on 28 August 2007.^{[citation needed]}

It was claimed by Sky Sports that Finnan's goal for Liverpool made him the only player to have scored in the five highest divisions of English football, although it was later demonstrated that it was actually a distinction he shared with Jimmy Willis.^[8]

After the arrival of fullback Philipp Degen at the club from Borussia Dortmund, Finnan was linked with a move away from Anfield as part of a cash plus player deal which would see Gareth Barry moving to Liverpool.^[9]

[edit] Espanyol

On transfer deadline day, 1 September 2008, Finnan joined Spanish side Espanyol signing a 2 year deal for an undisclosed fee.^[10] Finnan has suffered niggling injuries since his arrival at Espanyol. Espanyol coach, Mané, has stated that Finnan is still a key member of the squad.^[11] Despite this, there have been reports linking Finnan with Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City.^[11]

[edit] International career

A Republic of Ireland Under-21 international, Finnan stepped up to the senior side in 2000 against Greece, filling in for the injured Stephen Carr. Although he was raised in England, Finnan is very proud of his Irish nationality and he has alluded to this fact in many interviews.^{[citation needed]}

He cemented his place in the Irish starting XI towards the end of qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, supplying the cross for Jason McAteer to score the only goal in the crucial 1–0 home win against the Netherlands in September 2001. He appeared in all four of Ireland's games in South Korea and Japan, but injury disrupted his participation in the unsuccessful attempt to reach the Euro 2004 finals. He was a regular choice in the 2006 World Cup qualification games.

Finnan announced his retirement from international football on 22 January 2008 after making 50 appearances for the Republic of Ireland. ^[12] He returned to the fold, however, in August 2008, after the appointment of Giovanni Trapattoni to the manager's role caused him to change his mind.

[edit] Statistics

• Correct as of 8 February 2008

Club performance

Club	Season	Domestic League1		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool	2007–08	17	0	2	0	1	0	6	0	0	0	29	0
	2006–07	31	0	1	0	0	0	11	0	1	0	44	0
	2005–06	33	0	6	0	0	0	12	0	1	0	52	0
	2004–05	33	1	0	0	5	0	14	0	0	0	52	1
	2003–04	22	0	3	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	31	0
Liverpool Total		136	1	12	0	6	0	49	0	2	0	208	1
Fulham	2002–03	32	0	3	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	41	0
	2001–02	38	0	6	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	47	0
	2000–01	45	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	48	2
	1999–00	35	3	4	1	6	0	0	0	0	0	45	4
	1998–99	22	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	27	2
Fulham Total		172	7	18	1	12	0	5	0	1	0	208	8
Notts County	1998–99	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	1997–98	44	5	3	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	51	6
	1996–97	23	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	0
Notts C Total		80	5	6	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	90	6
Birmingham City	1996–97	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Notts County (on loan)	1995–96	17	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	20	3
Birmingham City	1995–96	12	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	19	1
Welling United	1994–95	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	1
	1993–94	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
Total		461	17	36	2	26	0	54	0	9	1	589	20
1Includes Premiership, The Football League and Nationwide Conference.

[edit] Career honours

Notts County

• Football League Third Division
  • Winner (1): 1997–98

Fulham

• Football League Second Division
  • Winner (1): 1998–99
• Football League First Division
  • Winner (1): 2000–01
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winner (1): 2002

Liverpool

• FA Cup
  • Winner (1): 2006
• FA Community Shield
  • Winner (1): 2006
• Football League Cup
  • Runner-up (1): 2005
• FIFA Club World Cup
  • Runner-up (1): 2005
• UEFA Champions League
  • Winner (1): 2004–05
  • Runner-up (1): 2006–07
• UEFA Super Cup
  • Winner (1): 2005

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Steve Finnan's career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at liverpoolfc.tv
• Thisisanfield.com player profile
• Profile at BBCSport
• Reds Star Finnan Arrested
• Finnan avoids prosecution
• LFChistory.net player profile

v • d • e Republic of Ireland squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Given • 2 Finnan • 3 Harte • 4 Cunningham • 5 Staunton • 6 Roy Keane • 7 McAteer • 8 Holland • 9 Duff • 10 Robbie Keane • 11 Kilbane • 12 Kinsella • 13 Connolly • 14 Breen • 15 Dunne • 16 Kiely • 17 Quinn • 18 G. Kelly • 19 Morrison • 20 O'Brien • 21 Reid • 22 Carsley • 23 A. Kelly • Coach: McCarthy

v • d • e RCD Espanyol – current squad 1 Kameni · 2 Chica · 3 David García · 4 Lacruz · 5 Sergio Sánchez · 6 Román · 7 Valdo · 8 Callejón · 9 de la Peña · 10 Luis García · 11 Smiljanić · 12 Béranger · 13 Javi Ruiz · 14 Ángel · 15 Finnan · 16 Pareja · 17 Nené · 18 Sahar · 19 Torrejón · 20 Coro · 21 Jarque · 22 Moisés · 23 Tamudo · 24 Alonso · 25 Álvarez · 28 Sielva · 29 Juanjo · 33 Nakamura · 34 Víctor Ruiz · 35 Dídac · 36 Baena · - Rufete · Coach: Pochettino

Persondata
NAME	Finnan, Stephen John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Finnan, Steve
SHORT DESCRIPTION	footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	1976-4-24
PLACE OF BIRTH	Limerick , Republic of Ireland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH