Malcolm Finlayson (14 June 1930 – 26 November 2014) was a Scottish football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

who won the league championship and FA Cup with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

Career

Finlayson joined London club

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

after a trial in February 1948 and quickly made his league debut against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

on 28 February aged 17. He remained with the ''Lions'' for six full seasons in the Third Division. In one notable game against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

, he was taken to hospital with the team losing 1-3, only to return patched up during the second half and play on to help the side to a 6-5 win. He was first choice at

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which ...

, making 251 appearances in total, a figure that would likely have been higher but for his time on National Service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

where he played in the same football team as

Ron Flowers Ronald Flowers (28 July 1934 – 12 November 2021) was an English professional footballer, who played as a midfielder, and was most known for his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was a member of England's victorious 1966 World Cup squad. H ...

.Report by Tim Nash. He was sold to First Division

in August 1956 for £3,000, primarily as cover for England international

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as bei ...

. He made 13 appearances in his first season at Molineux, and his performances earned him the first choice spot during the 1957–58 season as the club won the league title. The goalkeeper kept his place the following season as he picked up yet another league title winners' medal. He added an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

winners' medal when Wolves defeated

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

3–0 in the

1960 FA Cup final The 1960 FA Cup Final was the 79th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. It took place on 7 May 1960 at Wembley Stadium in London. The match was contested by Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wo ...

. The club's domestic success meant Finlayson played in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

against the likes of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

. Finlayson announced his retirement in May 1964 after playing 203 games in total for Wolves. After his playing retirement, he went on to become a successful businessman with his steel stockholding company, R & F Steel Stockholders of

Kingswinford Kingswinford is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands, situated west-southwest of central Dudley. In 2011 the area had a population of 25,191, down from 25,808 at the 2001 Census. The current economic focus ...

. He also spent a brief spell back at Wolves as vice-chairman during 1982, following an attempt to buy the club in 1981 with

Doug Ellis Sir Herbert Douglas Ellis, (3 January 1924 – 11 October 2018) was an English entrepreneur. He was the chairman of Aston Villa Football Club from 1968 to 1975, and again from 1982 until 2006. Ellis was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours ...

which was outbid by the Bhatti Brothers. Finlayson died at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, on 26 November 2014 aged 84. Finlayson was married for 35 years to his wife Iris who died in 2012 aged 82. They had one son Stuart who died aged 39 in 2009, and one daughter Sandra, who survived him. He was also survived by a partner, Angela Field.

Honours

; Wolverhampton Wanderers *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First D ...

champions: 1957–58, 1958–59 *

winner:

1960 It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * J ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlayson, Malcolm 1930 births 2014 deaths Association football goalkeepers Scottish footballers Millwall F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players People from Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire Renfrew F.C. players Footballers from West Dunbartonshire FA Cup Final players