Sir Tom Finney - 1922-2014

Sir Tom Finney was born in Preston on 5 April 1922 to Alf and Margaret. He was one of six children and lived close to Deepdale in St Margaret’s Road.

When he was four his mother died from complications from appendicitis leaving him, his brother and four sisters to be brought up by their father. Tom later called his father as the ‘biggest single influence’ of his life.

He was educated at Deepdale County Primary and Deepdale modern and made his first appearance on the pitch at Deepdale aged 12 in the Dawson Cup (school tournament) where Tom scored the winner.

Tom got his first trial at Preston when his father who was working at the Sumners Pub struck up with a conversion with Preston trainer Wilf Scott, who later became manager between 1949 to 1953.

Tom got a game and impressed the coaches and was offered a place on the groundstaff. His father turned the request down as insisted that he complete his apprenticeship in the family's plumbing. business before signing as a professional. This led to one of his nicknames, the 'Preston Plumber' Tom still qualified for the ‘B’ team and trained with them twice a week whilst working.

Notable early dates were 31 August 1937 Tom was registered by North end as an amateur in the Preston and District League, aged 15 years.

On 4 May 1939 Tom made hos debut at outside right for North end juniors at Deepdale, against Manchester united juniors ‘Mujacs’.

On 9 May 1936 he was registered as an amateur with the Football League.

Tom turned professional on 25 January 1940, making his first-team debut in the autumn. But this was wartime, the Football League had been disbanded and wages were down to 10 shillings a week. He was to be one of a unique handful of footballers who, because of the circumstances, was to play for England before making his full League debut for his club.

Football in wartime was played on a regional basis and that season Preston were not only the Northern Section Champions, but they also reached the final of the Wartime Cup where they met Arsenal at Wembley. Finney played at right-wing, and ended 1-1, the Arsenal equaliser being scored by England cricketer Denis Compton.

The replay was at Blackburn's EwoodPark and Preston won 2-1. It was the only final Finney ever won, but it does not count as a senior football honour.

By 1942, Tom had been called up as a trooper with the Royal Armoured Corps. Eventually he was to see action with the Eighth Army as a tank driver and mechanic, but at this stage he joined the wartime guest circuit playing football by invitation for Newcastle, Southampton and Bolton.

The football continued when he was sent overseas to Egypt. He played for a forces side called The Wanderers and travelled the Middle East appearing in services games or against Egyptian national sides. In one such game the opposition's substitute was Omar Sharif, later to be a Hollywood film star.

Some of the matches were unnerving, the players having to sweep the pitch for mines before kick-off.

Towards the end of the war he was called up by England for a friendly game against Switzerland in Berne. The England XI lost 3-1, but a full international cap was not far away.

Tom was given a quick exit from the Army after the war, not because he was a footballer, but his skills as a plumber were needed. Builders and plumbers were in great demand due to post-war reconstruction, but it meant Tom could rejoin his club with all speed. He worked by day and trained by night and made that long-delayed League debut against Leeds United on 31 August 1946, the opening day of the 1946/47 season. Preston won 3-2 with Tom scoring the second goal on 18 minutes.

Less than a month later on 28 September 1976 Tom made his debut against Ireland in Belfast with England winning 7-2 with Tom scoring on debut.

Tom was limited to just 24 appearances in the 1948/49 season as Preston was relegated to Division Two. The 1950/51 season saw Preston win the Second Division Championship with Tom making 34 appearances and scoring 13 goals.

Palermo wanted to make a serious bid for the Italian Championship and decided that Tom Finney, by then 30, was the man to help them do it. They offered him a £10,000 signing on fee, £130 a month wages, bonuses of up to £100 a game, a Mediterranean villa, a luxury car and free travel to and from Italy for his family. They also offered Preston £30,000 but was turned down.

The 1952/53 season saw Tom as the second highest scorer with 17 goals from 34 appearances as Preston finshed runners up to Arsenal.

The 1953/54 season saw Tom win the Footballer of the Year award but also make one of his most disappointing performances as Preston lost 3-2 to West Brom in the 1954 FA Cup Final.

In August 1956 Cliff Britton became manager of Preston. One of his first decisions was to play the Tom as centre-forward and scored 23 goals the 1956/57 season with Preston finishing third in the First Division. The following season they finished runners-up to Wolves with Tom scoring 26 of the 100 league goals scored in the season. Tom also won the Footballer of the Year award for the second time.

By 1958/59 Tom was reaching the twilight and injury problems had reared up again. He played his final and 76th international in the autumn, a 5-0 defeat of Russia at Wembley, then hurt his groin in a Christmas fixture with Blackpool and played only one more game that season making only 16 in total.

The 1959/60 season with injuries taking their toll with a persistent groin injury Tom made his final league appearance on 30 April 1960 in front of 29,781 supporters as Preston beat Luton 2-0 The crowd sang Auld Lang Syne to him as he walked from the pitch for the last time.

But his football career was not quite over as when he was 40, Tom received a phone call from George Eastham, the player who revolutionised the transfer system by taking his club Newcastle United to court in 1963 over their right to retain him against his will.

Eastham, by now, was manager of Irish side Distillery who had been drawn against Benfica, team of the mighty Eusebio, in the European Cup. Eastham wanted Tom to sign for his club and play in the tie. Finney thought he was joking but agreed to turn out in the home leg.

And so it was that although he never won a First Division Championship medal he got to play in Europe's premier club competition after all. The result was Distillery 3 Benfica 3. Without Tom in the second leg Benfica won 5-0 and 8-3 on aggregate.

He was awarded the OBE in 1961, knighted at Buckingham Palace in 1998 and inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2002

He also served as a magistrate in his home-town for over 20 years, as well as commencing a four-year chairmanship of the Preston Health Authority in 1984.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1988 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel and a coach full of his former England team players in Central London.

Sir Tom became the Preston North End President

Sir Tom unveiled the water feature sculpture ‘The Splash’ outside Deepdale in 2004. The sculpture is inspired by the 1956 Sports Photograph of the Year which features Tom Finney beating two defenders at a waterlogged Stamford Bridge.

Sir Tom’s face was replicated into seats of the first of the new stands – The Tom Finney Stand – at Deepdale in 1996

At the time of his death aged 91, he was one of England's oldest living former international footballers. He was also one of only two surviving players from England's 1950 World Cup squad. The other is Roy Bentley.

Stats

	Appearances	Goals
Preston North End – League	433	187
Preston North End – FA Cup	40	23
England Internationals	76	30
The Football League	17	7
Career Total	566	247

England Appearances:

Game No: - Date	Venue	Opposition / Result
1- 28 Sep 1946	Belfast	England 7 v 2 Northern Ireland
2- 30 Sep 1946	Dublin	England 1 v 0 Republic of Ireland
3- 13 Nov 1946	Maine Road	England 3 v 0 Wales
4- 27 Nov 1946	Huddersfield	England 8 v 2 Holland
5- 03 May 1947	Highbury	England 3 v 0 France
6- 25 May 1947	Lisbon	England 10 v 0 Portugal
7- 21 Sep 1947	Brussels	England 5 v 2 Belgium
8- 18 Oct 1947	Cardiff	England 3 v 0 Wales
9- 05 Nov 1947	GoodisionPark	England 2 v 2 Northern Ireland
10- 19 Nov 1947	Highbury	England 4 v 2 Sweden
11- 10 Apr 1948	HampdenPark	England 2 v 0 Scotland
12- 16 May 1948	Turin	England 4 v 0 Italy
13- 09 Oct 1948	Belfast	England 6 v 2 Northern Ireland
14- 10 Nov 1948	Villa Park	England 1 v 0 Wales
15- 09 Apr 1949	Wembley	England 1 v 3 Scotland
16- 13 May 1949	Stockholm	England 1 v 3 Sweden
17- 18 May 1949	Oslo	England 4 v 1 Norway
18- 22 May 1949	Paris	England 3 v 1 France
19- 21 Sep 1949	GoodisonPark	England 0 v 2 Republic of Ireland
20- 15 Oct 1949	Cardiff	England 4 v 1 Wales
21- 16 Nov 1949	Maine Road	England 9 v 2 Northern Ireland
22- 30 Nov 1949	White Hart Lane	England 2 v 0 Italy
23- 15 Apr 1950	HampdenPark	England 1 v 0 Scotland
24- 14 May 1950	Lisbon	England 5 v 3 Portugal
25- 18 May 1950	Brussels	England 4 v 1 Belgium
26- 25 Jun 1950	Rio (WC)	England 2 v 0 Chile
27- 29 Jun 1950	Rio (WC)	England 0 v 1 USA
28- 02 Jul 1950	Rio (WC)	England 0 v 1 Spain
29- 15 Nov 1950	RokerPark	England 4 v 2 Wales
30- 14 Apr 1951	Wembley	England 2 v 3 Scotland
31- 09 May 1951	Wembley	England 2 v 1 Argentina
32- 19 May 1951	GoodisionPark	England 5 v 2 Portugal
33- 03 Oct 1951	Highbury	England 2 v 2 France
34- 20 Oct 1951	Cardiff	England 1 v 1 Wales
35- 14 Nov 1951	Villa Park	England 2 v 0 Northern Ireland
36- 05 Apr 1952	HampdenPark	England 2 v 1 Scotland
37- 18 May 1952	Florence	England 1 v 1 Italy
38- 25 May 1952	Vienna	England 3 v 2 Austria
39- 28 May 1952	Zurich	England 3 v 0 Switzerland
40- 04 Oct 1952	Belfast	England 2 v 2 Northern Ireland
41- 12 Nov 1952	Wembley	England 5 v 2 Wales
42- 26 Nov 1952	Wembley	England 5 v 0 Belgium
43- 18 Apr 1953	Wembley	England 2 v 2 Scotland
44- 17 May 1953	Buenos Aires	England 0 v 0 Argentina
45- 24 May 1953	Santiago	England 2 v 1 Chile
46- 31 May 1953	Montevideo	England 1 v 2 Uruguay
47- 08 Jun 1953	New York	England 6 v 3 USA
48- 10 Oct 1953	Cardiff	England 4 v 1 Wales
49- 03 Apr 1954	HampdenPark	England 4 v 2 Scotland
50- 16 May 1954	Belgrade	England 0 v 1 Yugoslavia
51- 23 May 1954	Budapest	England 1 v 7 Hungary
52- 17 Jun 1954	Basle (WC)	England 4 v 4 Belgium
53- 20 Jun 1954	Berne (WC)	England 2 v 0 Switzerland
54- 26 Jun 1954	Basle (WC)	England 2 v 4 Uruguay
55- 01 Dec 1954	Wembley	England 3 v 1 West Germany
56- 02 Oct 1955	Copenhagen	England 5 v 1 Denmark
57- 22 Oct 1955	Cardiff	England 1 v 2 Wales
58- 01 Nov 1955	Wembley	England 3 v 0 Northern Ireland
59- 30 Nov 1955	Wembley	England 4 v 1 Spain
60- 14 Apr 1956	HampdenPark	England 1 v 1 Scotland
61- 14 Nov 1956	Wembley	England 3 v 1 Wales
62- 28 Nov 1956	Wembley	England 3 v 0 Yugoslavia
63- 05 Dec 1956	Molineux	England 5 v 2 Denmark
64- 06 Apr 1957	Wembley	England 2 v 1 Scotland
65- 08 May 1957	Wembley	England 5 v 1 Republic of Ireland
66- 15 May 1957	Copenhagen	England 4 v 1 Denmark
67- 19 May 1957	Dublin	England 1 v 1 Republic of Ireland
68- 19 Oct 1957	Cardiff	England 4 v 0 Wales
69- 27 Nov 1957	Wembley	England 4 v 0 France
70- 19 Apr 1958	HampdenPark	England 4 v 0 Scotland
71- 07 May 1958	Wembley	England 2 v 1 Portugal
72- 11 May 1958	Belgrade	England 0 v 5 Yugoslavia
73- 18 May 1958	Moscow	England 1 v 1 Soviet Union
74- 08 Jun 1958	Gothenburg (WC)	England 2 v 2 Soviet Union
75- 04 Oct 1958	Belfast	England 3 v 3 Northern Ireland
76- 22 Oct 1958	Wembley	England 5 v 0 Soviet Union