Gary Finley (born 14 November 1970) is a former professional football central defender and non-league manager. He played in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
for
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
and was most recently Assistant Professional Development Coach at Blackburn Rovers .
Career
Born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, Finley played for
Marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...
,
Curzon Ashton
Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
. He made his debut in the League Cup in August 1997, as Doncaster lost 2–1 away to
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
, and played eight times in the league that season as they were relegated to the
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
. Upon leaving Doncaster he returned to Netherfield, moving on to
Hyde United
Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Conwy United in 1998 before joining
Aberystwyth Town
Aberystwyth Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-Droed Tref Aberystwyth) is a Welsh semi-professional Association football, football team, currently playing in the Cymru Premier, the top tier of football in Wales. They are the only top flight men ...
in November 1999.
He became player-manager of Aberystwyth in December 2001, a post he held until resigning less than a fortnight before the 2004–05 season, after the club's most successful period in 20 years. They reached their highest league placing, winning the MWC Cup and qualifying for the Inter Toto cup, drawing the home leg before finally bowing out to Dinaburg FC from Latvia. On leaving Aberystwyth, he had a brief spell as a player with Total Network Solutions, also appearing for
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
on seconds forms, before becoming player-manager at
Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England:
*Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire
**Witton Albion F.C.
*Witton Gilbert, County Durham
*Witton-le-Wear, County Durham
*Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire
* Witton, B ...
in November 2004. He and his assistant Lee Coathup left Witton by mutual consent in October 2005, following the club stating that it would be reducing the playing budget.
Finley was appointed assistant manager at
Lancaster City
Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...
in December 2005, remaining in that post until July 2006 when he took over as manager from the departed Peter Ward. In January 2007, he took over as manager of Colwyn Bay, where a massive upsurge in form saw them qualify for the Unibond playoffs, only to lose to
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
in injury time.
In 2008-15 Finley joined Blackburn Rovers category 1 academy, where he was Professional Development Coach.
For several years now, Gary Finley has been a full-time youth coach for Blackburn Rovers Football team academy where he is in charge of professional development for 18–23 age group.