Sir Tom Finney - "The Splash"
The fantastic bronze sculpture of Preston North End hometown hero, Sir Tom Finney.
Unveiled in 2004, the sculpture, by Preston-born Peter Hodgkinson, is cleverly positioned within a fountain which depicts an iconic scene from football history.
It was a Saturday afternoon in 1956 and Preston North End were playing away to Chelsea at their Stamford Bridge ground in London.
After a spell of heavy rain, some areas of the pitch were somewhat waterlogged and perhaps in the modern era the game, would have been abandoned. However the match continued unabated.
On one of his many marauding runs down the wing, Sir Tom, or back then just plain old Tom Finney, slid across the waterlogged pitch splashing up a wall of spray in his wake.
Photographer John Horton was in the right place at the right time and an iconic football image was made. His photograph, now known as The Splash, won the Sports Photograph of the Year for 1956.
The sculpture that was inspired by that famous sporting moment resides at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End.
The photograph can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/13459575884 at the Preston digital archive.
Sir Tom Finney - "The Splash"
The fantastic bronze sculpture of Preston North End hometown hero, Sir Tom Finney.
Unveiled in 2004, the sculpture, by Preston-born Peter Hodgkinson, is cleverly positioned within a fountain which depicts an iconic scene from football history.
It was a Saturday afternoon in 1956 and Preston North End were playing away to Chelsea at their Stamford Bridge ground in London.
After a spell of heavy rain, some areas of the pitch were somewhat waterlogged and perhaps in the modern era the game, would have been abandoned. However the match continued unabated.
On one of his many marauding runs down the wing, Sir Tom, or back then just plain old Tom Finney, slid across the waterlogged pitch splashing up a wall of spray in his wake.
Photographer John Horton was in the right place at the right time and an iconic football image was made. His photograph, now known as The Splash, won the Sports Photograph of the Year for 1956.
The sculpture that was inspired by that famous sporting moment resides at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End.
The photograph can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/13459575884 at the Preston digital archive.