Robbie Findley

Robert Findley (born August 4, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007.

For those of a similar name, see Robert Finley and Robert Findlay (disambiguation).

Robbie Findley
Robbie Findley playing for Nottingham Forest
Personal information
Full name Robert Findley
Date of birth (1985-08-04) August 4, 1985
Place of birth Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position(s) Forward
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 Oregon State Beavers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Boulder Rapids Reserve 17 (15)
2007 LA Galaxy 9 (2)
2007–2010 Real Salt Lake 96 (29)
2011–2013 Nottingham Forest 25 (3)
2012 → Gillingham (loan) 7 (0)
2013–2014 Real Salt Lake 41 (7)
2015 Toronto FC 25 (2)
2016 Rayo OKC 20 (4)
Total 240 (62)
National team
2008 United States U23 5 (0)
2007–2010 United States 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Findley played college soccer for the Oregon State Beavers and amateur soccer for the Boulder Rapids Reserve before turning professional in 2007. He played in Major League Soccer for Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, before moving to English club Nottingham Forest in January 2011. After a loan at Gillingham, Findley returned to Real Salt Lake before spells with Toronto FC and Rayo OKC.

Early and personal life

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Findley attended Shadow Mountain High School, graduating in 2003.[1] Findley is a cousin of basketball players Mike Bibby and Eddie House, and American football wide receiver Shaun McDonald.[1]

Club career

College and amateur

Findley began his career playing college soccer at Oregon State University.[2] Later, he spent two seasons with the Boulder Rapids Reserve of the USL Premier Development League.[3]

Major League Soccer

Findley was selected by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the second round of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft as the sixteenth pick overall.[4]

On June 21, 2007, Findley was traded along with midfielder Nathan Sturgis to Real Salt Lake in exchange for veteran forward Chris Klein.[5] He joined Danish Superliga side Brøndby on trial in January 2009.[6] However, he failed to secure a contract with the club and returned to Salt Lake. In the following season, he had three multi-goal matches, including the first hat trick in franchise history.[7]

In the 2009 MLS Cup Final, Findley scored in the 64th minute, tying the match at 1–1; Salt Lake later emerged victorious in penalty kicks, claiming the MLS Cup in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the MLS Cup final.[8]

Findley's contract with Real Salt Lake expired at the end of the 2010 MLS season, and he announced his intentions to leave MLS and move to Europe.[9] Despite this statement of intent, Findley was selected by Portland Timbers in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, enabling Portland to retain his MLS rights should he ever choose to return to the league.[10]

Nottingham Forest

After a short trial with English club Wolverhampton Wanderers in mid-December 2010, Findley was signed as a free agent by English Championship club Nottingham Forest on December 23, 2010, subject to receiving a work permit. His work permit was approved at a F.A. hearing in London on January 15, 2011.[11] Findley incurred a thigh injury in training shortly after joining Forest and became unavailable until Spring 2011.[12] After several months on the sidelines, Findley finally made his debut for Forest on April 22, 2011, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 victory over East Midlands rivals Leicester City.[13]

Findley made his full competitive debut for Forest on August 8, 2011 in a home fixture against Notts County in the first round of the 2011–12 Football League Cup. Findley scored Forest's second goal - his first goal for the club - after having an earlier effort ruled out for offside. He also converted his penalty in the match's penalty shoot-out, which Forest won.[14] Forest manager Steve McClaren said: "He can have a big impact in the Championship. He is as fast as lightning. He is quick, he covers a lot of ground, he works for the team, he defends when he has to and, most importantly, he can get a goal".[15] After struggling for first-team opportunities in 2012, Findley was loaned to League Two club Gillingham on September 21, 2012 for an initial period of one month.[16] He made his debut for Gillingham in a 2-0 away win at Port Vale, and supplied the cross for the first goal.[17] Vale manager Micky Adams stated that "the pace of Findley scared the life out of" his team.[18] After seven appearances for the Gills, Findley returned to Forest.[19]

On January 14, 2013 Nottingham Forest announced that Findley's contract had been terminated by mutual consent.[20]

Return to Major League Soccer

Following his release from Forest, Real Salt Lake acquired Findley's MLS rights from Portland in exchange for allocation money and re-signed him on January 16, 2013.[21]

On December 1, 2014, it was announced that Salt Lake had declined their option on Findley's contract.[22] Findley entered the 2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft on December 12, 2014 and was chosen in the first round of stage one by Toronto FC.[23] He scored a goal in his first game for Toronto to start the 2015 season.[24] Findley would go on to finish the season scoring 2 goals for Toronto FC.

On February 10, 2016, it was reported that Findley was no longer with Toronto FC.[25]

NASL

On February 24, 2016, Findley signed a contract with Rayo OKC of the NASL, the second tier in the American soccer pyramid.[26] On April 22, 2016, Findley scored his first goal for Rayo OKC in a 3-2 victory over Miami FC.[27]

On March 6, 2018, Findley announced his retirement from professional soccer.[28][29]

International career

Findley made his international debut for the United States national team in October 2007[1][30] and made three appearances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[31]

Career statistics
As of 14 February 2016[1][30][32]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Boulder Rapids Reserve 2005 910––––––92
2006 85––––––85
Total 1715––––––1715
Los Angeles Galaxy 2007 92––00––92
Total 92––00––92
Real Salt Lake 2007 166––00––166
2008 296––30––326
2009 2712––43––3115
2010 245––2160326
Total 9629––946011133
Nottingham Forest 2010–11 2000000020
2011–12 233103300276
2012–13 0000000000
Total 253103300296
Gillingham (loan) 2012–13 7000000070
Total 7000000070
Real Salt Lake 2013 2564052––348
2014 1611110––182
Total 4175162––5210
Toronto FC 2015 252––10––262
Total 252––10––262
Rayo OKC 2016 2041010––224
Total 204––10––224
Career total 24062712096027372
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References
  1. "Profile". Major League Soccer.
  2. "Profile". Oregon State Beavers. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012.
  3. "13 USL Alums on US World Cup Roster". USL Soccer. May 26, 2010. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012.
  4. "Galaxy select five players in MLS SuperDraft". Our Sports Central. January 12, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  5. "Findley, Sturgis go to RSL". L.A. Soccer News. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  6. "Amerikaner på prøve i Brøndby". Avisen.dk. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  7. Michael Black. "Findley nets RSL's first-ever hat trick". Deseret News. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  8. "CNNSI.com - Salt Lake's MLS title brings hope to sporting underdogs everywhere". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. November 23, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  9. Randy Davis (November 22, 2010). "RSL announce Findley will try luck overseas". Major League Soccer.
  10. Jeremiah Oshan (November 24, 2010). "MLS Expansion Draft, Analysis: Whitecaps Showed Greater Willingness To Spend". SBNation.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  11. "Nottingham Forest sign USA striker Robbie Findley". BBC Sport. December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  12. "Nottingham Forest's Robbie Findley close to fitness". BBC Sport. April 14, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  13. Paul Fletcher (April 22, 2011). "Nott'm Forest 3 - 2 Leicester". BBC Sport. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  14. "Match report: Forest 3 Notts 3 AET (Forest win 4-3 on penalties)". This is Nottingham. August 10, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  15. "McClaren: Findley can have big impact with the Reds". This is Nottingham. August 12, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  16. "Gillingham sign Nottingham Forest's Robbie Findley on loan". BBC Sport. September 21, 2012.
  17. "Port Vale 0-2 Gillingham". BBC Sport. September 22, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  18. "Threat of Nottingham's Findley helps Gillingham go clear in League Two". nz.news.yahoo.com. September 25, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  19. Day, Richard (November 1, 2012). "Scunthorpe Preview". gillinghamfootballclub.com. Gillingham F.C. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  20. Nicholson, Fraser (January 14, 2013). "Robbie Findley". nottinghamforest.co.uk. Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved January 14, 2013. Nottingham Forest can confirm Robbie Findley has had his contract with the Club cancelled by mutual consent.
  21. "Real Salt Lake acquires rights to Robbie Findley from Portland". MLS. January 16, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. Clipperton, Joshua (March 7, 2015). "Toronto FC defeats Vancouver in season opener Jozy Altidore scores twice and Robbie Findley adds one in 3-1 victory over Whitecaps". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  25. "Robbie Findley Released by Toronto FC". FanSided Inc. February 9, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  26. "Rayo OKC signs Robbie Findley". rayookc.com. February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  27. "RAYO OKC GRINDS OUT FIRST NASL WIN, EDGING MIAMI FC IN 3-2 THRILLER". nasl.com. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  28. "Former RSL striker Robbie Findley retires". RSL Soapbox. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  29. "Robbie Findley on Instagram: "Recently I was asked where I was now playing. Although I've already made the decision to retire from professional soccer I have yet to…"". Instagram. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  30. "Robbie Findley". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  31. Robbie Findley – FIFA competition record
  32. Robbie Findley at Soccerbase
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