TRANMERE midfielder Sam Finley has been hit with a 13-match ban for using a homophobic slur.

The 32-year-old admitted using the abusive and discriminatory language towards Walsall’s Jamille Matt during a match in January.

The length of the ban reflected the fact Finley has twice previously been banned for aggravated breaches of Football Association Rule E3.

The FA had sought a six-month ban, but the independent commission hearing the case opted to impose a 13-match sanction. In determining how many matches Finley should be banned for, the commission accepted as mitigation that the slur was only used once, and was not premeditated.

The panel also recognised that Finley had taken anger management courses with Sporting Chance of his own volition, and that the impact of those courses could be seen in the “significant reduction” in the number of yellow cards he had shown in the 20 matches since he started compared to the 20 matches before.

Finley was also fined £2,000 and ordered to undertake an education course. He has the right to appeal against the sanction.

Tranmere issued a statement saying they condemned all forms of discrimination and would deal with the matter internally.

Finley’s abusive slur was reported by Matt to the referee, Jeremy Simpson, who had not heard it. Simpson asked Finley about the incident after the match and he admitted he had used the slur.

Finley was banned for four matches for using the same slur towards a referee while playing for AFC Fylde in February 2016, and suspended for eight matches for calling a Rochdale player a “pikey” while playing for Accrington in January 2020.