Tom Finney
Sir Thomas Finney was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a 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 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.
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 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 his 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 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 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.
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. 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 began in September 1939. His elder brother Joe was playing for Netherfield and training with nearby Blackburn Rovers. Their father thought it would be sensible for both his sons to be at the same club. Finney had a trial for Netherfield at this time, but was rejected by the Kendal club. Almost 70 years later, Finney returned to the ground at Parkside Road, Kendal, as a guest of the club. The club's then chairman apologised to Finney on the pitch in front of 500 fans, describing Netherfield's decision as the "biggest mistake in football history".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 shillings 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 1939–40 and Preston were in the North West League, finishing as runners-up to champions Bury. Finney continued to play youth team football through the season.
1940–41 season
The number of leagues were reduced to two in 1940 and Preston joined the North Regional League 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. 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.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. There were 36 teams in the 1940–41 NRL – 34 in the South Regional League – but, because of wartime demands limiting the availability of players and venues, fixtures were often unfulfilled. For example, Bury played the most matches while their near neighbours Bolton Wanderers 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 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.
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". 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.
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; he had gone straight there after getting a late release to play. Beattie scored both of their goals as they defeated Arsenal 2–1; Bernard Joy 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 shillings apiece. Having faced Finney twice, the experienced Hapgood said he was "amazed to see a right-winger dribbling so brilliantly with his left foot".
1942–43 season
In December 1942, Finney made a guest appearance for Southampton in a 3–1 defeat by Arsenal 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.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, 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 as a Stuart tank driver with the 9th Lancers.
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. 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. 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 1946–47 to 1959–60, including twelve in the First Division. 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. 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. Preston's best league position during Finney's career was second in both the 1952–53 and 1957–58 seasons.