Steve Finnan

[Dobbo]

Extract of an article from today's Standard.

Steve Finnan may not be a household name yet but the Fulham defender has come a long way since a rejection from Crystal Palace almost dumped him on football's scrap heap nine years ago.
He said: "I was with Palace as a boy but they released me at 16 and I thought that might be my last chance of doing anything in the game.

"If Welling had not been starting their first year of taking on YTS players then I don't know what I would have done.

"They were my last option and if it had not come off with them I'd have probably gone to college and got a trade."


Had never heard that before..... okay, witch hunt time.
Who was in charge of the youth set-up in 1993 ?

[Dartford Lad]

I remember him at Welling, he was a class above!

Shame we never kept him really as he is a great wing-back now. He was a winger at Welling. :sob:

[cdm61]

A Smith showed him the door:rolleyes:

[Dobbo]

Originally posted by cdm61
A Smith showed him the door:rolleyes:

Why does that not surprise me !!!!!

[the_next_matt_jansen]

What division are Welling in?

[Croydon Exile]

Welling is famous for being the home of the BNP and the constant racist abuse they dish out to non-white players, on their side and on their opponents' side. I went to a game there a few years ago and was astounded. The Bernabeu had nothing on them.

[B the Bad ©]

Shows how much of a terrible judge of players Palace tend to be...

:grrr: :grrr:

[Batsta]

This sort of thing happens at all clubs.

Steve Bruce got rid of AJ.

Man Utd got rid of Robbie Savage ;)

[Sussex Eagle]

This was in the Echo about a year ago - probably the most suprising of the 'ones that got away' series - but don't get too annoyed - most clubs have turned down players as good or better - Newcastle turned down Shearer, Man U turned down Platt, a heck of a lot of clubs turned down Wrighty - c'est la vie.

[B the Bad ©]

Yeah, of course different circumstances, here and there. But to be fair, Robbie Savage is 30 and has totally matured with Age. He hasn't always been great. And AJ wasn't excellent for Birmingham, he's slowly matured too. I remember seeing Finnan years ago, he was always brilliant.

But yeah, I know what you mean.