Tom Finney

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…

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. 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 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) 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…

Finney was married to Elsie 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, 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 the Finneys.

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, 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 once ranked him alongside Pelé, Diego Maradona, George Best and Alfredo Di Stéfano 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 described him as "one of England's all-time greatest players" and Bobby Charlton said Finney's contributions to football were "immeasurable". In April 2014, Northern Premier League club Bamber Bridge announced their Irongate Ground would be renamed the Sir Tom Finney Stadium. Ahead of the 2021–22 EFL Championship season, the EFL agreed that the West Lancashire derby between Preston North End and Blackpool would take place at Deepdale on the evening of 5 April 2022, to celebrate the centenary of Finney's birth. Preston won 1–0 before a crowd of 18,740, nearly a full house.