27/02/2014 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight on the

day Preston came to a standstill to bid Sir Tom Finney farewell.

We've spent the day talking to those who loved and knew the man known as

Preston's favourite son. Tonight: Thousands line the streets `s the

hearse slowly made its way through the city to the Minster.

I was there with the thousands of well`wishers outside. I've `lso been

speaking to some of those inside about their memories of one of the

country's greatest players. I've looking back at his life here

at Preston North End and talking to the fans who've been turning out in

their thousands today. And we look at the legacy ldft

behind by Sir Tom for the chty's generations to come.

Just look at the tributes hdre and you will have an idea of thd

affection in which he was hdld, not just here in the city, but `cross

the nation and around the world Flowers, scarves, from all over the

world, and well`wishers havd travelled from all around. He was

devoted to Preston. The people of Preston were devoted to him. Here at

the home of his beloved Preston North End, he played that the club

for many years. Between 1946 and 1960 he made more

than 400 league appearances for the club. He won 76 caps for England and

was universally regarded as one of the greatest players ever. But he

was so much more to the people here. People used to travel to thd matches

with him on the bus. People would ring up his plumbing firm and find

that he would fix their leaking tap.

He's often referred to as Preston's favourite son. The funeral

procession passed here just after midday, moving along the ro`d named

after him, Sir Tom Finney W`y, before passing Preston Guildhall

where members of the Preston and District Veterans Association

lowered flags as a mark of respect. He served in the war. His football

career had a delayed start due to his service for his country. 60

guests were waiting in the Linster. Many thousands outside, places six

or seven deep. Stuart Flinddrs was one of them. He's there at the

Minster now for us. It was quiet when I arrived here

this morning before the service gamut, there were lots of pdople

here, but the atmosphere was subdued. Everyone had just one thing

on their mind. I was speaking to Mark Lawrenson, the comment`tor and

former player, and he said ht was as if part of Preston had died. Tom

Finney always could draw a crowd. It is 50 years since he played for

Preston, but they have never forgotten it. What does he lean to

this town? He means everything. A bit of the

town has died with his death. Many people were here three hours

before the service began. Preston really has come to a standstill

today as it pays its respects. Why is it important for you to be

here? I watched Sir Tom plax and he was a gentleman and a true

footballer. You will not sed a player like that again. He hs a

gentleman. He was there all my life, so we knew the day would cole and we

knew that we would come herd when it did.

Preston players past and prdsent carried the coffin and gave a

tribute. I looked forward to meeting him. He was humble, he was never

bigger than what you thought he was. He was a great man.

Inside, music and memories. He got 14 quit all the year round.

They said that I wasn't as good a player as him, I said I was in the

summer. A reminder that he was a falily

man. But he was Preston's m`n as well. Today, they gave him ` final

round of applause. I was privileged to meet Sir Tom

Finney on many occasions, and it is true that everyone says that he is

very modest. I wonder what he would have thought of such a grand

occasion. You saw Tommy Dohdrty putting a smile on people's faces,

but he was very serious when I spoke to him about how good a plaxer Sir

Tom Finney was. The best player I've ever sden. When

I see Barcelona play and I look at Messi, I thought that he's Tom

Finney in a Barcelona shirt. Messi might be just as good as hil. But as

a person, none better, absolute gentleman. Two great feet, five foot

eight, ten and a half stone. A good force to play against. Messh,

Barcelona, people like that. He might be as good as Tom Finney. He

would've earned a fortune today The game today is crazy. But th`t's the

thing, it never bothered hil. Never heard him talk about terms `nd

financial ways. He was just delighted to come in for tr`ining

early in the morning. First in, last away. I trained with him and he was

such a talent. He made me ndarly a good player.

Tommy Doherty, one of the bhg names here today. There were many people

here today, some of whom probably do not know about football, but they

cared about a man who was all about Preston, and that was what lade

today so special. Stuart, thank you. Outside the front

of the Deepdale grounds is this famous statue of Sir Tom Finney It

was based on a photograph of him. He was one of a quartet of Northwest

footballers, Stan Matthews, Stan Mortensen. They work, this hs in the

`` they were giants in the post`war era. Many footballers since have

been touched by him, amongst them Sir Bobby Charlton, who madd his

England debut in the same shde as Sir Tom Finney. He told me that he

was dazzled by the man. He was the type of player that, when

he got the ball, it got you on the edge of your seat. Such a f`ntastic

player. I think about him most when I played my first game for Dngland.

He was playing on the left wing and I could not believe it. I w`s

actually on the same field `s Tom Finney. He took the ball to the back

area and he did not even look up and he chipped it. He was great. It was

just right for him, this. It is a marvellous turnout. Yes, he was a

lovely man. I played one match with him and I was really pleased. He was

sensational and deserves all the credit that people give him.

Sir Bobby Charlton outside the Minster earlier. A lot has been made

of the fact that Sir Tom Finney was a one club man. Very few people

these days do that, Ryan Giggs is a modern comparison. Back in the day,

he would come to the game on the bus. He was a man of the people The

stand behind me bears his n`me. Inside Deepdale, we will find our

reporter. Yes, it is dark in here now, but

nobody lit up the ground like Sir Tom Finney did. He was born a few

streets away from here. He was a star. But he was a fan, likd the

people who cheered him on. Lany people were here today to honour

him. They came in their thousands to

honour a player and a man who is one in a million. Very emotional. I

loved him. I saw his first game and his last game. I met him a few

times. The nicest man I knew, apart from my father. Pride for the

city's greatest son. I have been in his company, I thanked him. I said

that what you gave to us on the playing field, nobody could ever

thank you enough. That was Sir Tom. Sir Tom Finney was an outst`nding

footballer. Sir Stanley Matthews compared him to Maradona, and his

team managers said this. If I had a choice of picking any player in the

whole world, with my life at stake, I would pick Tom Finney.

He was a gentleman who was never walked or sent off. A one club man

and a one off. Tom Finney starts his season for

Preston North End. Have you still got the same enthusiasm for the

game? Yes, I have. Tom, people took to him, because he

was Tom Finney. From Preston, a great player.

Some people from Preston have precious personal stories about Tom,

like this man who remembers kicking a ball about on the streets when Tom

walked past. I shouted his name and I passed the

ball to him. I picked up thd ball and thought I would never khck it

again. And other people from Preston will

never forget what he gave to them, to football and to the city. He was

a real gentleman. Everyone was proud of him. He was our Sir Tom.

If ever Sir Tom was injured, used to keep it quiet, because if ndws got

out, 10,000 people would not come out. Whenever anyone else's name was

read out with the number seven, people used to do.

You mentioned the draw and `ppeal of Sir Tom Finney at grounds all across

the country, where he played. Just some of the scarves here, scarves

from all around the country. Most of them from Preston North End. Many

more to go with the floral tributes. He was so central to this chty. You

cannot undermine it enough. `` you cannot emphasise it enough. There is

a sports centre at the Univdrsity and even a school that bears the

name of Sir Tom Finney. At this school, they know something

about Sir Tom Finney. He was born on the 5th of April. He made hhs North

end debut on August the 23rd 19 6. `` 1956. He played for Engl`nd many

times and scored many goals. He became Sir Tom Finney in 19 88.

Hardly surprising when you realise that this school bears his name

This was forms with an amalgamation of three specialist schools, and it

needed a name, and one of the suggestions was Sir Tom Finney

Community High School. We thought that was excellent. It was like the

idea is that we wanted to ptt out there of loyalty and integrhty. That

is what he stood for. It was only proper that the students

join thousands of other people from Preston in paying tribute to Tom. In

the city centre, you could see just how highly regarded he was. He did a

lot for Preston. He was one of those people that everybody knows wherever

you go. He meant a lot to the community. The fact that he stayed

in a Preston and the loyaltx for Preston was brilliant.

Sir Tom Finney was very protd of Preston, and as far as the city was

concerned the feeling was mttual. He may now be gone, but he will never

be forgotten. Sir Tom Finney, the perfect player

and a wonderful man. Much loved and never forgotten. Just one of the

tributes written here on thd back of a shirt. We will have more from a

Deepdale later in the progr`mme We will now go back to the studio.

Plans to close up to four fhre stations and shed 150 jobs over the

next two years have been approved by the Merseyside Fire Authority. It

says the cuts are needed, to save more than ?6 million by the end of

2016. Around a hundred of the job losses will be firefighters. The

authority says it's hoping to avoid compulsory redundancies.

An Ellesmere Port company h`s assured local residents thex won't

be in any danger when it destroys some of Syria's chemical we`pons

stockpile later this year. People living near the Veolia site have

signed an online petition against the disposal of a150 tonnes of

material due to arrive in April or May. The French firm insists the

process will be safe. It saxs that it is used to handling such

operations. We process many tonnes of waste per annum, less th`n the

150 tonnes of our annual output only 1.5%.

An investigation has found that the NHS Trust in charge of Furndss

General Hospital caused unndcessary distress to a family whose baby died

just days after he was born. Joshua Titcombe's father made five

complaints about the way st`ff dealt with his concerns about his son s

preventable death in 2008. The Health Service Ombudsman upheld four

of his complaints, and the Trust has now apologised.

We are pleased with the recommendations. We want thdm to be

honest and open in the future. That is positive. There are still many

questions that have not been answered, including white they were

not investigated in the first place. All of these issues will be looked

at by the investigation. The Government today issued an

"unreserved apology" after ` Rochdale woman who'd been in a coma

for two months was sent a ldtter encouraging her to find work. The

town's MP Simon Danczuk said it showed the Department for Work and

Pensions was hounding disabled people. It was written by a private

contractor, even though 47`xear`old Sheila Holt had suffered a heart

attack and had been sectiondd under the Mental Health Act.

Now, all this week we've bedn marking the centenary of World War

One. We've told stories of the volunteers, of the arms factories,

of conscription. Tonight, though, a story that gives a real inshght into

the scale of the impact of the war on communities back home. It's the

story of England's bravest street. April five, 1919. Crowds and

marching soldiers here to unveil a memorial to the war dead. Btt why

did a film crew appear for this one? What made this street so

special? 100 years ago, this was Chapel

Street in Oldham. It is now a car park and a block of flats, but it

used to be a cobbled street of back`to`back houses, living in them

a largely Irish community. Ht was an ordinary street that was to become

extraordinary. Extraordinary, because this street

provided 161 soldiers, setthng a recruitment record that gavd it the

name England's bravest Stredt. This is the only remaining marker that we

have left, really. George h`s been fascinated by the story for years.

The street would have gone straight down. There were 61 houses. 30

houses either side. Within three weeks, 80 week `` 80 men had

enlisted from this street, 80 out of 161 altogether. It was incrddible.

61 houses, 161 men eventually enlisted.

But what was the reality behind that street name? Chapel Street was poor.

Many of the men would have been in a cramped lodging houses, would have

been unemployed and desperate. Patrick Chisholm may not have been

top of the list `` patriotism may not have been at the top of the list

for them to enlist. They got a nice meal, a uniform and a free holiday

to France. And they thought it would be over by Christmas.

Local history enthusiasts h`ve been trying to discover more abott the

stories behind the 161 who larched away and 29 who never returned. Like

46`year`old Ralph Ryan, killed in 1916. His family were told that he

had been transferred from France to a hospital from England, but they

could not tell him which ond. He did not turn up, and when the army

looked into it, the key mean occasion was wrong. There wdre two

Ryan's, but he was not one of them. So his poor wife... False hope. The

Chapel Street soldiers are, like the street, long gone. Their street is

under a council car park. Btt it is time to recognise the terrible price

that one street played for hts place in history.

And tomorrow night, Radio Manchester's Allan Beswick hs at

Dunham Massey Hall in Cheshhre, where the house has been tr`nsformed

back into the military hosphtal that it was in 1917.

And now we will look at the weather. Yes, it has been a good day of

weather, with some sunshine. A few showers now and again. On Friday and

Saturday, we should see somd sunshine, maybe some rain on

Saturday night into Sunday `nd some blustery showers, possibly some

heavy rain, from Sunday into Monday. This evening, we still have a few

showers. They may be falling as wintry showers on high ground and a

touch of snow in places. As we head into dawn, it will be mostlx dry,

but it will be cold. Maybe some freezing fog patches. Temperatures

at two or three Celsius. In oral areas, possibly below freezhng. ``

in the countryside. It will be a frosty start tomorrow,

maybe some freezing fog, and plenty of cloud, but generally you are in

for a dry afternoon. The cloud should break to allow some

sunshine. Six or seven Celshus. Tomorrow evening, summer shower was

from across the Irish Sea. Ht will be quite cold. Temperatures dropping

possibly below freezing and a lot of frost around, but the weekend does

not look too bad. We will go back to Preston for a

final word on the funeral of Sir Tom Finney.

Yes, our sports presenter h`s come from inside the stadium to join us.

You are a Preston man. Tom Finney of the same mould. It was suggdsted he

may have been embarrassed bx the fuss?

Yes, I was pleased to meet him on several occasions. Once I fhlmed on

his front room, and he made me a cup of tea. Rather than a sports car

after training, his brother would be there with a wheelbarrow of plumbing

equipment. Yes, he carried on working, ?14 a

week. Yes, the fame and fortune did not bother him, he felt connected to

the city. Yes, the people fdeling connected to him? Yes, therd have

been tears today, but also great pride about what he meant to the

city. A couple of people travelled from

California to pay their respects today. It was said in the etlogy

that Tom Finney was a local boy made really good. Also a gentlem`n who

was a gentle man. Bank you for watching.

# Amazing Grace how sweet the sound # That saved a wretch like le

# I once was lost # But now I am found

# Was blind but now I see # Was Grace that brought my heart is

to fear # And Grace my fears relievdd

# Hal precious did that Grace appear # The hour I first believed #.