Alex Finney.

When Alex joined Darwen in 1937 he was following in the footsteps of his former Bolton Wanderers teammate and captain Joe Smith who had played for Darwen in 1929. Both were members of the great Bolton Wanderers team that won the first FA cup final played at Wembley in 1923 against West Ham United. Alex was born in St Helens in 1901, and after leaving school worked down the pits. He was a left full back with South Liverpool before signing for New Brighton, it was whilst at New Brighton playing in the Lancashire Junior cup final at Burnden Park against Chorley that he was spotted by one of the Bolton Staff and signed on with them in 1922. He quickly established himself as Boltons first choice left full back, and became the youngest member of the FA cup winning team the following year.
Injury forced him to miss out on a place in the FA cup winning side of 1926, but three years later he again won a FA cup winners medal when Bolton won the 1929 final. Although he was one of the finest full backs in the country at the time, full International honours eluded him, one of the reasons ironically was another former Salmoner, Sam Wadsworth the left full back of Huddersfield Town in the twenties was the first choice England left full back during that period. (see S. J. Wadsworth) Alex who represented the Football League in 1928, played his last game for Bolton Wanderers on New Years day 1937, and when he left to join Darwen, he had been the last player on Boltons books from the FA cup winning teams of the twenties. Alex played for Darwen from 1937 to the outbreak of World War Two, which with the suspension of football ended his playing career, After hanging up his boots Alex moved to Wallasey were he worked for the Local Corporation untill his retirement. He died in 1982 aged 81.

Acknowledgements for the history in this section are made to :  Darwen RBL -- who originally published this page in 2002