Ethan Christopher Finlay (born August 6, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Austin FC.

Ethan Finlay
Finlay with Minnesota United FC in 2017
Personal information
Full name Ethan Finlay
Date of birth (1990-08-06) August 6, 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Duluth, Minnesota, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
Austin FC
Number 13
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Creighton Bluejays 79 (43)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010 Chicago Fire Premier 15 (3)
2012–2017 Columbus Crew 150 (30)
2017–2021 Minnesota United FC 84 (16)
2022– Austin FC 90 (11)
International career
2016 United States 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:10, October 22, 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of February 5, 2016

Career

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College and amateur

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Born in Duluth, Minnesota, Finlay's family moved across the U.S. during his childhood and he grew up in Minnesota, North Carolina and Wisconsin where he played high school soccer for Marshfield, Wisconsin as well as youth soccer for FC Milwaukee.[1][2] Finlay played college soccer at Creighton University between 2008 and 2011. Ethan finished his career in the top 5 all time in Bluejay scoring,[citation needed] and leading the Bluejays to the 2011 NCAA Final Four in Alabama. During his time at Creighton, Finlay was a M.A.C. Hermann Trophy finalist (3), finishing second in the voting for College Soccer's player of the Year award in 2012, the first ever player from Wisconsin to be a finalist for college soccer's most prestigious honor.[citation needed] Finlay was a NSCAA All-American First Team 2011, NSCA Academic National player of the Year 2011, College Soccer News All-American First Team 2011 and was Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011.[citation needed] Finlay was elected as the Fred Ware Award winner in 2011 as Nebraska's College Athlete of the Year.[3]

Professional

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Columbus Crew selected Finlay in the first round (No. 10 overall) of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft.[4] Finlay made his debut during a 2–0 loss at Colorado Rapids, coming on as a first-half substitute for the injured Dilly Duka in the 12th minute on March 10, 2012.[5] Ethan scored his first MLS goal vs the Portland Timbers in a 3–3 tie in May 2014.

Finlay had a breakout year in the 2015 Major League Soccer season, finishing the season with 10 goals and 13 assists[6]

On August 9, 2017, Finlay was traded to Minnesota United FC in exchange for $100,000 in Targeted Allocation Money for the 2017 Major League Soccer season, $250,000 in Target Allocation Money for the 2018 MLS season and $75,000 in General Allocation Money for the 2018 MLS season.[7]

On December 20, 2021, Finlay signed as a free agent on two-year deal Austin FC.[8] As a role player for Austin FC, Finlay has continued to produce. Becoming the sixth active player with 50 goals and 50 assists in his career, after he produced one of each in a 2–1 win against Seattle Sounders FC.[9]

International

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Finlay made his international debut for the United States men's national soccer team on January 31, 2016, in an international friendly against Iceland. In his second game with United States men's national soccer team, Finlay recorded an assist on the USA's game-winning goal against Canada. Finlay was eligible to represent the United States, his country of birth, or Canada, through his Canadian father.[10] He was cap-tied for the United States in the March 29, 2016, qualifier versus Guatemala.

Career statistics

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As of October 19, 2024[11][12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Playoffs[a] U.S. Open Cup CCL Other[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Chicago Fire Premier 2010 PDL 15 3 15 3
Columbus Crew 2012 MLS 15 0 1 0 16 0
2013 19 0 2 0 21 0
2014 29 11 2 0 1 0 32 11
2015 34 12 5 1 1 1 40 14
2016 34 6 2 2 36 8
2017 19 1 0 0 1 0 20 1
Club Total 150 30 7 1 8 3 0 0 165 34
Minnesota United FC 2017 MLS 11 3 0 0 11 3
2018 7 2 0 0 7 2
2019 33 7 1 0 5 1 39 8
2020 14 4 0 0 14 4
2021 30 3 30 3
Club Total 95 19 1 0 5 1 0 0 101 20
Austin FC 2022 MLS 34 5 3 0 1 0 37 5
2023 34 5 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 40 6
2024 22 1 0 0 0 0 21 1
Club Total 90 11 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 1 100 12
Career total 335 60 11 1 16 4 2 0 2 1 367 66
Notes
  1. ^ Includes appearances in MLS Cup Playoffs
  2. ^ Includes appearance(s) in Leagues Cup

Honors

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Individual

References

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  1. ^ Straus, Brian (20 November 2015). "Finlay's long road to becoming an MLS star". Sports Illustrated.
  2. ^ "Ethan Finlay, born in Duluth, looks to help Minnesota United in 2019". The Bark. 25 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Ethan Finlay - 2011 - Men's Soccer". Creighton University Athletics.
  4. ^ "Crew banks on Ethan Finlay to boost offense". www.socceramerica.com. 15 January 2012.
  5. ^ "2012-03-10-COL-v-CLB | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  6. ^ "By Season". MLSsoccer.com.
  7. ^ "Loons Acquire U.S. International, Minnesota-Born Ethan Finlay". 9 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Austin FC sign winger Ethan Finlay as free agent | MLSSoccer.com".
  9. ^ @MLS_PR (May 18, 2023). "50&50" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ King, Andrew. "Columbus Crew's Ethan Finlay receiving national team interest, but tight-lipped over which nation is inquiring". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  11. ^ Ethan Finlay at Soccerway
  12. ^ Ethan Finlay at Major League Soccer
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