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"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 Shankly)

 

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).

 

"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 – Pelé, Maradona, Best, Di Stefano, and Tom Finney." (Stanley Matthews)

 

"Lionel Messi is an immature Tom Finney. He reminds me of him with his attitude, an approach he plays. You never see him concerned in any tasteless things, we never hear him criticising anyone, and that was Finney. To me Messi is Finney reborn." (Tommy Docherty)

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"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 Shankly)

 

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).

 

"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 – Pelé, Maradona, Best, Di Stefano, and Tom Finney." (Stanley Matthews)

 

"Lionel Messi is an immature Tom Finney. He reminds me of him with his attitude, an approach he plays. You never see him concerned in any tasteless things, we never hear him criticising anyone, and that was Finney. To me Messi is Finney reborn." (Tommy Docherty)

 

 

You know even as a very young kid, maybe 5 or 6 ish I appreciated what a proper football legend that Bill Shankly was too. A very under rated manager in the scheme of the all time greats.

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Me grandfather used to go on about him constantly and he rated him higher than Matthews.

 

Both were well before my time, but when I was a lad, it was Stanley Matthews who had the bigger reputation. Since then, Finney's stock has risen and now the balance of opinion seems to be that Finney was the better all-round player.

 

 

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Finney was a truly great player and was ahead of his time in many ways ; could use both feet almost equally well and was just as devastating when playing in the middle as well as on the wings.

 

As has been said, Bill Shankly idolised him and its strange to think that he played alongside Finney for Preston because sadly, Finney has just passed away at the grand age of 91 whilst Shankly died at the relatively young age of 68 back in 1981.

If England had a player like Finney now, he would be ranked alongside the likes of Messi & Co - shows how far we have fallen in producing top class players because Finney, Matthews, Mannion, Mortensen and Milburn would have been worth megabucks today...AND they would have been just as good because the modern players have much lighter kit to play in with better boots and lighter matchballs ; think how fast a modern ball would travel if Jackie caught it with one of his zero-backlift specials....!

RIP Sir Tom.... a real gentleman too.

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