Bill Finney
{{short description|English footballer}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Bill Finney
| image =
| fullname = Charles William Thomas Finney
| height =
| position = Inside forward
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1931|9|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = Stoke-on-Trent, England
| death_date =
| years1 = 1947–1949 | clubs1 = Crewe Alexandra | caps1 = 0 | goals1 = 0
| years2 = 1949–1955 | clubs2 = Stoke City | caps2 = 57 | goals2 = 14
| years3 = 1955–1957 | clubs3 = Birmingham City | caps3 = 14 | goals3 = 0
| years4 = 1957–1958 | clubs4 = Queens Park Rangers| caps4 = 10 | goals4 = 1
| years5 = 1958 | clubs5 = Crewe Alexandra | caps5 = 1 | goals5 = 0
| years6 = 1958–1959 | clubs6 = Rochdale | caps6 = 31 | goals6 = 1
| years7 = 1959–1961 | clubs7 = Macclesfield Town | caps7 = 32 | goals7 = 8
| totalcaps = 145 | totalgoals = 24
}}
Charles William Thomas Finney (born 5 September 1931) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Birmingham City, Crewe Alexandra, Queens Park Rangers, Rochdale and Stoke City.{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player1/billfinney.html |title=Bill Finney |work=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |accessdate=30 March 2009}}
Career
Finney was born in Stoke-on-Trent and began his career with Crewe Alexandra as an amateur before turning professional with Stoke City as an 18-year-old in 1949. He spent the first three seasons with Stoke in the reserves making his debut away at Manchester United on 11 October 1952, Finney scoring in a 2–0 victory. He scored twice in his next two matches in defeats against Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers as Stoke went on a poor run of form which led them to being relegated to the Second Division. He scored six goals in 25 appearances during 1953–54 and was used sparingly by manager Frank Taylor in 1954–55 as Stoke narrowly missed out on promotion. Finney signed for Second Division champions Birmingham City, for whom he played in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.Matthews, p. 241.{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |year=1995 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |page=87 |isbn=978-1-85983-010-9}} After failing to fully establish himself at St Andrew's Finney had short spells with Queens Park Rangers, Crewe Alexandra and finished his professional career at Rochdale. He later played for non-league Macclesfield Town where he scored eight goals in 32 games.{{cite web|title=Player Profile – F|url=http://www.silkmenarchives.org.uk/player_profiles/Players/f.html|work=Silkmen Archives|accessdate=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105033937/http://www.silkmenarchives.org.uk/player_profiles/Players/f.html|archive-date=5 November 2014|url-status=dead}}
Career statistics
Source:{{ENFA}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | |||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !rowspan="2"|Division !colspan="2"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="4"|Stoke City
|21 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 5 |
| 1953–54
|25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 6 |
| 1954–55
|Second Division |11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| colspan="2"|Total
!57 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 15 |
| rowspan="3"|Birmingham City
|10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1{{efn|Appearances in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup}} | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| 1956–57
|First Division |4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| colspan="2"|Total
!14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| Queens Park Rangers
|10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Crewe Alexandra
|1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Rochdale
|31 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 4 |
| rowspan=3|Macclesfield Town
|1959–60{{cite web |title=Cheshire League – 1959–60 |url=http://silkmenarchives.org.uk/season_stats/Cheshire_league/1959_60.html |website=Silkmen Archive}} |24 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 32 | 9 |
| 1960–61{{cite web |title=Cheshire League – 1960–61 |url=http://silkmenarchives.org.uk/season_stats/Cheshire_league/1960_61.html |website=Silkmen Archive}}
|Cheshire League |8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| colspan="2"|Total
!32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 40 | 10 |
| colspan="3"|Career total
!145 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 164 | 29 |
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{NeilBrownPlayers|player1/billfinney}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finney, Bill}}
Category:Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
Category:Stoke City F.C. players
Category:Birmingham City F.C. players
Category:Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Category:Rochdale A.F.C. players