 |
Chelsea v PNE at Stamford Bridge 1956 - The splash
|
They kept up their friendship in the war whilst on leave from the Eighth Army by meeting up in Alexandria in Egypt during the African campaign as in the photograph below. In later life, they kept in touch regularly through their local business associations. Tom Finney had a plumbing business during his professional footballing days, players in the top league teams were lucky to be paid the average wage. Dad never had anything but praise for Tom as a friend and a good citizen, sentiments that were echoed by everyone else commenting today,.
 |
I knew that Tom Finney was a legend even before I went to school. We lived at my grandparent's house at the time and shortly after 5pm on the Saturday of every North End home game at Deepdale, my grandad would waltz in with my Uncle Jack and their friend Ernie Rigby. They would recreate North End's goals in the front room. This was before televised games or action replays so they would direct their own version of the highlights. I would hear "Finney beats one, beats two, feints inside and left foot lob into the top right of the net. GOAL...." as the three fifty-something men dribbled around the chairs and kicked cushions. I grew up thinking that this was men behaving normally although my grandma didn't agree. She would shoo the visitors out of the house before they decided to extend the analysis of the game by sending out for a jug of ale from the Acregate Arms.
I was taken to my first game at Deepdale for the Easter morning 11:00am kick-off against Tottenham Hotspur by my grandad as a six-year-old. From the age of eight, I watched virtually every home game until Finney's retiral in a 2-0 victory over Luton Town. My banner saying 'Goodbye Tom' was featured on Match of the Day, which was unfortunate because my mother then realised that I had taken and ruined one of the sheets as well as getting paint on my clothes.
Tom Finney was a one-club player who rejected the overtures of the Italian clubs to stay in his home town for £14 a week. His total earnings throughout his career were £15,000. Updating this to today's value of the £, this is about what Wayne Rooney earns in a fortnight, not counting his sponsorship deals, during which he often doesn't play a single game. Finney, on the other hand. played 473 games for North End and 76 for England for his £15,000 over 14 years.
His skills were mesmerising, he would beat opposing defenders by feinting one way and going the other with the ball. He was a very direct advancing player and could send over tantalising crosses or cut inside and score goals with both feet. He could play on either wing or centre-forward, he was good in the air and scored goals for PNE and England at a rate that compared with the very best centre-forwards like Nat Lofthouse of Bolton Wanderers. Although he was regularly and ruthlessly chopped down by opposing full-backs, he played almost all games, often carrying minor injuries. This was at a time when there were no substitutes and medical support came from a sponge man with a bucket of cold water and aided by the roars of the crowd.
Amongst PNE's best games were the derby matches against neighbouring Blackpool. They were both good first-division teams in the 1950s. Stanley Mathews, 'the wizard of the dribble', was the other great England winger. It was the chance to compare and contrast the two outstanding players of their generation. Mathews was a two-dimensional player; he kept the ball on the ground and his mazy dribbles could turn a full-back inside out. Finney could do that as well but he was good in the air with a prodigious leap and he had a fourth dimension to his play in the way he timed his runs or passes into space. He practised total football long before the Dutch maestros - Neeskens and Cruyff - were winning plaudits and World Cup matches.
I probably saw him play 60 or so games and the one that stands out was the 8-0 demolition of Birmingham City on a sunny Saturday in February 1958. Finney scored two goals in the first half, one by dribbling past three players as he carved his way to goal from the halfway line and released an unstoppable shot past Gil Merrick, Birmingham's England international goalkeeper. He went on to set up hat tricks for Tommy Thomson and Sammy Taylor in the second half. It was poetry on bare earth and North End went on to finish second in the league to the then-mighty Wolves.
Finney's sportsmanship was exemplary and the respect from fans across the country was universal. It included the knowledgeable Scottish fans who watched him take them apart in the home internationals at Hampden. Uncle Jack used to go to these games, Glasgow was as near Preston as London, and he always claimed that Hampden had a far better atmosphere than Wembley. He would wear his PNE scarf and be bought drinks before the game because he could regale Glaswegians with his tales of Finney.
When I was seven my father got Tom to come round to the house and present my birthday presents: a complete PNE strip with a number 7 stitched and a PNE badge press studded onto the shirt. Tom Finney boots completed the kit, they were made of stiff brown leather that required a lot of dubbin before they became bearable, come to think of it they never did become bearable because we mainly played in the street and studs weren't much good on the asphalt. Tom gave me a copy of his book "Instructions for Young Footballers" which included the famous photograph of him slaloming through the water at Stamford Bridge when football pitches were decorated with puddles and less well-drained than today. At the home games, I used to sit on the cinders by the right-wing corner flag at the Kop end. On a couple of occasions as the ball was thrown back to the pitch by the crowd I caught it and handed it to Tom to take a corner. He would thank me by name and ask how was I doing. It was a no-brainer that I played right wing until I was 16 when wingers went out of fashion.
As I heard the tributes to Sir Tom this morning I became nostalgic for the days when I would walk to the ground, watch the top teams for 1s 9p and become part of the thirty-odd thousand faithful fans at one with their team. The walk home after the game in the midst of the streaming crowds along Skeffington Road was part of the entertainment, we could dissect the game and eulogise about Finney's performance. I have seen about 300 first-class games in my lifetime with about half of those at Deepdale, I never went as often after Finney retired and PNE were relegated from the top flight the following season. Most of the games I watched were in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s when it was easy to get into games, no advance tickets were required and admission charges were a whole lot cheaper than today's extravagant prices.
No player since those glory days of PNE in the 1950s has matched Finney for consistent excellence, he was a game-changer. Only Franz Beckenbauer, Gunther Netzer, Colin Bell and Kenny Dalgleish of the players that I have watched could emulate Finney: they were all team players who could nevertheless swing a game by themselves.
But then I have fallen out with football and not seen more than 40 games in the last 20 years. These have been mainly Scottish Internationals, or games at Deepdale when visiting my parents; neither providing games with great players. Despite the huge hype about the premiership, I have only attended a couple of premiership games at Blackburn when Shearer was in his pomp. Sky has funded an organisation, the Premier League, that has made fans secondary to sponsors, and TV schedules. This has allowed clubs to hype up salaries to top players that are unjustifiable and unsustainable as many clubs are finding out. I doubt that the premiership has thrown up many Finney comparators, Ryan Giggs and Thierry Henry come nearest and Louis Suarez is having a similar impact this year but he is no gentleman.
All-seater stadiums, high ticket prices, overpaid payers and Sky taking over TV coverage have all diminished my attachment to the game. The game may be faster and on better pitches but the joy of spectating came from standing on the terracing. The camaraderie, the sense of local pride and being able to spontaneously go to matches without hunting for overpriced tickets. I have never enjoyed sitting to watch a live football game, it destroys the involvement and emotions that are so buoyant in a swaying crowd when you are on your toes through all the turmoil of a game. I admire how the Germans have retained the atmosphere, and the crowds and kept realistic pricing by building safe terracing.
Tom Finney was the standard for all that was honest, skilful and courteous to opponents and fans. He displayed a loyalty that has sadly all but disappeared from the game today. Finney epitomised what football should be all about empathy with the fans, a deep commitment to his team and respect for all his opponents. He played locally but won respect globally. As they say in Glasgow: Finney - Pure Dead Brilliant and so he was.
I was taken to my first game at Deepdale for the Easter morning 11:00am kick-off against Tottenham Hotspur by my grandad as a six-year-old. From the age of eight, I watched virtually every home game until Finney's retiral in a 2-0 victory over Luton Town. My banner saying 'Goodbye Tom' was featured on Match of the Day, which was unfortunate because my mother then realised that I had taken and ruined one of the sheets as well as getting paint on my clothes.
Tom Finney was a one-club player who rejected the overtures of the Italian clubs to stay in his home town for £14 a week. His total earnings throughout his career were £15,000. Updating this to today's value of the £, this is about what Wayne Rooney earns in a fortnight, not counting his sponsorship deals, during which he often doesn't play a single game. Finney, on the other hand. played 473 games for North End and 76 for England for his £15,000 over 14 years.
His skills were mesmerising, he would beat opposing defenders by feinting one way and going the other with the ball. He was a very direct advancing player and could send over tantalising crosses or cut inside and score goals with both feet. He could play on either wing or centre-forward, he was good in the air and scored goals for PNE and England at a rate that compared with the very best centre-forwards like Nat Lofthouse of Bolton Wanderers. Although he was regularly and ruthlessly chopped down by opposing full-backs, he played almost all games, often carrying minor injuries. This was at a time when there were no substitutes and medical support came from a sponge man with a bucket of cold water and aided by the roars of the crowd.
Amongst PNE's best games were the derby matches against neighbouring Blackpool. They were both good first-division teams in the 1950s. Stanley Mathews, 'the wizard of the dribble', was the other great England winger. It was the chance to compare and contrast the two outstanding players of their generation. Mathews was a two-dimensional player; he kept the ball on the ground and his mazy dribbles could turn a full-back inside out. Finney could do that as well but he was good in the air with a prodigious leap and he had a fourth dimension to his play in the way he timed his runs or passes into space. He practised total football long before the Dutch maestros - Neeskens and Cruyff - were winning plaudits and World Cup matches.
I probably saw him play 60 or so games and the one that stands out was the 8-0 demolition of Birmingham City on a sunny Saturday in February 1958. Finney scored two goals in the first half, one by dribbling past three players as he carved his way to goal from the halfway line and released an unstoppable shot past Gil Merrick, Birmingham's England international goalkeeper. He went on to set up hat tricks for Tommy Thomson and Sammy Taylor in the second half. It was poetry on bare earth and North End went on to finish second in the league to the then-mighty Wolves.
Finney's sportsmanship was exemplary and the respect from fans across the country was universal. It included the knowledgeable Scottish fans who watched him take them apart in the home internationals at Hampden. Uncle Jack used to go to these games, Glasgow was as near Preston as London, and he always claimed that Hampden had a far better atmosphere than Wembley. He would wear his PNE scarf and be bought drinks before the game because he could regale Glaswegians with his tales of Finney.
When I was seven my father got Tom to come round to the house and present my birthday presents: a complete PNE strip with a number 7 stitched and a PNE badge press studded onto the shirt. Tom Finney boots completed the kit, they were made of stiff brown leather that required a lot of dubbin before they became bearable, come to think of it they never did become bearable because we mainly played in the street and studs weren't much good on the asphalt. Tom gave me a copy of his book "Instructions for Young Footballers" which included the famous photograph of him slaloming through the water at Stamford Bridge when football pitches were decorated with puddles and less well-drained than today. At the home games, I used to sit on the cinders by the right-wing corner flag at the Kop end. On a couple of occasions as the ball was thrown back to the pitch by the crowd I caught it and handed it to Tom to take a corner. He would thank me by name and ask how was I doing. It was a no-brainer that I played right wing until I was 16 when wingers went out of fashion.
As I heard the tributes to Sir Tom this morning I became nostalgic for the days when I would walk to the ground, watch the top teams for 1s 9p and become part of the thirty-odd thousand faithful fans at one with their team. The walk home after the game in the midst of the streaming crowds along Skeffington Road was part of the entertainment, we could dissect the game and eulogise about Finney's performance. I have seen about 300 first-class games in my lifetime with about half of those at Deepdale, I never went as often after Finney retired and PNE were relegated from the top flight the following season. Most of the games I watched were in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s when it was easy to get into games, no advance tickets were required and admission charges were a whole lot cheaper than today's extravagant prices.
No player since those glory days of PNE in the 1950s has matched Finney for consistent excellence, he was a game-changer. Only Franz Beckenbauer, Gunther Netzer, Colin Bell and Kenny Dalgleish of the players that I have watched could emulate Finney: they were all team players who could nevertheless swing a game by themselves.
But then I have fallen out with football and not seen more than 40 games in the last 20 years. These have been mainly Scottish Internationals, or games at Deepdale when visiting my parents; neither providing games with great players. Despite the huge hype about the premiership, I have only attended a couple of premiership games at Blackburn when Shearer was in his pomp. Sky has funded an organisation, the Premier League, that has made fans secondary to sponsors, and TV schedules. This has allowed clubs to hype up salaries to top players that are unjustifiable and unsustainable as many clubs are finding out. I doubt that the premiership has thrown up many Finney comparators, Ryan Giggs and Thierry Henry come nearest and Louis Suarez is having a similar impact this year but he is no gentleman.
All-seater stadiums, high ticket prices, overpaid payers and Sky taking over TV coverage have all diminished my attachment to the game. The game may be faster and on better pitches but the joy of spectating came from standing on the terracing. The camaraderie, the sense of local pride and being able to spontaneously go to matches without hunting for overpriced tickets. I have never enjoyed sitting to watch a live football game, it destroys the involvement and emotions that are so buoyant in a swaying crowd when you are on your toes through all the turmoil of a game. I admire how the Germans have retained the atmosphere, and the crowds and kept realistic pricing by building safe terracing.
Tom Finney was the standard for all that was honest, skilful and courteous to opponents and fans. He displayed a loyalty that has sadly all but disappeared from the game today. Finney epitomised what football should be all about empathy with the fans, a deep commitment to his team and respect for all his opponents. He played locally but won respect globally. As they say in Glasgow: Finney - Pure Dead Brilliant and so he was.
No comments:
Post a Comment
thanks