Name: Roy Finch
Seasons Played: 1948/49-1958/59
Position: Outside-left
Date of Birth: 07.04.1922
Died: 14.08.2007
Birthplace: Barry Island, Glamorgan
League Debut: 12.02.1949, Southampton (a), Div 2
League Games: 275
League Goals: 56
Career: Barrians FC, Swansea Town, West Bromwich Albion, LCFC.

Speedy left-winger Roy Finch began his footballing career with the Barry Schools team before progressing to the Cardiff and District League and then signing for Swansea Town.

He served in the RAF during the Second World War when he guested for a number of clubs including Luton Town. Then he signed for West Brom on the recommendations of a colleague who was an Albion supporter and season ticket holder.

But after two and a half seasons at The Hawthorns in which he made 22 appearances, he chose to come to Lincoln. He signed for City in February 1949 for £3,000 and went on to be a member of the 1951/52 team that won the Division Three North title.

Finch had a dramatic start to his Sincil Bank career having signed while back in South Wales.

City decided on the Friday night that they needed him to play at Southampton the following day but it was too late for him to catch a train. Instead he was flown from Cardiff airport to Southampton in the private plane of Imps' director Godfrey Holmes in time to make his debut at The Dell.

City lost that game 4-0 and at the end of the 1948/49 season found themselves relegated back to Division Three North.

Within three years manager Bill Anderson had assembled one of City's strongest ever squads as they fought off challenges from Grimsby and Stockport to win the Northern Section title; Finch scoring 14 goals from his 37 League appearances that season.

Finch went on to feature in 11 seasons of League football for City, making a total of 291 League and Cup appearances, netting 58 goals in the process.

The Welshman settled in the city after his full-time playing career came to an end and on retirement from the professional game, he ran a newsagents shop in Winn Street for 19 years.

One of just two City players to have netted a Christmas Day hat-trick (his coming against Rochdale in 1950 with the other being Donald Lees against Crewe in 1893), Finch also played local football for a couple of seasons first with a prison warder's team and then with East End Athletic in the Lincoln Sunday League.

Profile adapted from an original article that appeared in the official Lincoln City FC match day programme, season 1998/99.