Carl Finnigan (born 1 October 1986) is an English footballer and plays for Dunston UTS.

Carl Finnigan
Finnigan in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-10-01) 1 October 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth Jarrow, England
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Dunston UTS
Youth career
0000–2001 Jarrow
2001–2003 Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2007 Newcastle United 0 (0)
2007–2011 Falkirk 113 (25)
2011–2012 St Johnstone 11 (0)
2012Dundee (loan) 5 (3)
2012–2013 Dundee 8 (1)
2013–2014 Chippa United 9 (4)
2014–2015 Gateshead 22 (7)
2015–2016 Township Rollers 21 (9)
2016–2019 South Shields 115 (72)
2019–2020 Whickham 19 (11)
2019–2020Morpeth Town (loan)[1] 12 (4)
2020–2022 Morpeth Town[2] 19 (1)
2022– Dunston UTS[3] 11 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:17, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

He has played for teams in Botswana, England, Scotland and South Africa during his career.

Career edit

Finnigan was born in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear.[4] As a youngster, he played for Jarrow F.C.'s under-age teams before joining Newcastle United.[5] He scored 56 goals for Newcastle's reserve and academy teams from 102 starts and 20 substitute appearances, but never appeared in a competitive first-team game.[6]

Finnigan joined Scottish Premier League club Falkirk on 23 January 2007, replacing Anthony Stokes who had left the "Bairns" to sign for Sunderland.[5] He made his Falkirk debut, and his first appearance in a senior league, as a second-half substitute against Kilmarnock on 27 January 2007.[7] The forward scored his first Bairns' goal three weeks later against Rangers, when he "played a neat one-two with Gow and drilled a shot beyond McGregor from the edge of the penalty area".[8] In the 2008–09 season, he played a major role, scoring twice and winning a penalty, in Falkirk's 4–0 victory over rivals Inverness Caledonian Thistle in what proved a successful fight against relegation.[9] He also scored the winner against the same opposition to take Falkirk through to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup,[10] and had a goal disallowed in the Cup final.[11] Before the 2009–10 season, Finnigan signed a new one-year contract with Falkirk, with an option for a second year.[12]

On 24 June 2011, Finnigan signed for Scottish Premier League (SPL) club St Johnstone.[13] In February 2012, Finnigan signed on loan for Dundee.[14] He scored on his debut for Dundee, a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Falkirk after coming on as a second-half substitute. Finnigan then scored in a 3–2 win over Livingston. Finnigan returned to St Johnstone in April 2012 following a season-ending cartilage injury, but then signed for Dundee on 1 June.[14]

In August 2013, Finnigan joined South African National First Division side Chippa United on a one-year contract.[15] He scored on his debut on 6 October 2013 in a 1–1 draw with Thanda Royal Zulu[16] and went on to score a total of 4 goals in 9 league appearances.[17][18]

On 11 September 2014, it was announced that Finnigan had signed for Gateshead until the end of the season subject to international clearance.[19] He made his debut on 20 September as a half time substitute against Welling United, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw within 5 minutes of coming off the bench.[20]

On 2 July 2015, Finnigan signed for Township Rollers of the Botswana Premier League scoring 9 goals within 21 appearances.[21]

On 26 August 2016 he signed for South Shields.[22] The club went on a 42-game win streak, getting promoted to the Northern Premier League Division One North and winning 4 trophies in one season.

On 23 May 2019 it was confirmed that Finnigan had joined Whickham.[23] On 14 December 2019, he was loaned out to Morpeth Town for the rest of the season,[24] and joined them on a two-year contract ahead of the 2020–21 season.[25]

After seven months out with health issues, Finnigan joined Dunston UTS in September 2022.[26]

References edit

  1. ^ "Morpeth Town – Appearances – Carl Finnigan – 2019–2020". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Morpeth Town – Appearances – Carl Finnigan – 2020–2021". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
    "Morpeth Town – Appearances – Carl Finnigan – 2021–2022". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Dunston – Appearances – Carl Finnigan". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Carl Finnigan". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Jarrow Lad Joins Bairns". Shields Gazette. 23 January 2007. Archived from the original (reprint) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2013 – via FindArticles.
  6. ^ "Striker To Quit For SPL". Newcastle United F.C. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2009.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Falkirk 0–2 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. 27 January 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  8. ^ "Rangers 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. 18 February 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  9. ^ "Falkirk 4–0 Inverness CT". BBC Sport. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  10. ^ Moffat, Colin (7 March 2009). "Inverness CT 0–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  11. ^ Moffat, Colin (30 May 2009). "Rangers 1–0 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  12. ^ "Finnigan handed new Bairns deal". BBC Sport. 8 July 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  13. ^ "Former Falkirk striker Carl Finnigan joins St Johnstone". BBC Sport. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  14. ^ a b "Dundee sign Carl Finnigan and Declan Gallagher". BBC Sport. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Chippa Sign Finnigan". Soccer Laduma. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Chippa's British import delighted with debut goal". PSL.co.za. 7 October 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  17. ^ "C. Finnigan". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Chippa release Siwahla, Finnigan". Kickoff.com. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  19. ^ "Gateshead Sign Striker Carl Finnigan". Gateshead FC. 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  20. ^ "Welling United 1-1 Gateshead". Gateshead FC. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  21. ^ "Our New Striker – Carl Finnigan". Township Rollers FC. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  22. ^ "Carl Finnigan signs for Shields". South Shields F.C. 26 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022.
  23. ^ "South Shields striker Finnigan signs for Whickham". nonleaguedaily.com. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Finnigan signs for the Highwaymen". Morpeth Town A.F.C. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  25. ^ Gordon, James (26 May 2020). "Five commit to Highwaymen". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  26. ^ Gordon, James (27 September 2022). "Experienced forward joins Dunston". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 17 January 2023.

External links edit