Carl Finnigan (born 1 October 1986) is an English footballer and plays for Dunston UTS. He has played for teams in Botswana, England, Scotland and South Africa during his career.

Career

Finnigan was born in

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

, Tyne and Wear. As a youngster, he played for

Jarrow F.C. Jarrow Football Club is a football club based in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, England. They are currently members of the . History The original Jarrow club were formed in 1894 after Jarrow Rangers folded.Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. 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. Finnigan joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

on 23 January 2007, replacing Anthony Stokes who had left the "Bairns" to sign for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He made his Falkirk debut, and his first appearance in a senior league, as a second-half substitute against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on 27 January 2007. The forward scored his first Bairns' goal three weeks later against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, when he "played a neat one-two with Gow and drilled a shot beyond McGregor from the edge of the penalty area". 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. He also scored the winner against the same opposition to take Falkirk through to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, and had a goal disallowed in the

Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

. Before the 2009–10 season, Finnigan signed a new one-year contract with Falkirk, with an option for a second year. On 24 June 2011, Finnigan signed for

(SPL) club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

. In February 2012, Finnigan signed on loan for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. 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

in April 2012 following a season-ending cartilage injury, but then signed for Dundee on 1 June. In August 2013, Finnigan joined South African National First Division side

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province, having previously being based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club's ...

on a one-year contract. He scored on his debut on 6 October 2013 in a 1–1 draw with

Thanda Royal Zulu Thanda Royal Zulu was a South African football club based in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. History The club started after a Swedish consortium that included Sven-Goran Eriksson bought the franchise from Benoni Premier United at the end of the 2006 ...

and went on to score a total of 4 goals in 9 league appearances. On 11 September 2014, it was announced that Finnigan had signed for

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

until the end of the season subject to international clearance. 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. On 2 July 2015, Finnigan signed for Township Rollers of the Botswana Premier League scoring 9 goals within 21 appearances. On 26 August 2016 he signed for

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. The club went on a 42-game win streak, getting promoted to the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One North and winning 4 trophies in one season. On 23 May 2019 it was confirmed that Finnigan had joined Whickham. On 14 December 2019, he was loaned out to Morpeth Town for the rest of the season, and joined them on a two-year contract ahead of the 2020–21 season. After seven months out with health issues, Finnigan joined Dunston UTS in September 2022.

References

External links

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Carl Finnigan Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnigan, Carl 1986 births Association football forwards English footballers English expatriate footballers Living people Sportspeople from Jarrow Footballers from Tyne and Wear Dundee F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Jarrow F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Chippa United F.C. players South Shields F.C. (1974) players Whickham F.C. players Morpeth Town A.F.C. players Dunston UTS F.C. players National League (English football) players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Expatriate footballers in Botswana Expatriate footballers in Scotland