Listen to the full interview above via the Off The Ball Football Show podcast
They definitely don't make 'em like Tom Finney anymore.
A Preston North End legend who spent his entire career (1946 - 60) with his hometown club, Finney passed away on Friday aged 91.
To look back on the career of a man ranked alongside Stanley Matthews in the pantheon of post-war greats, we spoke to Dr Rogan Taylor of the Football Research Unit at the University of Liverpool.
"He was one of these guys who'd seen action during the war. A fair chunk of what could have been an even greater professional career was cut out by six or seven years of the suspension of club and international football. I became aware of him with the Stanley Matthews thing that began to grow in the 50s and the constant comparisons between the two," said Taylor of a forward who scored 30 goals in 76 England caps.
Interestingly, Taylor, who met both players long after they retired, also said Finney was a "much greater human being than Sir Stanley."
"In some ways they were chalk and cheese and when I did get to meet them both, that's when I began to formulate that opinion. I think he's the only footballer I've been close to for an hour or two and when you left you felt you were in the presence of someone special."
Taylor also believes that Finney is the "greatest English player of all time" because of his versatility and talent, putting him on the same level of the all-time great players.
According to Taylor, he was a great all-round striker, pacey, two-footed, good in the air and an even better dribbler than Stanley Matthews.
While Finney stayed loyal to Preston despite never winning major trophies, an offer did come in from Italian side Palermo in 1952 and the qualified plumber told Taylor that he "would have loved to have gone" with the carrot of a 500 per cent increase in wages and a £10,000 signing-on fee and the challenge of playing in Italy.
Listen to the full interview with Rogan which touches on Finney's gentlemanly side, his experience against Hungary and why he thinks that Stanley Matthews hype was "over-done".
Image: Tom Finney of Preston ©INPHO/Allsport
