Steve Finnieston (born 30 November 1954) is a Scottish retired footballer who played during the 1970s and 1980s, most notably for Chelsea.

Steve Finnieston
Personal information
Date of birth (1954-11-30) 30 November 1954 (age 69)
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1966–1974 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1978 Chelsea 80 (34)
1974Cardiff City (loan) 9 (2)
1978–1979 Sheffield United 23 (4)
Addlestone & Weybridge Town
Hartley Wintney
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A striker, Finnieston first joined Chelsea as a 12-year-old. He signed professional forms in December 1971.[1] He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw with Leicester City in 1975 and spent time on loan at Cardiff City during the same season. He didn't establish himself as a regular in the Chelsea first-team until 1976–77. That season was his most prolific, as he struck up an impressive partnership with Kenny Swain and scored 24 league goals, including a crucial winner against promotion rivals Nottingham Forest and a final day hat-trick created by a partnership with Tommy Langley, who also scored, against Hull City.

Chelsea were promoted back to the First Division at the end of the season but thereafter the goals dried up, though he did score in Chelsea's unexpected 4–2 win over European champions Liverpool in the FA Cup third round. He joined Sheffield United in June 1978 and scored four goals for them in 23 appearances.[2] Finnieston retired from professional football in 1980 at the age of 25 due to injury. He made a comeback a year later in non-league football with Addlestone & Weybridge Town[3] and Hartley Wintney. He also played and scored in a friendly for Camberley Town in August 1991[4] but he never played a competitive game for the club. He later became a postman and worked as a sales rep for Travis Perkins until 2006. He is now self-employed.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Career stats at Chelsea". Sporting-Heroes.net.
  2. ^ "Post War English & Scottish Football league players".
  3. ^ "1983–84 season review" (PDF). Cray Wanderers FC.
  4. ^ "1991–92 season results". Camberley Town FC.
  5. ^ "Were you there?". BBC Sport. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2010.