Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 β 14 February 2014) was an English international
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who played from 1946 to 1960 as a
winger or
centre forward
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
for
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the sport's greatest-ever players. He was noted for his
loyalty
Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another h ...
to Preston, for whom he made 433
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
and 40
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871β72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
appearances, scoring a total of 210
goals
A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.
Goal may also refer to:
Sport
* Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs
** Goals, the goal frame in ...
. He played for England 76 times, scoring 30 goals.
Early life
Finney was born on 5 April 1922 at his parents' home on St Michael's Road,
Preston, Lancashire
Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...
, a few hundred yards from
Deepdale
Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested".
History ...
stadium, the home of
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
His parents were Maggie (''nΓ©e'' 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. 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.
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 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 when he left school in 1936 at the age of fourteen. He became an
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
for a local plumbing company called Pilkington's.
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
William Scott (1893β1972) was an English footballer and football manager who managed in England in the 1940s and 1950s.
Scott began his career as an amateur with South Shields prior to the First World War, but joined the Navy in 1914. He gue ...
and it was arranged. Finney had an outstanding match in the trial and was immediately offered a contract at the wage of
Β£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.
Largely inspired by
Bill Shankly
William Shankly (2 September 1913 β 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...
, who was a first team regular, and helped by Scott, Finney worked hard in training and began to enhance his skills and technique. He later described Shankly as his "football mentor". 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.
Second World War
Turning professional
Finney was 17 when the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countriesβincluding all of the great powersβforming two opposin ...
began in September 1939. His elder brother Joe was playing for
Netherfield A.F.C. and training with nearby
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
. 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 North End which resulted in him signing on as a professional. He later recalled that he was signed on wartime terms of ten
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s a match.
First-class league and cup football had been suspended for the duration, but regional wartime competitions were organised as a boost to the people's morale. There were ten regional leagues in
1939β40 and Preston were in the
North West League, finishing as runners-up to champions
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832β19 ...
. Finney continued to play youth team football through the season.
1940β41 season
The number of leagues were reduced to two in 1940 and Preston joined the
North Regional League
The North Regional League was a football competition in Northern England. The League was formed in 1958 as a reserve league for Football League teams in the North of England. After being formed with 19 members, and reaching a maximum of 22 tea ...
(NRL) for the
1940β41 season, which began on Saturday, 31 August 1940. They began their campaign with an away match against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
. 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
Andy McLaren (born 5 June 1973 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish professional footballer. He began his career in 1989 with Dundee United where he was for 10 years and was part of the team when they won the Scottish Cup in 1994. He had trouble w ...
, also made their first team debuts. Played before an estimated 6,000 people, the result was a 3β3 draw after Preston led 3β2 at half-time. The Liverpool team included
Bob Paisley
Robert Paisley OBE (23 January 1919 β 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded, due to his achievements with the club, ...
,
Billy Liddell
William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 β 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 ap ...
and, playing as a guest,
Stan Cullis
Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 β 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...
. For military reasons, neither
Matt Busby
Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 β 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...
of Liverpool nor Bill Shankly of Preston were available. The ''
Lancashire Evening Post
The ''Lancashire Evening Post'' is a daily newspaper based in Fulwood, a suburb of the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. According to the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of th ...
'' praised Finney's performance as he was
involved in creating two of the Preston goals and, but for a lucky save by
Sam Bartram
Samuel Bartram (22 January 1914 β 17 July 1981) was an English professional footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper and holds the record for most appearances for Charlton Athletic, his only club at the professional level.
Career
Aft ...
, would have scored the winning goal near the end of the match.
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
The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945. It aimed to fill the gap left in English football by the suspension of the FA Cup during the Second World War. Though it was often referred to in conte ...
, defeating
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
2β1 in a replay at
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...
after the final at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
ended 1β1.
There were 36 teams in the 1940β41 NRL β 34 in the
South Regional League (SRL) β 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
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
could only manage 16.
The 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 4β4. Preston won 2β1 in the second leg at
Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
and then enjoyed convincing victories over Bolton Wanderers and
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
to reach the quarter-finals. They defeated
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
5β1 on aggregate but faced a tough semi-final tie against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League β the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
. Preston won the first leg at home 2β0 and held on for a 0β0 draw in the second at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
St James' Park ...
. In one of his rare appearances that season, Bill Shankly scored both goals in the home leg.
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
Edris Albert "Eddie" Hapgood (24 September 1908 β 20 April 1973) was an English footballer, who captained both Arsenal and England during the 1930s.
Playing career
Hapgood was born in Bristol and started his footballing career in the mid-1920 ...
, who was the
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
captain, and Finney said the prospect made him "feel quite weak at the knees". 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
Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 β 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most o ...
. The match ended 1β1 and Finney said the team were disappointed.
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
Robert Beattie (24 January 1916 β 21 September 2002) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Kilwinning Rangers, Kilmarnock, Preston North End and Wigan Athletic. He made one appearance for Scotland in 1938.
Beattie started his senior car ...
, their Scottish international
inside forward
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
would be able to play because of his
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
commitments. He had not arrived at Deepdale when the team set off for Blackburn and they were surprised to find him waiting at Ewood; 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 2β1;
Bernard Joy
Bernard Joy (29 October 1911 β 18 July 1984) was an English footballer and journalist. He is notable for being the last amateur player to play for the England national team.
Biography
Joy was born in Fulham, London and educated at Cardinal ...
scored an equaliser for Arsenal after Beattie's first. Finney gave most of the credit to Beattie but both of the goals came from moves in which he was primarily involved. Finney recalled that, for winning the War Cup, each of the Preston players were awarded five wartime savings certificates with a value of fifteen
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s apiece. Having faced Finney twice, the experienced Hapgood said he was "amazed to see a right-winger dribbling so brilliantly with his left foot".
1942β43 season
In December 1942, Finney made a guest appearance for
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
in a 3β1 defeat by
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
at
The Dell.
Service in Egypt and Italy
Aged 20, Finney was called up in April 1942 and assigned as a
trooper to the
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...
.
He was sent to Egypt and served with
Montgomery's
Eighth Army. When on leave in North Africa, he was able to play for army football teams against local opposition. Many years later, he met the Egyptian film actor
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif ( ar, ΨΉΩ
Ψ± Ψ§ΩΨ΄Ψ±ΩΩ ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...
, 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.
In April 1945, Finney took part in the final offensive at the
Battle of the Argenta Gap
The Battle of the Argenta Gap was an engagement which formed part of the Allies of World War II, Allied Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, spring 1945 offensive during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign in the final stages of the ...
as a
Stuart tank
The M3 Stuart/Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II. An improved version of the tank entered service as the M5 in 1942 to be supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. ...
driver with the
9th Lancers
The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...
.
First-class playing career
Preston North End
League debut
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
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
. Playing on the
right wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...
, Finney made his debut in a team that included
Bill Shankly
William Shankly (2 September 1913 β 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...
and
Andy Beattie
Andrew Beattie (11 August 1913 β 20 September 1983) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He was the first manager of the Scottish national team.
Playing career
Beattie was born in Kintore, Aberdeenshire and was emplo ...
. The crowd was over 25,000 and, on what Finney called "a carnival sort of afternoon", Preston won 3β2. 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. 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". 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.
Finney went on to play for Preston in fourteen English league seasons from
1946β47 to
1959β60, including twelve in the First Division. He played in the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
for two seasons after Preston were relegated at the end of the
1948β49 season. In the Second Division, Preston finished sixth in
1949β50 and then won the division championship in
1950β51. The club was thereby promoted back to the First Division where they remained for ten years until the end of the
1960β61 season, the one following Finney's retirement. Preston's best league position during Finney's career was second in both the
1952β53 and
1957β58 seasons.
Second income
Post-war demand for plumbers ensured that Finney had a second income to supplement the
Β£14 he received as a footballer. He became known as "The Preston Plumber" and ran his own successful plumbing business from the 1940s until the 1990s.
Palermo approach
Along with
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 β 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...
, Finney was English football's most famous player in the decade after the war.
In 1952, Preston's chairman Nat Buck rejected an offer for Finney worth Β£10,000 over two years from Italian club
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, and Finney remained a
one-club player.
1950s
In the
1952β53 season, Preston were runners-up to
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
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
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, was the Championship decider and was played on the night before the
1953 FA Cup Final
The 1953 FA Cup Final, also known as the Matthews Final, was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War. The football match was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, with Blackpool winning 4β3, equalling the ...
. Arsenal had to win to equal Preston's points total and overtake them on
goal average
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...
. They won 3β2 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.
He played for Preston in the
1954 FA Cup Final
The 1954 FA Cup Final was a football match between West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, played on 1 May 1954 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final match of the 1953β54 staging of English football's primary cup com ...
against
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
, his only cup final appearance. Preston lost 3β2 and Finney revealed in his autobiography that he was not fully match fit and "did not give his best performance".
Finney formed an attacking partnership with
Tommy Thompson
Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...
in the 1950s. In the 1956β57 season they scored a combined total of 57 goals ; in
1957β58 their combined tally was 60 goals. Preston were First Division runners-up again in 1957β58, five points behind champions
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
.
England
Finney made his international debut for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on 28 September 1946, only four weeks after his Football League debut. The match was at
Windsor Park
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...
against
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Γire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in the
Home Championship
The British Home Championship
* sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp
* gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nà iseanta
* cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
. Finney scored once in England's 7β2 victory. He later said the match was his "proudest day as a footballer".
Finney won 76
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
s and scored 30 goals in an England career that spanned twelve years and included 51 victories. He scored his 29th international goal in June 1958 against the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
to become joint England all-time top-scorer, sharing the record with
Vivian Woodward
Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 β 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
He capta ...
and
Nat Lofthouse
Nathaniel Lofthouse (27 August 1925 β 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with o ...
. In October the same year, he netted his 30th goal, against
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Γireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, to become the sole holder of the record. Two weeks later, Lofthouse equalled his tally. Both were surpassed by
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cu ...
in October 1963. Finney made his final appearance for England in October 1958, in a 5β0 win over the Soviet Union at Wembley.
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
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 β 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...
and football fans would debate who was the best player, given Matthews' dribbling skills and Finney's all round ability.
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".
Finney was voted
Footballer of the Year in
1953β54. He won the award again in
1956β57, becoming the first player to win it a second time.
Finney respected the rules of football and believed in fair play and sportsmanship. He was never booked or sent off in his career.
Both on and off the field, he always had a reputation as a gentleman.
Dave Whelan
David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chai ...
supported this view when he said of Finney: "He was and still is a total gentleman".
Retirement from Preston North End
Finney retired from competitive football in 1960 because of a persistent
groin
In human anatomy, the groin (the adjective is ''inguinal'', as in inguinal canal) is the junctional area (also known as the inguinal region) between the abdomen and the thigh on either side of the pubic bone. This is also known as the medial comp ...
injury.
He had played his entire career for his local club, making 433 League appearances and scoring 187 goals. At the end of the 1960β61 season, the first after Finney's retirement, Preston were relegated from the First Division
[ and have not returned to the top flight since.
Finney continued playing football after he left Preston, often appearing in charity and benefit matches. In 1962, he played in the ]Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League
The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...
with Toronto City
Toronto City was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association.
History
ECPSL
In 1961, along with ...
, appearing in one match and recorded a goal. In 1963, he played for Northern Irish club Distillery
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...
against Benfica in the European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
.
Later years
Finney continued to run his plumbing business in Preston and he also worked for local charities and hospitals. In 1988, he was the subject of ''This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to:
Television
* ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards
* ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...
'' when he was surprised by Michael Aspel
Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', ''Give Us a Clue'', '' This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...
in a coach full of his former England colleagues in Central London. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary fellowship
Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...
by Myerscough College
Myerscough College (pronounced as ''Myers-coe'') is a Higher and Further Education college near Bilsborrow on the Fylde in Lancashire, England.
Origins
Myerscough College was founded on 15 March 1894 as the ''Lancashire County Institute of Agr ...
in Preston. Celebrating Finney's 90th birthday in 2012, Tommy Docherty
Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 β 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...
said "To me, Messi
Lionel AndrΓ©s Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...
is Finney reborn".
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
The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia.
The museum was originally ...
. The sculpture was inspired by the 1956 Sports Photograph of the Year which shows Finney beating two Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
defenders at a waterlogged Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to:
* Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066
* Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge
* Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
, which was taken on 25 August 1956 by photographer John Horton. 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 and 2006 marked 60 years since his League debut for the club. To celebrate this diamond anniversary, the National Football Museum
The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia.
The museum was originally b ...
, 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 2006β07 season to mark his 60 years with Preston. He was also club president of non-league Kendal Town
Finney was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(OBE) in the 1961 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1961 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries.
The appointments were made to celebrate ...
after his retirement from competitive football. Later, in recognition of his charitable work, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1992 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1992 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...
and then knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in the 1998 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1998 for the United Kingdom, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis were announced on 30 December 1997, ...
.
Personal life
Finney was married to Elsie (''nΓ©e'' Noblett) from 1945 until her death in 2004. They had two children: a son Brian (born 1947) and a daughter Barbara (born 1950). In her later years, Lady Finney suffered from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60β70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
, which led Finney as her full-time carer to be a strong supporter of the Alzheimer's Society. Two Preston care homes, Finney House and Lady Elsie Finney House, are named after Tom and Elsie.
Death and legacy
Finney died in Preston on 14 February 2014. The cause of death was not announced. At the time of his death aged 91, he was one of England's oldest living former international footballers.
Finney was highly regarded by his former teammate Bill Shankly
William Shankly (2 September 1913 β 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...
, who described Finney as "the greatest player I ever saw, bar none". On another occasion, Shankly said that Finney was "a ghost of a player but very strong. He could have played all day in his overcoat". Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 β 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...
once ranked him alongside PelΓ©
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as PelΓ© (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
, Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
, George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 β 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...
and Alfredo Di StΓ©fano
Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name.
People with the given name include:
*Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...
as one of the few players who could "dictate the pace and course of a game on a regular basis".
In a tribute to Finney, The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
said he was "one of England's all-time greatest players" and Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cu ...
said Finney's contributions to football were "immeasurable". In April 2014, Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
club Bamber Bridge
Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bΔam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 at ...
announced their Irongate Ground would be renamed the Sir Tom Finney Stadium.
Ahead of the 2021β22 EFL Championship
The 2021β22 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the 18th season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the 30th season under its current league division format.
Team ch ...
season, the EFL agreed that the West Lancashire derby
The West Lancashire derby (sometimes also known as the '' M55 derby'') is a local rivalry in English football between Lancashire clubs Blackpool and Preston North End. The derby has taken place across all four tiers of English football, but not t ...
between Preston North End and Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
would take place at Deepdale on the evening of Tuesday, 5 April 2022, to celebrate the centenary of Finney's birth. Preston won 1β0 before a crowd of 18,740, nearly a full house.
Career statistics
Club
International goals
:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Finney goal.''
Honours
Preston North End
* Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888β89 until 1991β92, a century in which the First ...
: runners-up 1952β53, 1957β58
* Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
: winners 1950β51
* FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871β72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
: runners-up 1954
England
* British Home Championship
The British Home Championship
* sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp
* gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nà iseanta
* cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
: winners 1946β47, 1947β48, 1949β50, 1951β52, 1952β53, 1953β54, 1955β56, 1956β57, 1957β58, 1958β59
Individual
* FWA Footballer of the Year
The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...
: 1954, 1957
* SPFA Special Merit Award: 2006
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
* Finney, Tom (1982). ''Tom Finney's Preston North End Scrapbook''.
* Finney, Tom (1958). ''Finney on Football''. ASIN B0000CK63X
* Finney, Tom (1955). ''Instructions to Young Footballers''. ASIN B0000CJABP
* Finney, Tom (1953). ''Football Round the world''. ASIN B0000CIMPY
* Booth, John. (ed.) (1998). ''Tom Finney: A Pictorial Tribute''.
External links
*
Full list of Finney's international goals
Tom Finney at the International Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finney, Tom
1922 births
2014 deaths
1950 FIFA World Cup players
1954 FIFA World Cup players
1958 FIFA World Cup players
9th Queen's Royal Lancers soldiers
Association football people awarded knighthoods
Association football wingers
Bolton Wanderers F.C. wartime guest players
British Army personnel of World War II
British plumbers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players
England international footballers
England wartime international footballers
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
English Football League players
English Football League representative players
English footballers
FA Cup Final players
Footballers from Preston, Lancashire
Knights Bachelor
Lisburn Distillery F.C. players
Preston North End F.C. players
Royal Armoured Corps soldiers
Military personnel from Preston, Lancashire
Southampton F.C. wartime guest players
Toronto City players