He played as a midfielder in the Football League for Lincoln City and Cheltenham Town after starting his career with Nottingham Forest.
Finnigan signed permanently for Lincoln City for an undisclosed fee, later revealed as £50,000.00 and for the 2000–01 season he was made team captain.
Finnigan missed a large chunk of the 2001–02 season with a neck injury and after four years at Sincil Bank he left the club in March 2002 to join Cheltenham Town.
[6] In the close season of 2009, Finnigan was released by Cheltenham, with the remaining one year on his contract cancelled by mutual consent, quoting 'it was time to move on'.
[8][9] Finnigan was appointed as temporary manager of Kidderminster Harriers on 23 December 2009 following the departure of Mark Yates to Cheltenham Town.