Sir Thomas FinneyCBE (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of England's greatest-ever players. He was noted for his all-around ability, sportsmanship and loyalty to Preston, for whom he made 433 Football League and 39 FA Cup appearances, scoring a total of 210 goals. He played for England 76 times, scoring 30 goals. He was nicknamed the "Preston Plumber" because of his local plumbing business and he was affectionately known as "Mr Preston" by Prestonians past and present.[1]
Early life
Finney was born on 5 April 1922 at his parents' home on St Michael's Road, Preston, Lancashire, a few hundred yards from Deepdale stadium, the home of Preston North End. His parents were Maggie (née Mitchell) and Alf Finney. He had an elder brother called Joe and four sisters called Madge, Peggy, Doris and Edith. Alf was a clerical worker in local government who sometimes found himself unemployed on account of the changing economic climate.[2]
When Tom was very young, the family moved to Daisy Lane in the Holme Slack area of Preston. They were struck by tragedy in 1927 when Maggie was suddenly taken ill and died, aged 32. Alf managed to keep the family together with the help of relations and neighbours.[3]
When Alf remarried, the family moved to a larger house on the nearby Rose Lane. Finney attended Deepdale County Primary School and then Deepdale Secondary Modern School in Preston until the age of fourteen. As a schoolboy, Finney enjoyed watching Alex James play at Deepdale.[4][5]
Inspired by his father, who was a keen football fan, Finney played the game from a very early age both at school and in the Holme Slack playing fields near home. His ambition was always to become a professional footballer but he was somewhat frail and sickly in his youth and stood only 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) when he left school in 1936 at the age of fourteen. He became a plumbingapprentice for a local plumbing company called Pilkington's.[6]
The following year, Finney saw an advert placed by Preston North End in the local newspaper for junior players aged fourteen to eighteen. He asked his father to help him get a trial. His father met Preston trainer Will Scott and it was arranged. Finney had an outstanding match in the trial and was immediately offered a contract at the wage of £2 10s a week. He went home to get his father's approval but Alf Finney refused, insisting that he must first complete his apprenticeship before signing professional terms. Preston were nevertheless happy with this and Finney joined them as an amateur, doing his training in the evenings after work and eligible to play for the club's junior teams.[7]
Largely inspired by Bill Shankly, who was a first team regular, and helped by Scott, Finney worked hard in training and began to enhance his skills and technique.[8] He later described Shankly as his "football mentor".[9] Finney soon won a place in Preston's youth team, known as the B team, which won four trophies while he played for them. Although he was satisfied with plumbing as a full-time career, he set himself the goal of becoming a professional footballer and playing for the club's first team.[8]
Second World War
Turning professional
Finney was 17 when the Second World War began in September 1939. His elder brother Joe was playing for Netherfield A.F.C. and training with nearby Blackburn Rovers. Their father thought it would be sensible for both his sons to be at the same club. In January 1940, Finney was about to join Rovers when he received a letter from Preston North End which resulted in him signing on as a professional. He later recalled that he was signed on wartime terms of ten shillings a match.[10]
First-class league and cup football had been suspended for the duration, but regional wartime league competitions were organised as a boost to the people's morale. There were ten regional leagues in 1939–40 and Preston were in the North West League, finishing as runners-up to champions Bury.[11] Finney continued to play youth team football through the season.[8]
1940–41 season
The number of leagues were reduced to two in 1940 and Preston joined the North Regional League (NRL) for the 1940–41 season, which began on Saturday, 31 August 1940. They began their campaign with an away match against Liverpool at Anfield. Finney, now 18, made his first team debut playing on the right wing (wearing the no. 7 shirt). Five of his youth team colleagues, including Andy McLaren, also made their first team debuts. Played before an estimated 6,000 people, the result was a 3–3 draw after Preston led 3–2 at half-time. The Liverpool team included Bob Paisley, Billy Liddell and, playing as a guest, Stan Cullis. For military reasons, neither Matt Busby of Liverpool nor Bill Shankly of Preston were available. The Lancashire Evening Post praised Finney's performance as he was involved in creating two of the Preston goals and, but for a lucky save by Sam Bartram, would have scored the winning goal near the end of the match.[12][13]
With Finney in the team, Preston went on to enjoy a successful season and won the NRL with 18 wins in the 29 matches they played. They also won the Football League War Cup, defeating Arsenal 2–1 in a replay at Ewood Park after the final at Wembley Stadium ended 1–1.[14] There were 36 teams in the 1940–41 NRL – 34 in the South Regional League (SRL) – but, because of wartime demands limiting the availability of players and venues, fixtures were often unfulfilled. For example, Bury played the most matches (38) while their near neighbours Bolton Wanderers could only manage 16.[14]
The Football League War Cup began in February with ties played on a two-legged, home-and-away basis. Finney began with two goals at home against Bury, a match described as a thriller that ended 4–4. Preston won 2–1 in the second leg at Gigg Lane and then enjoyed convincing victories over Bolton Wanderers and Tranmere Rovers to reach the quarter-finals. They defeated Manchester City 5–1 on aggregate but faced a tough semi-final tie against Newcastle United. Preston won the first leg at home 2–0 and held on for a 0–0 draw in the second at St James' Park. In one of his rare appearances that season, Bill Shankly scored both goals in the home leg.[15]
The final at Wembley was the biggest event of Finney's career so far and he described the experience at some length in his autobiography. Playing on the right wing, he directly faced Eddie Hapgood, who was the England captain, and Finney said the prospect made him "feel quite weak at the knees".[16] Because of wartime travel constraints, only a few hundred Preston fans were in the 60,000 crowd but among them were Finney's father and brother. Finney got the better of Hapgood to provide the assist for McLaren to score the opening goal. He says Preston should have made the most of their advantage but they failed to score from several good chances and Arsenal equalised with a goal by Denis Compton. The match ended 1–1 and Finney said the team were disappointed.[17]
The Preston fans formed the majority of the crowd at the replay in Blackburn. Finney recalled that it was touch-and-go as to whether Bobby Beattie, their Scottish international inside forward would be able to play because of his RAF commitments. He had not arrived at Deepdale when the team set off for Blackburn and they were surprised to find him waiting at Ewood Park; he had gone straight there after getting a late release to play. It was as well for Preston he did, because he scored both their goals as they defeated Arsenal 2–1. Bernard Joy scored an equaliser for Arsenal after Beattie's first.[18] Finney gave most of the credit to Beattie but both of the goals came from moves in which he was primarily involved.[19] Finney recalled that, for winning the War Cup, each of the Preston players were awarded five wartime savings certificates with a value of fifteen shillings apiece.[20] Having faced Finney twice, the experienced Hapgood said he was "amazed to see a right-winger dribbling so brilliantly with his left foot".[21]
He was sent to Egypt and served with Montgomery's Eighth Army.[citation needed] When on leave in North Africa, he was able to play for army football teams against local opposition.[citation needed] Many years later, he met the Egyptian film actor Omar Sharif, who told him that as a teenager he had been a substitute for one of the teams Finney played against, but he did not take part in the match.[25]
League football resumed on Saturday 31 August 1946. Preston were in the First Division and began the new season with a home match against Leeds United.[26] Playing on the right wing, Finney made his debut in a team that included Bill Shankly and Andy Beattie. The crowd was over 25,000 and, on what Finney called "a carnival sort of afternoon", Preston won 3–2.[27] Finney said he was "lucky enough to score one of the goals" and his biographer Paul Agnew cites this as a typical example of Finney's modesty.[28] Newspapers of the day reported that Preston's win was a "one-man show"; that Finney created all their goals; that Leeds would have won but for Finney; and that Finney's goal, Preston's second, was "a brilliant solo effort".[29] Although this match was his league debut, he was by no means a newcomer to the team, and the local supporters knew from his wartime appearances that Finney was an outstanding prospect. It was not until he played league football that his genius as a player was fully recognised.[30]
Finney went on to play for Preston in fourteen English league seasons from 1946–47 to 1959–60, including twelve in the First Division.[31] He played in the Second Division for two seasons after Preston were relegated at the end of the 1948–49 season. In the Second Division, Preston finished sixth in 1949–50 and then won the division championship in 1950–51.[31] The club was thereby promoted back to the First Division where they remained for ten years until the end of the 1960–61 season, the one following Finney's retirement.[31] Preston's best league position during Finney's career was second in both the 1952–53 and 1957–58 seasons.[31]
Second income
Post-war demand for plumbers ensured that Finney had a second income to supplement the £14 he received as a footballer.[citation needed] He became known as "The Preston Plumber" and ran his own successful plumbing business from the 1940s until the 1990s.[32]
Palermo approach
Along with Stanley Matthews, Finney was English football's most famous player in the decade after the war.[33] In 1952, Preston's chairman Nat Buck rejected an offer for Finney worth £10,000 over two years from Italian club Palermo, and Finney remained a one-club player.[34]
1950s
In the 1952–53 season, Preston were runners-up to Arsenal in the First Division. Preston won their last three games and this run took them two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the league table, but Arsenal still had a game in hand. This match, at home to Burnley, was the Championship decider and was played on the night before the 1953 FA Cup Final. Arsenal had to win to equal Preston's points total and overtake them on goal average.[note 1] They won 3–2 and claimed the title by the margin of 0.099 of a goal. It was the closest that Finney came to a major title in his career.[33]
He played for Preston in the 1954 FA Cup Final against West Bromwich Albion, his only cup final appearance. Preston lost 3–2 and Finney revealed in his autobiography that he was not fully match fit and "did not give his best performance".[citation needed]
Finney formed an attacking partnership with Tommy Thompson in the 1950s. In the 1956–57 season they scored a combined total of 57 goals; in 1957–58 their combined tally was 60 goals.[citation needed] Preston were First Division runners-up again in 1957–58, five points behind champions Wolverhampton Wanderers.[33]
England
Finney made his international debut for England on 28 September 1946, only four weeks after his Football League debut. The match was at Windsor Park against Ireland in the Home Championship. Finney scored once in England's 7–2 victory. He later said the match was his "proudest day as a footballer".[citation needed]
Finney won 76 caps and scored 30 goals in an England career that spanned twelve years and included 51 victories.[citation needed] He scored his 29th international goal in June 1958 against the Soviet Union to become joint England all-time top-scorer, sharing the record with Vivian Woodward and Nat Lofthouse.[citation needed] In October the same year, he netted his 30th goal, against Northern Ireland, to become the sole holder of the record.[citation needed] Two weeks later, Nat Lofthouse equalled his tally. Both were surpassed by Bobby Charlton in October 1963. Finney made his final appearance for England in October 1958, in a 5–0 win over the Soviet Union at Wembley.[citation needed]
Style and technique
Finney was a versatile attacking player who could operate in any forward position on either side of the pitch or at centre-forward. In the 1950s, he was often compared with Stanley Matthews and football fans would debate who was the best player, given Matthews' dribbling skills and Finney's all round ability.[32] Relatively small in stature, Finney could withstand hard tackling but his movement, speed and ball control invariably enabled him to avoid contact with defenders. While Finney was himself a frequent goal scorer, he was also a creator of goals and it was because of his assists that he was considered "the ideal team man".[32]
Jimmy Armfield praised the all round ability of Finney and commented:[35]
"He was a great footballer and a great man. A fantastic player. He had the ability to play right across the forward line - left wing or right wing - centre forward as well."
Finney respected the rules of football and believed in fair play and sportsmanship. He was never booked or sent off in his career.[34] Both on and off the field, he always had a reputation as a gentleman.[32]Dave Whelan supported this view when he said of Finney:[36]
"He was and still is a total gentleman."
Tommy Docherty who played with Finney at Preston made the following tribute:[37]
"If Tom was ever tackled unfairly you never heard him complain or retaliate. He was a gentleman on and off the field and an inspirational captain."
Retirement from Preston North End
Finney retired from competitive football in 1960 because of a persistent groin injury.[34] He had played his entire career for his local club, making 433 League appearances and scoring 187 goals. At the end of the 1960–61 season, the first after Finney's retirement, Preston were relegated from the First Division[38] and have not returned to the top flight since.
Finney returned to the plumbing and heating firm he had set up with his brother Joe, in Preston after the war. It thrived and expanded and came to employ more than 120 people. Finney also sat on the first pools panel which had been formed in January 1963 when many football matches were postponed due to the Big Freeze of 1963, a particularly cold winter. He was a member of the Football Grounds Improvements Trust and wrote several books on football, as well as covering football games as a journalist for the News of the World.
On 6 September 1979, Finney was awarded the Honorary Freedom of Preston, his home town, now city which is the highest award a Council can bestow on an individual.[42]
On 5 September 1992, Finney was appointed as a Guild Burgess of the 1992 Preston Guild Merchant (which meets every twenty years) by the Guild Mayor for "his services to Preston."[45]
The Splash sculpture outside the old National Football Museum in Preston
On 31 July 2004, Finney unveiled the water feature sculpture The Splash, by sculptor Peter Hodgkinson, outside Deepdale Stadium which at that time housed The National Football Museum.[47] The sculpture was inspired by the 1956 Sports Photograph of the Year which shows Finney beating two Chelsea defenders at a waterlogged Stamford Bridge,[48] which was taken on 25 August 1956 by photographer John Horton.[49] The museum has been moved to Manchester but the statue remains at Deepdale.
Finney maintained his links with Preston North End as the club's president from 1974–75 and 2006 marked 60 years since his League debut for the club. To celebrate this diamond anniversary, the National Football Museum, an organisation which he championed and with which he had close links, invited football fans to sign a specially commissioned flag which was presented to Finney at the beginning of the 2006–07 season to mark his 60 years with Preston.[50]
Finney was also club president of non-league Kendal Town for a number of years following his retirement.[51] The club was previously known as Netherfield A.F.C. and Finney's brother Joe started his football career there in the 1930's.
In 2016, the National Football Museum in Manchester launched the world’s first Football Walk of Fame on the walkway outside the museum as a permanent tribute to the legends of the beautiful game and Finney is one the legends to be immortalised in bronze plaques on the walkway. A copy of the bronze plaque was put on display in the main reception area in the "Sir Tom Finney Stand" at the Deepdale Stadium in February 2017.[53]
Finney was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1961 Birthday Honours for services to Association Football after his retirement from competitive football. Later, in recognition of his charitable work and services to Association Football, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1992 New Year Honours and then he was knighted in the 1998 New Year Honours for services to Association Football.[32]
Personal life
Finney was married to Elsie (née Noblett) on 1 November 1945 until her death in November 2004. They were married at Emmanuel Church, Preston and had their honeymoon in Bispham. In the early years of their marriage, they lived on Manor House Lane in Preston, before they moved to various properties in Fulwood, a suburb of Preston.[54] They had two children; a son Brian (born 1947) and a daughter Barbara (born 1949) and four grandchildren.
[55][56]
Two Preston care homes, Finney House and Lady Elsie Finney House, are named after Tom and Elsie.[58][59]
Death and tributes
Finney died in Preston on 14 February 2014.[60] The cause of death was not announced.[35] At the time of his death aged 91, he was one of England's oldest living former international footballers.[61] The funeral service was held on 27 February 2014 at the Preston Minster followed by a private interment service for Finney's family. The cortege commenced at the Deepdale Stadium were the public were able to watch a screening of the funeral service and it made its way to the Minster in the centre of Preston with thousands of people lining the streets to pay their respects to Finney.[62]
"To dictate the pace and course of a game, a player has to be blessed with awesome qualities.
Those who have accomplished it on a regular basis can be counted on the fingers of one hand - Pele, Maradona, Best, Di Stefano, and Tom Finney."
"Sir Tom Finney was one of the greatest footballers there has ever been; he was the type of player that people would travel a long way to see. His contribution to football was immeasurable."
Legacy
Following the award of a Knighthood to Finney in 1998, the Preston Council decided to rename a section of Deepdale Road as the "Sir Tom Finney Way".[65] The section of road concerned runs from Watling Street Road to Moor Park Avenue, past the Deepdale Stadium, where Finney had so many successful years.
In 1999, the "Sir Tom Finney Soccer Centre" [66] was founded at the University of Central Lancashire Sports Arena, located at Tom Benson Way, Preston, with Finney becoming President in 2005. It is a registered children’s charity that provides football coaching to all on a weekly basis. The FA
Charter Standard Club, "Sir Tom Finney F.C."[67]
works at the centre in partnership with the Lancashire Football Association, BUCS and UCLAN.
The "Sir Tom Finney Community High School" [68] was officially opened by Finney on 24 October 2008 as a generic secondary special school and his handprints and a replica sculpture of The Splash take pride of place at the school entrance. The school relocated to refurbished and new build premises on the existing site on Ribbleton Hall Drive, Ribbleton, Preston in September 2015 and the opening event was attended by Finney's son, Brian and Andrew Flintoff.
Finney has had two public houses named after him, which are the "Sir Tom Finney" [72]
on Central Drive, Penwortham and the "Phantom Winger" [73][74] on Garstang Road, Fulwood.
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[75]
^Throughout Finney's career, the Football League system was two points for a win and one point for a draw. Goal average (goals scored / goals conceded) was used as the tie breaker for teams with an equal points total. Goal difference was introduced in 1975 and three points for a win in 1981.
^Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side – 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. p. 202.
