Sir Tom Finney - A Life in Pictures

Author: Mike Hill and Lancashire Evening Post

Sir Tom Finney - A Life in Pictures

SIR Tom Finney’s place among the very greatest footballers of all time is assured. He played for England 76 times and even today, almost half a century after his retirement from the game, he remains among the nation’s all time scoring greats with 30 goals for his country.
Born in 1922 within the shadow of Preston North End’s Deepdale Stadium, Sir Tom spent his whole career playing for the famous old club he followed as a boy. He made his mark in his very first game taking just 18 minutes to score his first goal of what was to be a glittering career.
Over the following 14 seasons he pulled on the club’s white jersey 433 times notching up 187 goals in the process and becoming the first man to be crowned Footballer of the Year twice. His performances as an attacker comfortable on the left or right saw him nicknamed the Phantom Winger by his legion of fans.
When injury eventually forced him to hang up his boots in 1960, at the age of 38, more than 30,000 fans turned up to bid him farewell. The emotion charged day is captured in a series of photographs published here, some of which have never been seen before.
Within 12 months his beloved Preston North End had dropped out of the top flight of English football. With his playing days over he ran the family’s plumbing and electrical business and took on a host of public roles. Sir Tom was also a tireless charity worker, a role he fulfils to this day.
His public roles and exemplary football career saw him awarded the OBE in 1961, received the CBE in 1992 and was finally knighted in the New Year’s Honours List in 1998. In his hometown he was awarded the highest honour possible when he was made a Freeman of Preston in 1979.
Many of today’s football lovers never saw the great man play but his legend lives on. In 2009 the National Football Museum will dedicate a whole exhibition to Sir Tom while stars of the game across the generations will attend a gala celebration day in his honour.
Sir Tom Finney: A Life in Pictures draws on the extensive photographic archives of the Lancashire Evening Post to chart the life and times of Preston’s most famous son. Many of the pictures published here have never been seen before while others have lain unseen for decades. Together they chronicle both his playing career and his life off the pitch painting a fascinating portrait of a man who has truly earned the status of national treasure.