Michael Alphonsus "Al" Finucane (born 8 January 1943) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. During his 28-year career he played for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

sides

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

and

Newcastlewest Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicized Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city, It is also the county town, and sits on the ...

. Finucane was also a member of several

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

squads. Finucane played his first game for

as a 17-year-old in 1961. Finucane played in Europe for Limerick against

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

in 1965 and 21 years later for Waterford against

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. He is the oldest player who ever played in any European club competition beating

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at the ...

's previous record. In September 1986, when he appeared against Girondins de Bordeaux in the European Cup-Winners' Cup, he was 43 years and 261 days old. Also, despite playing in so many games, Finucane was never sent off and only received 3 yellow cards. He won 3

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

winners medals; in 1971 and 1982 with Limerick and 1980 with Waterford. He also hold the record for the most League of Ireland appearances. By the mid-1960s offers from cross-Channel clubs were pouring in. Everton came over to see the Limerick half-back in action in Milltown,

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

arrived from Glasgow Celtic and there were scouting missions from Swindon Town and Millwall. Serious offers followed but after talks between the player and his Limerick manager, the decision was made to remain in Limerick. He has the distinction of scoring the first ever goal in a competitive game at

Flower Lodge A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

. Finucane won 11 caps for Ireland and captained the team away to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 197

He played in the first ever Republic of Ireland national under-23 football team, Republic of Ireland U23 game in 1966 and played in un-capped internationals against West Germany's Olympic team and Australia. Finucane scored against

Hibernians F.C. Hibernians Football Club is a Maltese professional football club based in the town of Paola. History The club played one season in 1922 as Constitutionals FC, representing the pro-British Constitutional Party. They started up again in the 19 ...

in the

1980–81 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1980–81 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Dinamo Tbilisi in the final against Carl Zeiss Jena. Dinamo Tbilisi's side defeated English Second Division side West Ham United away before beating Carl Zeiss Jena in a final watch ...

. In January 1985 Finucane won his first Player of the Month award. He retired in April 1988. His nephew, Paul Finucane, played for

Limerick F.C. Limerick Football Club ( ga, Club Peile Luimnigh) was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick ...

and his younger brother Tony played as a goalkeeper for

in the 1970s. He is known for his love of sunbathing.

Honours

Club

: 3 **

1971, 1982 **

1980 *

FAI League Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited ...

1973–74 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

1969–70

Individual

* SWAI Personality of the Year **

- 1966–67 * FAI Football Legend ** 2007

References

External links

''Al Finucane file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finucane, Al 1943 births Living people Association footballers from Limerick (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football defenders League of Ireland players Limerick F.C. players Waterford F.C. players League of Ireland XI players