Early Life
Finney was born at home in Preston on a street next to the Deepdale 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 four years old. He was married to Elsie Noblett from 1945 until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2004. They had two children; a son Brian (born 1947) and a daughter Barbara (born 1950).
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