Tom Finney
Encyclopedia
Sir Thomas Finney, OBE
(born 5 April 1922, Preston, Lancashire
) is a former English football
er, famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End
, and for his performances in the English national side
.
Finney is also the current President of Kendal Town
.
stadium to parents Alfred Finney (b.1894) and Margaret Mitchell (b.1896). He was frail and somewhat sickly in his youth and stood only 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) at the age of fourteen. When he was offered the opportunity to sign for Preston North End (PNE), his father insisted that he complete his apprenticeship
in the family's plumbing
business before signing as a professional. This led to one of his nicknames, the 'Preston Plumber'.
Finney's mother Margaret died in 1927, at the age of 32, when Tom was only 4 years old.
He was married to Elsie Noblettfrom 1945until her death from Alzheimer's disease
in 2004.They had two children; a son Brian (born 1947) and a daughter Barbara (born 1950).
began and normal football was suspended, though Finney started to achieve some recognition during war-time tournaments. In December 1942, he made a guest appearance for Southampton
in a 3–1 defeat by Arsenal
at The Dell.
Called up to the Royal Armoured Corps
in 1942, he fought in Montgomery
's Eighth Army
in Egypt
and later in Italy in the final offensive to capture Argenta in April 1945 as a Stuart tank driver in 9th Lancers]. Local leave in North Africa allowed him to play in army teams against local opposition and on one occasion he played against the future actor Omar Sharif
.
debut, going on to win 76 cap
s and score 30 goals.
He played against Italy in 1948, he is the only player for either side that played that game who is still alive.
Tom Finney was Footballer of the Year
in 1953-54, the year of his only appearance in the FA Cup Final (losing 2-3 to West Bromwich Albion), and again in 1956-57, becoming the first player to win this award more than once. Sir Tom has recently in his autobiography confessed that he wasn't fully match fit for the FA Cup final of 1954, and therefore didn't give his best performance.
In June 1958, he scored his 29th international goal, against the Soviet Union
to become joint England all-time top-scorer
, sharing the record with Vivian Woodward
and Nat Lofthouse
. In October the same year, he netted his 30th goal, against Northern Ireland
, to become the sole holder of the record. Two weeks later, Lofthouse equalled his tally. Both were surpassed by Bobby Charlton
in October 1963.
injury. He had played his entire career for his local club, appearing 433 times and scoring 187 goals. The balance of Preston's team hardly matched Finney's brilliance, the young Bill Shankly
notwithstanding, and he never won the championship (in 1953 and 1958 Preston North End came close to completing the feat, but each time they had to settle for runners-up) or any other trophy. His loyalty is remarkable, though even he considered a 1952 offer from Italian club Palermo
that included a £10,000 personal signing-on fee and high pay and perquisite
s, but Preston asked for the then record fee of £50,000. He did, however, come out of retirement in 1963 to play for Northern Irish
outfit Distillery
against Benfica in the European Cup
.
.
Now aged , Finney is one of England's oldest living former international footballers. As of February 2011, he is also one of only three surviving players from England's 1950 World Cup
squad. The others are Bert Williams
and Roy Bentley
.
season to mark his 60 years with PNE.
He also writes a regular PNE column for the University of Central Lancashire
's students' union
newspaper
, Pluto
.
|1946-47
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||rowspan="3"|First Division
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|1947-48
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|1948-49
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|1949-50
||rowspan="2"|Second Division
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|1950-51
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|1951-52
||rowspan="9"|First Division
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|1952-53
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|1953-54
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|1954-55
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|1955-56
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|1956-57
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|1957-58
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|1958-59
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|1959-60
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Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 5 April 1922, Preston, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
) is a former English football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
er, famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
, and for his performances in the English national side
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
.
Finney is also the current President of Kendal Town
Kendal Town F.C.
Kendal Town F.C. is an English football club based in Kendal, Cumbria. The club are currently members of the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League and play at Parkside.-History:...
.
Early life
Finney was born at home in Preston on a street next to the DeepdaleDeepdale
Deepdale is a stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End F.C. and, up to 2010, England's National Football Museum. Preston North End are one of the founder members of the Football League.- History :...
stadium to parents Alfred Finney (b.1894) and Margaret Mitchell (b.1896). He was frail and somewhat sickly in his youth and stood only 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) at the age of fourteen. When he was offered the opportunity to sign for Preston North End (PNE), his father insisted that he complete his apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
in the family's plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
business before signing as a professional. This led to one of his nicknames, the 'Preston Plumber'.
Finney's mother Margaret died in 1927, at the age of 32, when Tom was only 4 years old.
He was married to Elsie Noblettfrom 1945until her death from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
in 2004.They had two children; a son Brian (born 1947) and a daughter Barbara (born 1950).
Second World War
Soon after he signed, however, World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began and normal football was suspended, though Finney started to achieve some recognition during war-time tournaments. In December 1942, he made a guest appearance for Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
in a 3–1 defeat by Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
at The Dell.
Called up to the Royal Armoured Corps
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
in 1942, he fought in Montgomery
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , nicknamed "Monty" and the "Spartan General" was a British Army officer. He saw action in the First World War, when he was seriously wounded, and during the Second World War he commanded the 8th Army from...
's Eighth Army
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and later in Italy in the final offensive to capture Argenta in April 1945 as a Stuart tank driver in 9th Lancers]. Local leave in North Africa allowed him to play in army teams against local opposition and on one occasion he played against the future actor Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
.
Post-war career and England debut
Once normal competition was restored, he made his debut for the club in August 1946 and soon established himself as an agile forward. Post-war demand for plumbers ensured that he had a second income to supplement the £14 he received as a footballer and he became famous as the "Preston Plumber". Twenty eight days after his first league appearance for Preston, Finney made his EnglandEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
debut, going on to win 76 cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
s and score 30 goals.
He played against Italy in 1948, he is the only player for either side that played that game who is still alive.
Tom Finney was Footballer of the Year
Footballer of the Year
Footballer of the Year may refer to:* African Footballer of the Year* Asian Footballer of the Year* European Footballer of the Year* FIFA Ballon d'Or* FWA Footballer of the Year * Estonian Footballer of the Year...
in 1953-54, the year of his only appearance in the FA Cup Final (losing 2-3 to West Bromwich Albion), and again in 1956-57, becoming the first player to win this award more than once. Sir Tom has recently in his autobiography confessed that he wasn't fully match fit for the FA Cup final of 1954, and therefore didn't give his best performance.
In June 1958, he scored his 29th international goal, against the Soviet Union
USSR national football team
The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...
to become joint England all-time top-scorer
Progression of England association football goalscoring record
This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international goals for the England national football team, beginning with William Kenyon-Slaney who scored the first ever international goal...
, sharing the record with Vivian Woodward
Vivian Woodward
Vivian John Woodward was an English amateur football player who enjoyed the peak of his career in the late 1900s and early 1910s.-Club career:...
and Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse
Nathaniel "Nat" Lofthouse, OBE was an English professional footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers for his whole career...
. In October the same year, he netted his 30th goal, against Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
, to become the sole holder of the record. Two weeks later, Lofthouse equalled his tally. Both were surpassed by Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
in October 1963.
Retirement
He retired from Preston North End in 1960, only when forced out with a persistent groinGroin
In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...
injury. He had played his entire career for his local club, appearing 433 times and scoring 187 goals. The balance of Preston's team hardly matched Finney's brilliance, the young Bill Shankly
Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
notwithstanding, and he never won the championship (in 1953 and 1958 Preston North End came close to completing the feat, but each time they had to settle for runners-up) or any other trophy. His loyalty is remarkable, though even he considered a 1952 offer from Italian club Palermo
U.S. Città di Palermo
Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian football club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. Formed in 1900 as Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club, the club had various names before assuming its final form in 1987 and is currently...
that included a £10,000 personal signing-on fee and high pay and perquisite
Employee benefit
Employee benefits and benefits in kind are various non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries...
s, but Preston asked for the then record fee of £50,000. He did, however, come out of retirement in 1963 to play for Northern Irish
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
outfit Distillery
Lisburn Distillery F.C.
Lisburn Distillery is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1880, originated in west Belfast, where it was based at Grosvenor Park at Distillery Street off the Grosvenor Road until 1971...
against Benfica in the European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
.
The Splash
On 31 July 2004, Sir Tom unveiled the water feature sculpture "The Splash" which stands outside The National Football Museum. The sculpture was inspired by the 1956 Sports Photograph of the Year which features Tom Finney beating two defenders at a waterlogged Stamford BridgeStamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
.
Now aged , Finney is one of England's oldest living former international footballers. As of February 2011, he is also one of only three surviving players from England's 1950 World Cup
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...
squad. The others are Bert Williams
Bert Williams (footballer)
Bert Frederick Williams MBE is a former English international football goalkeeper. Nicknamed The Cat, he spent the majority of his playing career at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he won the League Championship and FA Cup....
and Roy Bentley
Roy Bentley
Roy Thomas Frank Bentley is a retired English football player who played most notably for Chelsea and the England national side. He later became a manager...
.
Continuing links with Preston North End
As of 2007, Sir Tom maintains his links with Preston North End as the club's president. 2006 marked 60 years since his first league debut for PNE. To mark this occasion the National Football Museum, an organisation which he has championed and has close links with, invited football fans to sign a specially commissioned flag which was presented to Sir Tom at the beginning of the 2006-072006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...
season to mark his 60 years with PNE.
He also writes a regular PNE column for the University of Central Lancashire
University of Central Lancashire
The University of Central Lancashire is a university based in Preston, Lancashire, England.The university has its roots in The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge which was founded in 1828. In 1992 it was granted University status by the Privy Council...
's students' union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, Pluto
Pluto (newspaper)
Pluto is a student newspaper at the University of Central Lancashire's Students' Union.It is usually published every fortnight through the academic year, and began in 1985 as the Ribble Echo. The name originally stood for Preston Liberal Undergraduate Tabloid Offering. In recent years, its format...
.
Ability
His total mastery of all the techniques triumphed over the lack of medals. He was versatile, playing in all the orthodox five forward positions of the day for Preston and appearing for England at right-wing, left-wing and centre-forward. He was a genuine two-footed player, packing an explosive shot in either his right or his left. He had speed, balance, was a pin-point passer and, for a man of no great height, could head with awesome power. Whilst Finney's ability was great many will remember him for his gentlemanly conduct on the game which ensured he never received a booking throughout his entire career.Quotes about Finney
- "Tom Finney would have been great in any team, in any match and in any age ... even if he had been wearing an overcoat." (Bill ShanklyBill ShanklyWilliam "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
) - Shankly was also once asked about how a top star of the day compared to Finney: "Aye, he's as good as Tommy – but then Tommy's nearly 60 now."
- "Tom Finney should claim income tax relief ... for his 10 dependents." (Satirical observation on the weakness of the Preston team in his absence)
- "If all the brains in the game sat in committee to design the perfect player, they would come up with a reincarnation of Tom Finney." (Anonymous newspaper feature)
- "To dictate the pace and course of a game, a player has to be blessed with awesome qualities. Those who have accomplished it on a regular basis can be counted on the fingers of one hand – PeléPeléHowever, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
, MaradonaDiego MaradonaDiego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...
, BestGeorge BestGeorge Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
, Di StefanoAlfredo Di StéfanoAlfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé, born into a family of Italian immigrants from Capri, is a former Argentinian footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time...
, and Tom Finney." (Stanley MatthewsStanley MatthewsSir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers'...
)
Career statistics
|-|1946-47
The Football League 1946-47
-Overview:The 1946–1947 season was the 48th completed season of The Football League.This season was the first to feature a full football programme since the 1938–39 campaign.-Final league tables:...
||rowspan="14"|Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
||rowspan="3"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||32||7||3||2||35||9
|-
|1947-48
The Football League 1947-48
-Overview:The 1947–1948 season was the 49th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables:The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||33||13||4||1||37||14
|-
|1948-49
The Football League 1948-49
-Overview:The 1948–1949 season was the 50th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables:The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||24||7||2||2||26||9
|-
|1949-50
The Football League 1949-50
-Overview:The 1949–1950 season was the 51st completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables:The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="2"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||37||10||1||1||38||11
|-
|1950-51
The Football League 1950-51
-Overview:The 1950–1951 season was the 52nd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables:The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||34||13||2||0||36||13
|-
|1951-52
The Football League 1951-52
-Overview:The 1951–1952 season was the 53rd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="9"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||33||13||0||0||33||13
|-
|1952-53
The Football League 1952-53
-Overview:The 1952–1953 season was the 54th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||34||17||3||2||37||19
|-
|1953-54
The Football League 1953-54
-Overview:The 1953–1954 season was the 55th completed season of The Football League, which ran from August 1953 until April 1954.-Final league tables :...
||23||11||8||3||31||14
|-
|1954-55
The Football League 1954-55
-Overview:The 1954–1955 season was the 56th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||30||7||3||2||33||9
|-
|1955-56
The Football League 1955-56
-Overview:The 1955–1956 season was the 57th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||32||17||1||1||33||18
|-
|1956-57
The Football League 1956-57
-Overview:The 1956–1957 season was the 58th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||34||23||6||5||40||28
|-
|1957-58
The Football League 1957-58
-Overview:The 1957–1958 season was the 59th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||34||26||1||0||35||26
|-
|1958-59
The Football League 1958-59
-Overview:The 1958–1959 season was the 60th completed season of The Football League.This season saw the introduction of the Fourth Division.-Final league tables :...
||16||6||0||0||16||6
|-
|1959-60
The Football League 1959-60
-Overview:The 1959–1960 season was the 61st completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||37||17||6||4||43||21
433||187||40||23||473||210
433||187||40||23||473||210
External links
- Full list of Finney's international goals
- Tom Finney at the International Football Hall of Fame
- Tom Finney at the English Football Hall of Fame
- Football fans are asked to raise the standard for North End's greatest player
- Tom Finney Profile at Football England
- Interview with Sir Tom Finney at Shankly.com