Gary Finley (born 14 November 1970) is a former professional football central defender and non-league manager. He played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

and was most recently Assistant Professional Development Coach at Blackburn Rovers .

Career

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, Finley played for

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

Warrington Town Warrington Town Football Club is an association football club based in Warrington, Cheshire. They were established in 1949 under the name of Stockton Heath, adopting their current name in 1961. They currently compete in and play at Cantilever P ...

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently com ...

and Netherfield before joining

. He made his debut in the League Cup in August 1997, as Doncaster lost 2–1 away to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, and played eight times in the league that season as they were relegated to the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

. Upon leaving Doncaster he returned to Netherfield, moving on to

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional Association football, football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City F.C. ...

and to Welsh side Conwy United in 1998 before joining Aberystwyth Town in November 1999. He became player-manager of Aberystwyth in December 2001, a post he held until resigning less than a fortnight before the 2004–05 season, after the club's most successful period in 20 years. They reached their highest league placing, winning the MWC Cup and qualifying for the Inter Toto cup, drawing the home leg before finally bowing out to Dinaburg FC from Latvia. On leaving Aberystwyth, he had a brief spell as a player with

Total Network Solutions 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 ...

, also appearing for

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpor ...

on seconds forms, before becoming player-manager at Witton Albion in November 2004. He and his assistant Lee Coathup left Witton by mutual consent in October 2005, following the club stating that it would be reducing the playing budget. Finley was appointed assistant manager at

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footba ...

in December 2005, remaining in that post until July 2006 when he took over as manager from the departed Peter Ward. In January 2007, he took over as manager of Colwyn Bay, where a massive upsurge in form saw them qualify for the Unibond playoffs, only to lose to

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

in injury time. In 2008-15 Finley joined Blackburn Rovers category 1 academy, where he was Professional Development Coach. For several years now, Gary Finley has been a full-time youth coach for Blackburn Rovers Football team academy where he is in charge of professional development for 18–23 age group.

References

External sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Gary Living people 1970 births Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Marine A.F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players Vauxhall Motors F.C. players Curzon Ashton F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Conwy Borough F.C. players Aberystwyth Town F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players English football managers Aberystwyth Town F.C. managers Witton Albion F.C. managers Lancaster City F.C. managers Colwyn Bay F.C. managers Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Cymru Premier managers