Al Finucane

Michael Alphonsus Finucane (born 8 January 1943) is an Irish former footballer who played as a defender. During his 28-year career he played for Limerick, Waterford and Newcastlewest, making a total of 634 League of Ireland appearances — the highest in the league's history. In addition, Finucane represented the Republic of Ireland at international level.

He won the FAI Cup three times; twice with Limerick (1971, 1982) and once with Waterford (1980). In 27 seasons playing League of Ireland football, Finucane was never sent off. He started playing football with Reds United when he was eight and played at Under-13 level in the local schoolboy leagues. He joined Limerick as a 17-year-old under manager Ewan Fenton. Finucane played regularly for the reserve side until August 1961 when he again played for the senior team during Limerick's Shield campaign. Initially played at inside-left, Finucane scored eight goals in the 1961–62 season. He would later change position to centre-half, where he established himself as a ball-playing defender. He continued to play for the club until 1973, making over 250 league appearances. He scored in the opening game of their cup campaign, a 5–1 victory over Thurles Town, and was part of a back-four that kept a clean sheet against Cork United in the second round. In the following round, Waterford beat the recent winners of the League Cup, Athlone Town, to setup a semi-final tie against Finucane's old team, now known as Limerick United. The first game against Limerick ended in a 1–1 draw but Waterford won the replay 3–2.

Finucane remained at the club during the 1983–84 season, when financial and off-the-field issues resulted in the club changing their kit colours and their name from Limerick United to Limerick City. On 31 October, Finucane started in the club's Munster Senior Cup victory over Cobh Ramblers. He played one final season for Limerick before he was released at the end of the 1985–86 season at the age of 42. As of 2023, he remains the oldest player who ever played in any European club competition. He retired from football in April 1988. His final game brought Finucane's total number of league appearances to 634 (376 with Limerick, 237 with Waterford and 21 with Newcastlewest) which, as of 2025, set the record for the most appearances made by any player in the League of Ireland. Despite a playing career that lasted 27 seasons, Finucane was never sent off and only received 3 yellow cards. Finucane won 11 caps for Ireland and captained the team away to Austria on 10 October 1971. He played in the first ever Republic of Ireland U23 game in 1966 and played in un-capped internationals against West Germany's Olympic team and Australia.

Personal life Finucane comes from a family with a strong association with football. His uncle is John Neilan, who played full back for Limerick in the 1950s.

Outside of football, Finucane spent time working as a tailor's cutter and also ran his own shop. He later went into sales, working for Kerry Co-Op and Estuary Oil. He retired in 2006. Honours Club FAI Cup: 3 Limerick F.C. 1971, 1982 Waterford F.C.: 1980 FAI League Cup Waterford F.C.: 1973–74 Dublin City Cup Limerick F.C. 1969–70

Individual PFAI Merit Award: 2018 SWAI Personality of the Year: 1967 FAI Football Legend 2007