As he grew up in Mississauga, Matt Finlay was dreaming of becoming a professional football player. He had all the tools necessary to turn the childhood dream into adult-age reality: an abundance of ambition, overwhelming desire, natural talent, and an opportunity to learn the game.

     “When I was nine years old, what I wanted more than anything else was to play in the CFL one day,” he recalled. Finlay’s wish came true, not only did he get to play ten years in the Canadian Football League, he also became one of the shining stars of Canada’s premier football loop. The road to stardom was straightforward — first the fledgling Mississauga Football League, followed by four years of high school football with the Lorne Park Spartans, and finishing at the University of Eastern Michigan.

The Mississauga Football League was in its second year when Finlay was registered to play, somewhat against his mom’s wishes - she wasn’t too keen on her son being exposued to a contact sport. “It was against my better judgment to let Matt play football,” she recalled. “My main concern was that he would get hurt. Instead, I wanted him to get a good education.”

     As it turned out, her concerns proved groundless. Apart from the usual bumps and bruises, her son suffered no lasting injuries and, along the way, football helped Matt to an education she wanted. Matt’s mom became an avid football fan who watched her son’s every game while he played in Mississauga. “I had to learn the game, and I learned to like it,” she said.

     In the Mississauga league, Matt played for a team sponsored by Southdown Pharmacy and was exposed to the kind of coaching that helped form a solid foundation for his footballing future. That became evident when he suited up for Lorne Park Spartans in his second year of high school. “I think all the players, including myself, going to high school from the Mississauga league, had a great advantage,” Finlay said.

     At Lorne Park, he had some “memorable years” and over four years the Spartans lost only two games. “We didn’t have provincial or national ranking or anything like that those days,” Finlay recalled. “But we were considered the cream of high school football teams across the country.”

The road from Lorne Park led to Eastern Michigan and higher education via an athletic scholarship. His mom was glad Matt choose Eastern Michigan over other tantalizing offers because there football and education rated equal importance. “No matter how good a player you were, if your marks weren’t high enough, you were a goner. ” Not surprisingly, Finlay’s achievements didn’t escape the attention of Canadian football scouts and the Mississauga native was on his way to the CFL.

     He was originally drafted by the Montreal Alouettes in 1986, an unfortunate year for the CFL but even more so for Montreal. The Alouettes folded after the ’86 season and Finlay was picked up in the dispersal draft by the Toronto Argonauts.

     He played one game for Toronto. The Argos promptly dealt him to Calgary — another bad bounce for the Argonauts and a fortunate one for the Stampeders. The Lorne Park Spartans alumnus went on to lead the Stamps to some great seasons during 1987 and 1995. Along the way, he had seen some key changes. In ‘91 a drastic change took place, the Stampeders went from community-owned club to become privately owned by Larry Rickman. In the same year, hard-hitting linebacker Finlay was the Stampeders’ nominee for the outstanding Canadian player award and in 1992 he was chosen to the Western Conference All-Star team. He played in three Grey Cup games with the Stamps, losing to the Argonauts 36-21 in 1991 and to the Baltimore Stallions 37-20 in 1995 when the Stallions became the first U.S.-based team to win the Grey Cup and the first team in CFL history to win 18 games in a single season. Sandwiched in between was the 1992 Grey Cup game when Calgary beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-10 and Matt Finlay finally got to wear a Grey Cup champions’ ring. That marked Calgary’s first Grey Cup in over 20 years with Doug Flutie as quarterback. In that year, the Stamps had nine players on the Western all-star team, including Finlay. Matt played football at various levels from the age of 9 until a knee injury forced him to retire when he was 34. “A long time — and my body will tell you that.”

     He also has a lot of cherished memories. “I enjoyed playing at whatever level. I always strived to play in the CFL. To reach the Grey Cup would certainly be a pinnacle, and to win it is a highlight that would be hard to beat.”

     For the year 1992, Finlay shared Mississauga’s Professional Athlete of the Year award with National Football League place-kicker Klaus Wilsmeyer and during the silver anniversary of the city’s annual Sports Dinner in 1999, he was inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame.

     These days when he watches rather than plays the game, he has a “lot of serious concerns” about exposing young bodies to the rigors of contact sport too soon.