Top facts about Tom Finney, the Preston legend

Sir Thomas Finney CBE was an English footballer who played for

and England from 1946 to 1960 as a forward. He is commonly regarded as one of the best players in the history of the sport. He was known for his devotion to Preston, for which he made 569 first-class appearances, as well as numerous excellent international performances.

Finney also served as president of both Preston and non-league Kendal Town F.C. in his later years. In the 1961 New Year Honors, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and was knighted in the 1998 New Year Honors for his charity work.

There is no need for all of this introduction when he proved to the world that he deserves to be called one of the best footballers in football history. There are a few people who never heard of Sir Finney. Do not worry if you are one of those people, we prepared a list of his most basic information so you can get into the headspace needed.

Now, let us move too much more crucial parts of the top facts about Tom Finney and proceed with the article.

Everything about top facts about Tom Finney, the Preston legend

We are going to come across some of the rarest facts about Sir Finney, so stay with us as we uncover these hidden facts in

top facts about Tom Finney

.

Tom Finney information

We'll look at some of his most basic information in this segment of the top facts about Tom Finney for those who may not be familiar with him or have just seen him on a few occasions in various programs or on the field but want to learn more.

Personal information

• Full name:

  Sir Thomas Finney

• Date of birth:

  5 April 1922

• Aged:

  91 years

• Star Sign:

  Aries

• Star sign features:

  Courageous, determined, confident, enthusiastic

• Nationality:

  English

• Place of birth: 

  Preston, England

• Marital status:

  Married

• Religion:

  Christianity

Football information

• Position:

  Left Winger

• Total appearances:

  551

• Club appearances:

  474

• National appearances:

  77 caps

• Foot:

  Right

Physical stats and appearance

• Height:

  1.73 m

• Weight:

  67 kg

• Eye color:

  Blue

• Skin color:

  White

• Facial hair:

  Clean

Now that we've discussed everything there is to know about Tom Finney for those who aren't familiar with him, it's time to move on to the next segment with interesting

top facts about Tom Finney

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Tom Finney Transfermarkt

His glory and reputation are apparent once you enter his page on

. The 2 times player of the year is nothing that you can ignore. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a net wort graph because he was playing way before they could record the market values.

Yet his only transfer was his move from Preston Under 18 to the Senior team, which isn’t really a transfer if you think about it. Moving on to the next section of his Transfermarkt information we should take a look at his very short list of statistics. According to the site, he has only played 13 matches and scored 8 goals which are very inaccurate, after all the site can be wrong.

Let us take a look at his football career and then we can sum up the top facts about Tom Finney which are connected to his career and we can dive deep into his personal life.

Tom Finney career

We should start the career section of top facts about Tom Finney from when Finney made his Preston debut in August 1946 after the regular competition was restored, and he quickly established himself as an agile forward. He earned a second wage as a plumber during the war, supplementing the £14 he earned as a player and was dubbed "The Preston Plumber."

Preston was dubbed "the Plumber and his 10 drips" by some wrongly because of his influence on the squad. At the age of 24, Finney made his 

 debut against Northern Ireland in Belfast, twenty-eight days after his first Football League start for Preston. In a 13-year England career that featured 51 wins, he went on to win 76 caps and score 30 goals.

Preston chairman Nat Buck turned down a bid from Italian team 

 for £10,000 over two years in 1952, and Finney remained a one-club player. He was named Footballer of the Year in 1953–54.

In the 1950s, Finney and Tommy Thompson formed an attacking partnership. They scored a total of 57 goals in the 1956–57 season, and 60 goals in the 1957–58 season. He became England's joint all-time highest scorer with Vivian Woodward and Nat Lofthouse in June 1958, when he scored his 29th international goal against the Soviet Union.

He became the sole holder of the record when he scored his 30th goal against Northern Ireland in October of the same year. Lofthouse matched his total two weeks later. Finney made his last appearance for England in a 5–0 victory over the Soviet Union at Wembley in October 1958.

Tom Finney childhood

Let us start the childhood section of top facts about Tom Finney from the time that Tom Finney was born. It was on April 5, 1922, at his parents' home on St Michael's Road in Preston, Lancashire, just a few hundred yards from Preston North End Football Club's Deepdale ground. Maggie and Alf Finney were his parents.

Joe was his older brother, and Madge, Peggy, Doris, and Edith were his four wives. Alf worked as a clerical worker in local government and was sometimes laid off due to the changing economic environment.

The family moved to Daisy Lane in Preston's Holme Slack neighborhood when Tom was very young. Maggie, who was 32 years old at the time, was taken ill and died unexpectedly in 1927.

With the assistance of relatives and neighbors, Alf was able to hold the family together.

Finney began playing football at a young age, inspired by his father, who was an avid football fan. He played at school and in the fields around his house.

His dream had always been to become a professional footballer, but he was frail and sickly as a child, standing just 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) when he dropped out of school at the age of fourteen in 1936. Pilkington's, a nearby plumbing firm, hired him as an apprentice.

The next year, Finney saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for Preston North End junior players aged fourteen to eighteen. Finney requested that his father assist him with obtaining a hearing. It was arranged for his father to meet Preston trainer Will Scott. Finney performed admirably in the trial and was promptly given a contract worth £2.10 per week.

He went home to ask his father's permission, but Alf Finney declined, demanding that he finish his apprenticeship first before signing professional terms. Preston was pleased by this, and Finney joined as an amateur, completing his preparation after work and becoming able to play for the club's youth teams.

His career was starting to take off but something dire was about to hit the world and eventually Finney’s career and pushed our top facts about Tom Finney's article in a strange direction.

Tom Finney during world war

The Second World War broke out not long after Finney started his professional career. While the first-class league and cup football were suspended for the duration, Finney began to gain reputation by competing in wartime tournaments. He made a substitute appearance for

in a 3–1 loss to Arsenal at The Dell in December 1942.

Finney was drafted into the Royal Armored Corps in 1942 and served in Egypt with Montgomery's Eighth Army.

Later, as a Stuart tank driver with the 9th Lancers in

, he participated in the final offensive at the Battle of the Argenta Gap in April 1945. He was able to play in army teams against local resistance while on leave in North Africa, and on one occasion he played against future actor Omar Sharif.

Tom Finney retirement

Due to a recurring groin injury, Finney retired from professional football in 1960. He had spent his entire career with his hometown side, appearing in 433 League games and scoring 187 goals.

Preston was dropped from the top flight of English football at the conclusion of the 1960–61 season, the first since Finney's retirement. Finney became associated with them and made non-competitive appearances on occasion.

One of these was in a 1962 pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers, in which he was marked by Dave Whelan, who characterized Finney as "the ideal gentlemen," adding that it was his (Whelan's) first game back for

since healing from a broken leg suffered in the 1960 FA Cup Final two years earlier.

Finney addressed him as follows: "I'm not going to take you on because you've had any bad luck. I'd like you to finish today's game and return to the first team "In 1962, he played for Toronto City in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League, making one appearance and scoring one goal.

In 1963, Finney came out of retirement for a game against

in the European Cup for Northern Irish club Distillery.

When Michael Aspel and a coach full of his former England team players stunned Finney in Central London in 1988, he became the subject of This Is Your Life. Finney was honored by Myerscough College in Preston in 2007 with an Honorary Fellowship. Tommy Docherty said, "To me, Messi is Finney reborn," as Finney turned 90 years old in 2012.

Tom Finney family

From 1945 until her death in 2004, Finney was married to Elsie (née Noblett). Brian (born 1947) and Barbara (born 1949) was their two daughters (born 1950). Lady Finney suffered from Alzheimer's disease in her later years, prompting Finney to become a keen member of the Alzheimer's Society as her full-time caregiver. Lady Elsie Finney House, a nursing home in Preston, is named after her.

Finney died on February 14, 2014, with no cause of death given. We are going to read much more about his death in the upcoming sections of

top facts about Tom Finney

.

 Finney was dubbed "one of England's all-time best players" by the Football Association, although fellow England star

said his services to the game were "immeasurable."

Bill Shankly, a former teammate, and Liverpool boss referred to him as "the finest player to ever play the game," and Stanley Matthews likened him to

, Pelé, George Best, and Alfredo Di Stéfano. Finney was one of England's longest surviving former international footballers when he died at the age of 91.

Tom Finney in other fields

Here is a rare fact of top facts about Tom Finney, which was quite strange yet intriguing to read about this legend.

Finney debuted The Splash, a water feature installation by sculptor Peter Hodgkinson, outside Deepdale stadium, which at the time housed The National Football Museum, on July 31, 2004.

The sculpture was influenced by photographer John Horton's 1956 Sports Shot of the Year, which shows Finney beating two Chelsea defenders at a flooded Stamford Bridge on August 25, 1956. The museum has relocated to Manchester, but the Deepdale statue stands.

Tom Finney death and tribute

Now for the saddest part of the top facts about Tom Finney, we would take a look at his death ceremony and the tribute paid by his fans and friends.

At the age of 91, Sir Tom Finney passed away.  Preston North End's official website announced his death.

According to a message on the club's website: “Preston North End have been informed of the extremely sad news of the passing of Sir Tom Finney. “Sir Tom was the greatest player to ever play for Preston North End and one of the all-time greats for England. “The thoughts of everyone at the Club, and those connected with it, are with his family at this time.”

Deepdale was deafeningly silent as over 13,000 people paid their respects to a football hero. Preston fans promised to pack the stadium where he did many of his most famous stunts.

Paul Melling was on hand to catch a game that ended in a draw between North End and Leyton Orient, but football took a backseat as the Preston players all wear Finney's number on their backs. Hundreds of people assembled outside the stadium to pay their respects to The Splash monument.

As Preston said its final goodbyes to its favorite son, scarves, roses, and letters were pinned to the floor and to the statue. Deepdale erupted in cheers and shouts of "there's just one Tom Finney," and a huge flag bearing Sir Tom's portrait was carried around in the seventh minute.

Quotes about Tom Finney

“Tom Finney would have been great in any team, in any match, and in any age, even if he had been wearing an overcoat.” Bill Shankly, the former PNE Player, and Liverpool Manager describe the greatness of Finney flawlessly as he explains that he would still play amazingly if he was limited by an overcoat.

“Those who have accomplished it on a regular basis can be counted on the fingers of one hand – Pelé, Maradona, Best, Di Stefano, and Tom Finney.” Sir Stanley Matthews, one of the greatest of the football, though that Tom Finney came out successful out of every single game.

Now, Bobby Moore points out one of the secret characteristics of Tom Finney, humbleness. “If you’re as good as Tom Finney was, you don’t have to tell anybody.”

“I’m a good personal friend of Tom’s and he is very well-liked in the game. He was a fantastic player – one of the world’s top players without question.” Look at the name of the person who said this, Sir Bobby Charlton. There are almost no human beings which never heard of this man yet he is praising Tom Finney, how crazy is that?

And ultimately David Moyes calls Tom Finney a great man and mentions the cause of his success, passion, and dedication. “He has an incredible passion for the game and he is somebody I have got great admiration for. There is no doubt he was one of the greatest players, but to me, he is also a great man.”

Tom Finney net worth

We are going to wrap up top facts about Tom Finney with his net worth. It is said that he had a wealth of 1.4 million dollars which is not that amazing, considering his huge success in football and the reputation he had but then again back then he was probably one of the richest players.

After all, they say that money isn’t everything and he was happy with what he was doing and most importantly he was happy and proud to be a part of Preston. Preston will never forget Tom Finney, neither would the fans.

Thank you for reading the top facts about Tom Finney and we would appreciate it if you could share this article with your friends and family so that they can also learn more about Sir Tom Finney and the amazing things that he had done.

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