Tom Finney - A Life in Pictures

SIR TOM FINNEY’S place among the very greatest footballers of all time is assured. He played for England 76 times and even today, he remains among the nation’s all time scoring greats. This is a celebration of his life using the archives of the LEP.

Born in 1922 within the shadow of Preston North End’s Deepdale Stadium, Sir Tom spent his whole career playing for the famous old club he followed as a boy. He made his mark in his very first game, taking just 18 minutes to score his first goal

Over the following 14 seasons he pulled on the club’s white jersey 433 times, notching up 187 goals in the process and becoming the first man to be crowned Footballer of the Year twice.

When injury eventually forced him to hang up his boots in 1960, at the age of 38, more than 30,000 fans turned up to bid him farewell. The emotionally charged day is captured in a series of photographs published here

Many of today’s football lovers never saw the great man play but his legend lives on. In 2009 the National Football Museum dedicated a whole exhibition to Sir Tom. His death in 2014 saw the football world come together to mark his career.

Sir Tom Finney: A Life in Pictures draws on the extensive photographic archives of the Lancashire Evening Post to chart the life and times of Preston’s most famous son.

Many of the pictures published here have never been seen before, while others have lain unseen for decades.

Together they chronicle both his playing career and his life off the pitch, painting a fascinating portrait of a man who has truly earned the status of national treasure.