Tom Finney is a famous English footballer nicknamed "The Preston Plumber". He played for Preston North Ent all his life. He played for the England national team. In 1961 he became an officer in the Order of the British Empire.
Biography
The future footballer was born on the fifth day of April 1922 in the small English town of Preston. From early childhood, he became interested in football. He dreamed of one day becoming a part of a real professional club. At the first screenings in football academies, the same problem arose: until the age of 14, Tom's height was only 145 centimeters. Because of this, many coaches simply refused the boy, since he could not compete with his peers, and there was also a high risk of injury.
Tom was helped by his father to fulfill his childhood dream of playing football at a professional level. The coach of the local Preston North Ent club, Billy Scott, was a good friend of his father and agreed to take the talented and passionate boy to his academy. For a long time, he played at the amateur level as a left-handed striker, like his childhood idol, Alex James. But the athlete was able to truly reveal his attacking potential only in 1938, when he moved to the other edge of the attack.
Professional activity
For the main team of the club, Tom Finney made his debut in 1940 as part of the English League Military Cup (the cup was created in 1939 and existed until 1945). In 1941, Tom Finney won his first trophy. Preston defeated the famous London club Arsenal in the final of the military cup and became the owner of a unique award. In 1942, Finney had to change his occupation, he was drafted into the British Armed Forces, where he served for a little over three years. The fighting in Egypt and the Italian anti-Hitler campaign remained behind him.
At the same time, Tom arranged his personal life - Elsie Noblett became the wife of an athlete in 1945, remaining the only love of the football legend for life. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter.
After demobilization, he returned to Preston, continuing to play for his home club. In September of that year, Tom entered the field for the first time wearing the England national team jersey. In 1952, the Italian club "Palermo" hunted for the famous Englishman for a long time. The club offered Finney a fabulous monthly payment of ten thousand pounds for those times, and they were even ready to formally employ him for additional earnings. But the footballer who grew up in Preston and the club of the same name chose to stay. Tom turned down the offer from the Italian club.
Completion of a career
In 1960, Tom Finney officially retired from playing for his hometown club Preston, but in 1963, at the age of 41, he returned to football to help the semi-amateur club Distillery defeat the famous Benfica from Portugal. After a two-legged confrontation with the Portuguese grandee, Finney finally retired from football.
After a dizzying football career, Tom worked as a plumber. In 1961 he became an officer in the Order of the British Empire, and in 1998 he was awarded the honorary title of knight. For a long time he was the head of a small club "Kendal Town". In February 2014, the legendary English footballer passed away at the age of 91.
