Samuel Joseph Finley (born 4 August 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. He will become a free agent on 30 June 2024.

Career

Finley was first picked up as a youth by Everton, where he stayed until he was 16. Finley would then play for non-league clubs

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, before being released by the latter. Following this, Finley was signed by

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

side

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

. He would spend 5 years at the Welsh club, making appearances in Champions League qualifying against Legia Warsaw and Anderlecht during his time there. He also won the Welsh Premier League with TNS four years in a row, along with 2

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

victories and 1

Welsh League Cup The Cymru Premier League Cup, currently known as the Nathaniel MG Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a cup competition in Welsh football organised by the Cymru Premier. The competition was established in 1992 and is considered to be the second-mos ...

. In February 2015, he was loaned to Conference side

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. In August 2015, Finley would move to

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wesh ...

on a free transfer. He stayed at the club for 3 years, eventually becoming club captain. On 29 June 2018, Finley signed a 2-year contract with

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

. He made his debut for the club on his 26th birthday, coming off of the bench in a 0–2 home defeat to Gillingham. In April 2020, Finley picked up an 8 match ban as a result of an investigation around a comment made to Rochdale's former Irish international Paul McShane, during a League One fixture on New Year's Day 2020, regarding McShane's nationality. On 15 September 2020, Finley left Accrington Stanley by mutual consent and became a free agent. His previous 8 match ban was cited as a reason for the decision.

Fleetwood Town

On 18 September 2020, Finley joined

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

on a one-year deal. He made his debut on 20 October, coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute of a 1–0 away defeat against Accrington, the club he had been released from just a month earlier. He scored his first goal for Fleetwood in a 5–1 win against Plymouth Argyle on 21 November 2020. At the end of the season, it was announced that Finley's contract would not be being renewed by the club and he would be one of nine players to be leaving the club.

Bristol Rovers

On 26 May 2021, Finley agreed to join League Two side

on a two-year contract active from 1 July, linking back up with former-Fleetwood manager

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...

. Having missed all of pre-season after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

as well as picking up a muscle injury, Finley missed Rovers' first two matches of the season and made his debut on 14 August in a 2–0 home defeat to Stevenage. Finley scored his first goal for the club the following week when he curled a consolation goal into the top corner from 25 yards as Rovers lost 4–1 at

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Finley took the captain's armband for the final match of the season, a 7–0 win over Scunthorpe United that saw Rovers move into the final automatic promotion place on goals scored. On 20 September 2022, Finley signed a new contract with the club that would see his stay extended until the summer of 2024. Following the departure of

Paul Coutts Paul Alexander Coutts (born 22 July 1988) is a Scottish footballer who plays for League One club Bristol Rovers. A product of the Scottish Highland Football League, Coutts' first senior professional club was his home town club, Cove Rangers who ...

, Finley was named club captain prior to the commencement of the 2023–24 season. On 19 September 2023, he scored his first goal since April 2022 in a 3–1 EFL Trophy defeat to West Ham United U21s. In April 2024, following Rovers' penultimate match of the season, Finley announced that he would be departing the club upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the season.

Career statistics

Honours

;The New Saints *

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15 *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: 2015 AFC Fylde *

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

: 2016–17 Bristol Rovers * EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Sam 1992 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Southport F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players AFC Fylde players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Cymru Premier players Cymru Alliance players English Football League players National League (English football) players