Episode 11 Late Kick Off North West

This week, one of English football's all-time greats turns 90.

Tonight we celebrate Sir Tom Finney. Coming up, the Preston plumber who

became the perfect player. Happy birthday Sir Tom Finney. Juggling

today is a lost art. There is only one player today I know of who

juggles and that is the little fella in Barcelona. Five and

finally alive. We look back on Burnley's day out. And here is this

pushing back for the play-offs? With us tonight in the studio, a

man who knows Sir Tom well from nine years as both a player and

manager at Preston, the current boss of Everton, David Moyes. And a

former England captain who faced Sir Tom Finney in a whole host of

Blackpool-North End derbies, Jimmy Armfield. Jimmy, you have seen many

players in your lifetime and played against many, where does Tom Finney

rank? If I had to put him anywhere I would put him among so top

players we have ever produced. Anyone who saw him regularly would

agree with that because more than anything, it was his attitude to

the way he played, the talent and the other thing about him was he

was so versatile. He could play across the forced line and anywhere.

David, or in your mind years, how big an influence was he on you?

was a big influence on everyone. He certainly helped me and Gary Peters

before me. He knew everything about it. It was very simple with Tom. He

was not just a great footballer, but unexceptional man. More insight

shortly. Quite simply he's a legend. A

legend and a gentleman. Sir Tom Finney is one of the finest English

players of all time. His entire career, 14 years, was spent at

Deepdale. He is Mr Preston North End. On Thursday, Sir Tom reaches

another milestone - his 90th birthday. Andy Johnson has this

tribute from all of us at Late Kick I always think he was definitely

one that you could say was the best. Two great feat, terrific in the air,

brave as a lion. He had everything. A one club man. A one-off. 14 years

with Preston North End. 4 33 league appearances, 187 goals. All of the

football clubs have loved to play Preston because Tommy put thousands

on the gate. They would go in their thousands just a seed Tommy Finney

Perry. Although the war robbed him of some

of his best playing years, Tom Finney was footballer of the year

twice in the fifties. He didn't win any domestic honours and he could

have earned more elsewhere - he once turned down a lucrative move

to Italy. It wasn't for him. He only ever wanted to play for his

beloved Preston. Tommy Docherty played for nine years alongside the

great man. I would rather play behind him than

against him. Jimmy used to say, get the ball and give it to Finney. He

said don't worry, he will do the rest. That is what I used to do. As

you get an understanding with Tom, he made bad passes look great.

greatest asset was his dribbling ability. He would beat a player on

a sixpence. Dribbling today is a lost art. There is only one player

in football that I know who dribbles and that is the little

fella at Barcelona. Like all players with supreme

ability, he was the recipient of some agricultural challenges from

opponents. Fizzin' Heck, I remember he said. I was describing somebody

when we had a few minutes and he was shocked once when somebody

actually fouled him and just ran away and did not apologise. He said,

Fizzin' Heck, he said. Fizzin' Heck! He could not believe it. He

could not believe everybody had the audacity to tackle him.

It seems inconceivable now with the millionaire lifestyles enjoyed by

today's top players, but throughout his playing career, Tom Finney

continued to work as a plumber. After training, we used to go

outside and his wheelbarrow was in the car park. I don't know why they

had a car park because there were no cars. The directors had a car,

you know, but Sir Tom had a wheelbarrow. Ken was an accountant

and Ken used to do the secretarial work for Tom's business. Tom and

his brother used to push the wheelbarrow to plumbing jobs.

was it unfair to describe Preston as a one-man team? They used to

call us the plumbing a team. Be it wasn't bad. It was not a bad quote,

that. Tom Finney won 76 caps for his

country. As his international career drew to a close another

illustrious one was beginning. I remember when I played my first

game for England, I could not believe it. Tommy Finney was left

winger. Tommy Finney went down and he didn't even look up. You could -

- he could see with his peripheral vision. He just clipped the ball to

the spot, the penalty spot, and I could not just help it. I was in my

stride and a whack it in the back of the net. Whenever anybody said,

what was that like? I said it was more my ambition to play with Tommy

Finney. Bill Shankly was a colleague here and he said that Tom

Finney would have been great in any team, any match of any era even if

he had been wearing an overcoat. Of course that meant he faced the

likes of Shanks and Tommy Docherty when England played Scotland. The

way he was treated by his club colleagues on international duty

didn't always go down well at Deepdale.

I went back to Preston on the Monday and Mr Buck was the chairman

then and I said, I want to see year. They said, look, I am not happy

with you. I said, why? He said, the way you treated Tom at Wembley on

Saturday. I felt you were very rough, to say the least, on Tommy.

I said, he was playing for England and I was playing for Scotland and

I am sorry if I offended you. He said, I have some tablets to give

you to call you down. I said I don't need any tablets. You can put

these tablets way you put the carrots. I told Tom about it and he

was killing himself laughing. Finney plays his last game for

Preston at home, the date, 30th April.

In 1960, Finney played his last league game. The world was changing

and just as the sixties were about to swing, a truly great player and

a great man hung up his boots. I just feel sorry for the people

who never saw him play. They miss something special. He was Preston

North End. Simple as that. He will be for the rest of his life.

just had this aura. Femi has got the ball, Finney has got the ball.

Hundreds of thousands of people used to travel miles and miles to

try and see his skill and see him play. Brilliant stuff. Memories for

year and for people like me, an eye-opener. Comparing him to many

great players. What was he like? What could he do? What Jimmy were

saying there I think is true. He was like recipe. On the left foot

all the time. When he played on the right wing he used to trap the ball

and if you went that way, he always went inside. Reading his mind was

not easy. It was his versatility and his strength. People never

think about that, he could run for ever. That kind of strength? He had

an inner strength. I don't know what it was. He was great in the

air. He was not good in the air. I once saw him play at Arsenal and I

think that is the best display I have ever seen by a player in one

match. He was up, back, jumping with centre-halves. He was great.

It was his versatility that I always thought took him into

greatness. Did he turn up with tricks? As they would today? Yes,

he dribbled past players. That was to strike. He used to trap the ball

with his left foot and dip with his right shoulder. When he played

against me I would think he would come inside, is he? May be. He was

very difficult to weigh up. Like Matthews, from here to there, not

much mutters, he'd got it. David, you came from Celtic where they had

legends. When you came to Preston were you aware of him and what he

stood for? Of course I have -- of course I was aware of Sir Tom

Finney. Not as a player because he was out of my era, but the more I

got to the club I understood him. I got to watch clips like we watch

just now and to understand how good a player he was. I got to know him

more as a person and as a man. is when I met him when he was

showing me around the pavilion stand before they pulled the inner

workings alt. He loves the club, doesn't he? What does he mean to

the people of Preston? Tommy Docherty said it there, he is

Preston. He was when I was there. Everything there was from Tom. Tom

let us out what we were the championship. It was his club and

everybody in Preston knows him. He is a fine, fine man and obviously a

great player. Jimmy, you were with him at the weekend. What sort of a

manager was the? He was a gentleman. The worst heat said was Fizzin'

Heck. Nothing about him was, why players like him was his attitude

to the game. He never feigned injury. If he got tripped or felt

he got up and walked on. I think his attitude and steered him to the

people. As a really great footballer and sportsman he endear

himself to the public because he was so modest. He could not

understand the acclaim he got. man who keeps a wheelbarrow in the

car-park is modest. That would not borrowed -- bother Tom. We are told

that when he got the ball, nowadays there is a crescendo, we were told

he -- we were told the crowd went quiet waiting to see what he did.

Tommy Docherty said it, he was Preston. You expected something to

happen. People used to say who lived in our area, they had the joy

of watching Matthews one week and Tom Finney the next. It is

incredible to Maj-Gen -- Imogen. David, did he have influence of

new? Yes, when I got the job he used to come in on a Friday. We

would talk about the team and I would say, I don't know what to do.

Everything he did was simple, basic. I was saying to Jimmy, up we would

think the fall-back was going to shoot the line and he would say,

taking inside. If he shows too much, taken on the outside. It was all

simple. He was a great support for me. He was up-to-date with football,

what was going on. He used to talk about players earning too much, and

rightly so. The life he had to have as well as football, but overall he

was a great help and it was great to have someone like that come in

and give us a little bit of time. In his own way he wanted to be kept

Well, onto present day Preston now and an amazing accusation from

manager Graham Westley that kicks off Howard Booth's League One

round-up. While it's these two goals from Gary Madine that looked

to have sealed North End's fate at Hillsborough, manager Graham

Westley would later claim four of his own players had undermined

their efforts by revealing the Preston team and tactics to

Sheffield Wednesday before the game. Here's what he told BBC Radio

Lancashire's Andy Bayes. When you have got people in your camp

working against you, an enemy within, it is tough. I will

overcome it because these are the barriers you have to jump over. You

have got 35 players and some might not be the future and it can be

different. Take a bow Bury, a first win in14! Efe Sodje and Giles Coke

got the goals that secured The Shakers first win since and

consigned Rovers to a first defeat in six since Ronnie Moore's return.

Two down to relegation rivals Walsall, Rochdale launched the kind

of comeback that can turn round a season. Jean Louis Akpa Akpro

halved the arrears on 66 minutes, Michael Symes' penalty levelled

matters with eight minutes to go and Akpa Akpro's second three

minutes into injury time looked to have won a serious six pointer it

for Dale. But much to John Coleman's frustration and the fans'

disbelief, his side failed to hang on, dropping crucial points to Andy

Butler's 94th minute equaliser. Last week, we reported back to back

1-0 wins for Oldham, this time it's successive single goal defeats

after Tuesday's loss to Leyton orient and this reverse at Meadow

Lane. Chris Taylor hit the post from long range for The Latics, but

it was Alan Sheehan's last minute strike which won it for the home

Well I don't think we've heard the last of that Preston story, listen

into BBC Radio Lancashire for the latest all week. Graham is due to

meet the press next on Thursday. meet the press next on Thursday.

It's not inconceivable that North End could find themselves in

relegation trouble. In their next five games they face promotion

chasing MK Dons, Huddersfield and Charlton and there's also a trip to

Graham Westley's former club Late Kick Off makes way for the

Football League Show next week, but we'll report from North End-

Huddersfield when we return two weeks tonight, April the 16th. Now

it's not often you get to compare Crewe with Manchester United, but

right now, they're the only two teams in England unbeaten in their

last ten games. In fact, since Steve Davis took over last November,

The Railwaymen have lost just 4 of their games. Sarah Mulkerrins was

at Gresty Road on Saturday to see They have gone from 18th to 8th.

What is it about Steve Davis that is bringing up results? He has got

his way of playing and he suits us a little bit better. He will put us

in our place and he is quite strict, which is what we need and he has

got as playing the right way. the right way after an unbeaten run

of nine games and sitting pretty on the edge of the play-offs. The

biggest change in the past couple of months according to the manager

has been the increased mental toughness and a willingness to win.

He has been keen to deflect praise away from himself and on to the

squad. They have to go out with that belief and strength in the

games and they have got great together this which we have

improved. We have improved on the football pitch and they are working

hard for each other and that is one of the ingredients to the success

that we have recently had. How are you enjoying it? Relishing it! I

love it, I have to save. I enjoy coming in every day. There is a new

challenge every day and I'd love working with the players,

especially when they are responding. The fans seem to be responding as

well. It has been really good recently and we have had good

results. You are a fan of his management style? I think so, he

has done well. He can be a bit strict. That is what we believe and

that has been needed for several years. He has had a quite nine or

10 matches and then it changed. He is still a good bloke. But standing

in the way of another bid result, Northampton Town. Freedom best

describes the first half. The striker was are unstoppable. It was

look Murphy's cool control that put them in the lead. -- Luke Murphy.

But Northampton were back in the game thanks to Afinkenwa. An

injury-time penalty summed it up. Be keeper guessed correctly and

denied them a late winner. We did not do it today. Mainly because the

players looked a bit too relaxed and they were just watching it. It

did not work but I thought I would try something different. They have

got to focus themselves. You can only say so much to try and put

things right. But they have got to sit there for the 15 minutes and

get focused for the second half but we are not quite doing that.

parallels with yourself, David? How difficult is it to progress through

the Manx as a manager? -- the ranks. It is very difficult but I think he

has got good support. He did not start well but he has won games. He

has built great foundations over the years. It is great to see them

getting the opportunity. Do you keep an eye on the Football League?

Yes, we have to because a lot of signings come from there and we

keep updated on what is going on. One North West team did Crewe a

favour in the play-off race this weekend. With the rest of the

League Two action, here's Sarah It was Morecambe doing both Alex and

themselves a favour at the Kassam Stadium with a win over play-off

Craig Curran put them ahead early on, while Stewart Drummond headed

on, while Stewart Drummond headed the decider after the break.

Macclesfield were also away to a side chasing a top seven spot, but

the only thing on Macc minds is their battle to beat the drop. It's

an increasingly uphill fight, after goals from Matt Fish and Chris

Whelpdale secured a 2-0 win for Gillingham, leaving The Silkmen

still in the relegation zone. Accrington arrested their winless

run at three, thanks to a home win over AFC Wimbledon. Luke Joyce gave

them the lead after Bobby Grant's free kick wasn't collected, while

Will Hatfield was the man who won it late on, Grant again providing

important those two points dropped by Crewe could be, they still have

plenty of work to do if they're to extend their season. Into the

bottom half and Macclesfield's plight. Three of their remaining

six games are against teams chasing From the League Two basement to the

Championship now and while Blackpool cheered up Jimmy with a

big win, Phil Cunliffe starts his round up with an even bigger one

for Burnley. A wonderful lead for Burnley at Fratton Park. But it was

level three minutes later. But a header restored Burnley's advantage.

header restored Burnley's advantage. It was made safe by this hat trick.

He switches into the penalty area! Is it going to go in? It is!

Charlie Austin, he has danced around the goal and rolls it into

the net. Will he cross? It is a hat trick for Charlie Austin! Striker

Stephen Dobbie Hogg t headline but it was his penalty saved that got

them going against Southampton. He made his first home appearance

since signing on loan from Swansea and was inch-perfect after a tumble

midway through the first half. Nine minutes later, he is and

Blackpool's second. Great composure to find the finish past Davies.

Championship shows Blackpool back in the top six but it looks like

five or even six teams battling for three play off places. Burnley stay

16th, despite that big win, but they can improve that position and

help Blackpool out as well with a victory in their game in hand at

home to Birmingham tomorrow night. Oldham are also in action at

Brentford while several of our sides get the Easter weekend

underway on Good Friday. All of our League Two teams are in action then,

keep up to date with all the games and all the news all week on your

Where would Tom be playing today? I was reading he could play in all

five forward positions. Yes, he has done in his time. He has definitely

played on both wings and inside forward when he was developing as a

player. He would certainly be in the England team. He would not be

able to stay at Preston. Not today. The money would be too much of an

inducement at Preston as well. The words are inseparable. Him and

Preston. The films do not do him justice, really. Television has

moved on the same as football has and consequently you do not really

see him at his best. But take it from me, he was terrific. Young

players had taken it on board. They have been comparing him to Lionel

Messi. Wherever he went, people said, Tom Finney, Tom Finney. I got

him a birthday card at the weekend saying that he was 90 today. These

were people board in 1922 like Doris Day, Ava Gardner and Tom

Finney. -- form. -- were born. we producing legends like this

today? Who will we be talking about like this in 90 years? We hope to

produce similar legends but whether we produce somebody that has his

loyalty and service to his country and one town and one team, I do not

know if we will see that again and that is what makes him special. But

the game needs it. Football has moved on from that period and we

need new Superstars but everybody talks about Temple stop do players

today appreciate --. Two players appreciate players like him?

think they should because you can learn an awful lot from players of

the past. He is obviously even further back than some legendary

players but he was certainly one of Well thanks very much to you both,

Jimmy and David, for your thoughts tonight. Sir Tom has retired from

public appearances but we're assured he's being well looked

after as he prepares for the big day on Thursday. We're going to say

goodbye in a way we think most fitting for the great man himself.

With memories and good wishes from his peers and the people of Preston.

From everyone at Late Kick Off, My memories of him were being stood

on the Kop watching him play and realising how lucky I was to be

able to see a player of his skills at that time. My hairs on my neck

were standing up with the excitement. Tom Finney to me, in my

opinion, the greatest ever, in my opinion. A pleasure to play behind

him in all those years and we will never meet your like again and it

has been a privilege and a pleasure to be on the same field with you.

Got less, take care, Tommy. could score brilliant goals and

beat men used to play it. A good team man. -- beat players are used

to play. A good all-round footballer. -- beat players

brilliantly. It would not surprise me one little bit if he went out on

the field at 90. I still think he could walk past them! You always

knew that when he went down on the field, we were good. It is going to

be a great cross. There is always somebody there. A lot of

footballers felt the same but he was a great footballer. Tommy,

thank you for letting me called you Tommy. It has been an absolute

pleasure watching you play, from when I first started playing and

occasionally got the opportunity. It was the greatest pleasure that

anybody could ever have. I have so many happy memories about watching