One local boy speaks about another local boy
Meet Tom talking about Tom
2 helger i rad i mitten av februari i England stod fotbollspelare och supportrar stilla innan matchstarten för att hedra en gammal spelare som hade gått bort. Det är säkert att de flesta spelare och de yngre supportrarna aldrig hade hört talas av honom eftersom han tillhörde en helt annan generation. Men han var känd i England det kan jag lova. Han tjänade inga stora pengar som dagens spelare, men han var en mycket skicklig spelare som endast spelade för sin hemmaklubb och var respekterad av alla.
Han hette Tom Finney och hans lag var Preston North End. Jag hade tänkt skriva en artikel om honom när jag kom på att det i Halmstad finns en riktig stor Preston född supporter som gärna ställde upp för att berätta om både Preston och Tom Finney.
Hi, can you introduce yourself and tell something about Preston?
My name is Tom Winstanley and I’m from Preston; a city of around 133,000 people, in 2002 we obtained city status when we became England’s 50th city in the 50th year of the present Queen’s reign. You’ll find us on the English west coast about 50km north of Liverpool. Preston is the administrative centre of the ancient county of Lancashire. By the way, the picture is of me in my signed Preston shirt I received from colleagues when I retired as a teacher from a local school in Halmstad last year.
What is the city famous for?
The town started to grow in earnest during the industrial revolution when it became one of the main centres of the cotton industry. Richard Arkwright, a famous inventor of industrial machinery came from the city.
Why Deepdale and North End and do you have any celebrity supporters?
Of course today we have Preston North End to be proud of! We play our home games at Deepdale, the land was purchased from the old Deepdale Farm in 1875, hence the name. The ground is situated to the north of the city centre so I presume that is why we are called North End. Locally the team is known simply as North End or PNE. Our nickname is The Lilywhites. Mark Lawrenson the former Brighton, Liverpool and Republic of Ireland player began his career with his hometown club PNE. Today he is a well known football pundit in the British media and a very keen supporter of North End.
Who are you closest rivals?
Unfortunately we are at the moment in League One. This makes it impossible for us to play league games against Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers or Burnley, our traditional local rivals who are all in the Championship. Matches against Blackpool in particular tend to get feelings running high and are often tough, hard fought encounters!
Incidentally we won the inaugural football league season 1888/89 and the cup the same year which also makes us the first “double” winners! This successful team got to be known as “The Old Invincibles.” We again won the league the following year but despite being runner-up on six occasions we have not won it since!!
What have been your high points and low points as a North-Ender?
I’ve supported the club for over 50 years and there have experienced some wonderful moments and a number of disappointments. The FA cup final of 1964 against West Ham was a great occasion, the trip to Wembley being my first time in London! Two Premier League play-off finals (David Moyes was our manager for the first final) were also highlights to remember. Losing these three finals (that’s life as a North Ender!) were disappointing moments also when we had to apply for re-election to the Football League in the mid eighties was another dark moment.
Can you tell a little bit about Tom Finney?
Preston’s and one of England’s greatest players, Sir Tom Finney died on February 14th aged 91. For North End’s home game the following day against Leyton Orient the whole team wore the name Finney on their backs!
He was born in the town in 1922 and served in Egypt and Italy with the Army in WW2 before making his debut in 1946 for North End at the age of 24. Despite this delayed start to his league career he went on to make 433 appearances for the Lilywhites and score 187 goals before his retirement from the game in 1960. Furthermore he would play 76 times for England scoring 30 goals which puts him 6th in the England scoring records and all this from a man 1.73m tall weighing less than 70kg. He played in three world cups, the last one 1958 where the injured Finney scored a penalty at Ullevi in front of over 49 000 spectators in the 2-2 draw against the Soviet Union. Unfortunately for Tom and England he was unable to play any more games in the tournament because of injury.
He never won any major honour during his long career at Deepdale, I told you it isn’t easy being a North Ender! He was on the losing side in the 1954 FA Cup Final and North End finished First Division runners-up twice during his career. He did win a Second Division Championship medal in 1951. Finney was a natural left footed player but was equally as good with his right. He played on both wings and also later in his career at centre forward.
Did he do anything apart from football?
Tom also worked as a plumber during the whole of his wonderful career; he never earned more than £14 a week from football. Many are the stories of Finney repairing leaking water pipes in Preston on a Saturday morning and scoring in a top match at Deepdale in the afternoon. Some of these stories are maybe true while others are surely wild exaggerations! During his long career he was never booked or sent off, not bad for a man who was often knocked about and kicked during matches by less gifted players.
He is also known for being in the picture: “The Splash”. What is its history?
The sports photograph of the year 1956, The Splash, features Finney beating two defenders at a waterlogged Stamford Bridge. On July 31st 2004 Tom unveiled the water feature sculpture of The Splash which stands in his honour outside Deepdale. I was there for the event which sadly was the last time I saw the great man close up. The main stand at the ground is named after him as is the busy road which runs past Deepdale.
What did the great man do after his playing career?
After his retirement from the game Finney kept contact with North End, he was for many years President of the club and seldom missed a home game. He carried on plumbing until 1984 and was until shortly before his death a key figure in the local life of the city. He nursed his wife during the final years of her life and she died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2004. During and after her illness Sir Tom through hard work raised huge sums of money for research into this dreadful illness.
Have you ever seen Stoke play Preston?
Finney took part in a five-a-side exhibition game at half-time during the testimonial game for our international Irish goalkeeper Alan Kelly, this was in November 1974. I was there but because of the thick fog I have no recollection of actually seeing the great man! Stoke City were the guests at Deepdale that foggy evening, at the time one of the best sides in England. Stoke are a club who have produced many wonderful footballers through the years and have along with Preston been battling away in the League since 1888/89.
A final word about the great man...............
“Tom Finney would have been great in any team, in any match and in any age………even if he’d been wearing an overcoat.” Bill Shankly. (Legendary Liverpool manager and North End player)
Thanks a lot Tom and Good Luck with Preston in the final quarter of the season
Check out The Splash and the news from England regarding Tom´s death:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tom-finney-dead-nobody-made-3147287
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2559875/Farewell-Sir-Tom-Finney-Preston-plumber-England-great.html
