Oxford City have shared their excitement for Love Island winner Finley Tapp to return to the club - but there could be one small problem.
Finn and his girlfriend Paige Turley were victorious in Sunday night’s finale and during their interview with Laura Whitmore, they reiterated their plan to move to Manchester together.
However, 20-year-old Finn is under contract with the club, which is a three hour-drive away from his proposed new home.
An Oxford City spokesman said that Finn “does have a contract with the club” and they are “looking forward” to him coming back.
In a statement to the PA news agency, he added: “We understand that at 20 years of age this was a huge opportunity for him, we most certainly understand why he took it.
“Finn does have a contract with the club, from our point of view we are excited and looking forward to him returning.
“The football club would like to congratulate Finn Tapp on winning Love Island.”
The defender was revealed as the joint winner of the competition alongside Paige on Sunday, with the pair sharing a £50,000 prize.
Overnight figures indicate that there was an average audience of around 2.8 million viewers for Sunday’s final, with 2.4 million tuning in on TV and 400,000 watching on non-TV devices.
This is down from the comparable July figures for the summer series final, when around four million saw Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea crowned winners, with 400,000 of those tuning in on non-TV devices.
Sunday’s programme was popular with younger audiences, with nearly half (46.5%) of all 16 to 34-year-olds who were watching TV on Sunday evening tuning in to the final.
On Monday, Whitmore praised the winning couple.
The presenter, who has previously spoken about her difficulties coming to terms with the death of former host Caroline Flack, said the pair’s “warmth, kindness and smiley faces helped me more than they’ll ever know.”
Former Love Island host Flack was found dead at her rented flat last Saturday after taking her own life as she awaited trial for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.
During the final, Whitmore paid tribute to Flack, telling viewers it had been “extremely difficult coming to terms with the loss of our friend and colleague Caroline”.
Iain Stirling, who narrates the programme and is Whitmore’s boyfriend, also congratulated the winners of the series in an Instagram post picturing him, Whitmore, Turley and Tapp.
“I’m the fittest person in this photo. Well done to Finn and Paige – your Love Island champions!” he said on Instagram.
Finn and Paige came ahead of Siannise Fudge and Luke Trotman, Luke Mabbott and Demi Jones and Jess Gale and Ched Uzor to be crowned champions.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
