I never saw him play,
I never really knew more than the next average Joe.
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| The Splash - TomFinney.com |
But I did know,
He was born in Preston, Played for Preston, & when his playing days were over he was a plumber!
And I saw his statue outside Preston North End's Deep Dale stadium.
Much like Ted Williams & Stan Musial, Finney served his country in its darkest hour. Serving in North Africa.
Current Wigan Chairman Dave Whelan described Finney as the perfect gentleman, explaining that in Whelan's first game back for Blackburn Rovers after recovering from a broken leg, he had to mark Finney in a 1962 pre-season friendly against Preston. Finney said, "You've had some bad luck son, and I'm not going to take you on, I want you to get through today's game and get back into the first team."
Not bad for local rival teams, Of course Finney was a plumber supplementing his modest wage from football.
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| The Splash Statue |
Imagine Tom Brady coming to fix your shower in the summer or Derek Jeter clearing snow in the winter!
Finney played 433 times for Preston, Scoring 187 goals.
For England 76 appearances with 30 goals.
Sadly he was injured for the Superbowl of English Soccer the FA Cup Final in 1954.
I think many athletes need to remember how lucky they have it, and how class isn't measured in pound notes and nickels.
Sadly he died last night 14th Febuary 2014 aged 91.
Great post. Living in the states, I had never heard of Mr. Finney until today. From reading your post and looking at The Splash Statue (which is spectacular), there's no doubt in my mind that he was one well respected guy.
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