Desperately sad news about the passing of EFFC legend Willie Finlay. Born in Auchterderran in 1926, Willie Finlay put pen to paper for East Fife in time for the resumption of competitive football after the Second World War. After turning out in a Supplementary Cup win against Dundee in August 1946, Finlay made his league debut at Dunfermline three days later, completing a half back line which would become an impenetrable buffer in the years ahead. Finlay, a commanding centre-half joined Jimmy Philp and George Aitken; all three former pit workers born within a four mile radius of each other in the coalfields of West Fife. Silverware in the form of the Supplementary Cup was won in September, defeating local rivals Raith Rovers in the two legged final. The Fifers also reached the quarter finals of both the Scottish and League Cups in addition to achieving a third place finish in Division B. At the end of the season John McArthur stepped down as manager to concentrate on his duties as club chairman, bringing in Scot Symon as his replacement. 1947-48 will go down in the history books as the season that the Fifers became a force to be reckoned with in Scottish football. Finlay turned out 49 times, a figure unequalled before or since by any East Fife player, as the side romped to the B Division title. More significantly the Methil men found themselves appearing at Hampden Park in the League Cup final having disposed of Hearts and Aberdeen in the quarter and semi finals respectively. Astonishingly the men from Methil repeated their feat of ten years earlier when they had become the first, and to date only lower division team to win the Scottish Cup. On this occasion East Fife saw off the challenge of Falkirk, winning 4-1 after a replay to lift the trophy. Finlay completed his honours tally for the season as the team retained the Supplementary Cup, beating Stirling Albion in the final. The Fifers consolidated their position in the top league with an impressive fourth place finish in addition to a semi final appearance in the Scottish Cup, going down to Rangers in front of a Hampden crowd of nearly 105,000. Revenge was gained six months later with a 2-1 extra time win at the same venue in the League Cup semi final, an occasion sadly marred by the sudden death of chairman John McArthur who collapsed as Charlie Fleming hit the winning goal. East Fife made no mistake in the final, defeating county rivals Dunfermline Athletic 3-0 with Finlay once again a rock in the middle of the park. Dreams of a Scottish Cup winners medal were dashed when the Fifers disappointingly lost 3-0 to Rangers in the final before another huge crowd of over 120,000 in April 1950. The departures of Allan Brown and Finlay’s half back partner George Aitken in addition to the limited first team appearances of 36 year old Jimmy Philp meant a case of rebuilding was required for manager Symon. Frank Christie was purchased from Liverpool and the promotion of Aitken’s deputy Danny McLennan soon had the Fifers challenging for honours again. Successive third placed league finishes in 1951-52 and 1952-53 were achieved, the latter campaign, with Finlay again ever present, saw the Fifers fall agonisingly short in the final furlong after topping the table for most of the season. A further blow was sustained with the news that Scott Symon was to take up the vacant managerial position at Preston North End. New boss Jerry Dawson guided East Fife to another League Cup success in October 1953, beating Partick Thistle 3-2 in the Hampden final after impressive win over Hibernian in the semi final. For Finlay it was a remarkable third triumph in the competition but unfortunately an alarming period of decline lay ahead for the Fifers under Dawson’s tenure. The same group of players who had come so close to winning the league title began to struggle to maintain even a mid table position. In January 1955 fans’ favourite Charlie Fleming moved south to join Sunderland and to the dismay of many the club accepted a bid of £3,000 from newly relegated Clyde for Finlay in the summer of 1956: A clear and definite signal that the halcyon days at East Fife had come to an end. The Bully Wee cruised to the Second Division championship in Finlay’s first season but the following year saw even bigger success when the Shawfield side shocked Scottish football by winning the Scottish Cup, beating Hibernian 1-0 in the final in front of a 95,000 Hampden crowd. In December 1958 Finlay found himself involved in a tragedy when a boundary wall collapsed during a game against Celtic at Shawfield, killing one young fan and injuring many others. Players from both teams rushed to assist the casualties with Finlay pictured in the evening newspapers carrying one youngster to safety. Finlay spent seven years at Clyde making 182 league appearances and scoring three goals. He returned to Fife in 1963, briefly turning out for Raith Rovers before hanging up his boots. Willie Finlay will be remembered as an accomplished, dependable centre-half during the most successful period in East Fife’s history. During his ten years at Bayview he made a total of 388 appearances in all competitions for the club. Only Dave Clarke, Sammy Stewart and Phil Weir have worn the black and gold on more occasions. In August 2008 he was back in Methil together Johnny Niven to raise the Third Division championship flag. Later that year, in a fitting and deserved accolade, he was voted into the club’s All Time Greats team and was the last surviving member of the cup winning East Fife teams. R.I.P. Willie Finlay...
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 15:48:20 +0000
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