Steve Finnan

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Personal information
Steve Finnan

Full name	Stephen John Finnan
Date of birth	24 April 1976
Place of birth	Limerick, Republic of Ireland
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position	Right Full Back, Right Winger
Club information
Current club	Liverpool
Number	3
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1993–1995 1995–1996 1996 1996–1998 1998–2003 2003–present	Welling United Birmingham City Notts County (loan) Notts County Fulham Liverpool	41(1) 15 (1) 17 (2) 72 (5) 172 (7) 90 (1)
National team**
2000–present	Republic of Ireland	38 (1)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:37, 9 September 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 19:37, 9 September 2006 (UTC).

Stephen John Finnan (born 24 April 1976 in Limerick) is an Irish football player, who currently plays for Liverpool. He can play as a right back or a right winger. Finnan is rated as one of the most consistent right backs in the English Premiership and is well known for his attacking drive from the right.

1 Biography
2 Outside football
3 Statistics
4 Career honours
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Limerick-born but English-raised, Finnan began his career with non-league Welling United, turning professional with Birmingham City in 1995, but, after only a handful of appearances, he was soon on his way to Notts County.

After some strong showings for County in 1997-98, Fulham paid £600,000 for his services in November 1998. He became an instant regular at Craven Cottage and a fans' favourite. With Fulham he won the old Second Division championship in 1999 and then the First Division in 2001.

After an impressive first season in the Premiership, Finnan found himself courted by many of England's top clubs and, having helped Fulham qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup and been voted into the 2001-02 team of the year by his fellow professionals, he opted to join Liverpool FC in summer 2003 for a fee of €4.9m.

Finnan's first season at Anfield was disrupted by a succession of injuries. However, the campaign ended on a high as Liverpool clinched fourth place and a UEFA Champions League qualifying spot.

During the 2004-05 season with Liverpool, he established himself as the first choice right back and a firm fans' favourite. This successful season saw him play in the Carling Cup final which Liverpool lost 3-2 to Chelsea. Finnan also started in the UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan, which the team went on to win. Unfortunately he picked up an injury and was substituted at half time.

A Republic of Ireland Under-21 international, Finnan stepped up to the senior side in 2000 against Greece, filling in for the injured Stephen Carr. Although he was raised in England Finnan is very proud of his Irish nationality and he has alluded to this fact in many interviews.

He cemented his place in the Irish starting XI towards the end of qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, supplying the cross for Jason McAteer to score the only goal in the crucial 1-0 home win against the Netherlands in September 2001. He appeared in all four of Ireland's games in South Korea/Japan, but injury disrupted his participation in the unsuccessful attempt to reach the Euro 2004 finals. He was a regular choice in the 2006 World Cup qualification games.

[edit] Outside football

Finnan was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving in April 2005. He was involved in a collision in his black Range Rover which resulted in the death of a pensioner three weeks after the accident. The incident happened in the Tuebrook area of Liverpool on 27 January 2005. Finnan was bailed pending further inquiries, but the case against him was later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

[edit] Statistics

**Club Performance**
Club	Season	Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool	2006-07	12	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	1	0	17	0
	2005-06	33	0	6	0	0	0	12	0	1	0	52	0
	2004-05	33	1	0	0	5	0	14	0	0	0	52	1
	2003-04	22	0	3	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	31	0
Fulham	2002-03	32	0	3	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	41	0
Fulham	2001-02	38	0	6	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	47	0
Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Fulham	2000-01	45	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	48	2
	1999-00	35	3	4	1	6	0	0	0	0	0	45	4
	1998-99	22	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	27	2
Notts County	1998-99	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	1997-98	44	5	3	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	51	6
	1996-97	23	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	0
Birmingham City	1996-97	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Notts County (On Loan)	1995-96	17	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	20	3
Birmingham City	1995-96	12	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	19	1
Welling United	1994-95	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	1
Welling United	1993-94	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
Total		415	17	33	2	25	0	39	0	9	1	521	20

[edit] Career honours

Notts County

1997-98 Football League Third Division (Level 4)

Fulham

1998-99 Football League Second Division (Level 3)
2000-01 Football League First Division (Level 2)
2002-03 UEFA Intertoto Cup

Liverpool

Winner
- 2004-05 UEFA Champions League
- 2005-06 European Super Cup
- 2005-06 FA Cup
- 2006-07 Community Shield
Runner-up
- 2004-05 League Cup
- 2005-06 Intercontinental Cup

[edit] External links

	Republic of Ireland squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Given \| 2 Finnan \| 3 Harte \| 4 Cunningham \| 5 Staunton \| 6 Roy Keane \| 7 McAteer \| 8 Holland \| 9 Duff \| 10 Robbie Keane \| 11 Kilbane \| 12 Kinsella \| 13 Connolly \| 14 Breen \| 15 Dunne \| 16 Kiely \| 17 Quinn \| 18 G. Kelly \| 19 Morrison \| 20 O'Brien \| 21 Reid \| 22 Carsley \| 23 A. Kelly \| Coach: McCarthy