FINNEY IN THE DISTILLERY

Tom Finney was an extraordinary footballer who had much success with his ONE club, Preston North End and for England. But one of his later triumphs, at the age of 41, might be regarded as his one performance for Northern Ireland champions (at the time), Distillery, who were entered in the European Champions Cup in 1963, thre equivalent of the Champions League today.

Coaxed out of retirement, Finney was 3 years into retirement by Distillery manager George Armstrong to play against Portuguese Champions, Benfica. In 1963, they were some force to be reckoned with, especially with an ageing Finney up front. In front of a Distillery crowd of 19,326, the game ended in an exciting 3-3 draw.

In the return leg abroad, Finney did not travel and his influence was lost, as Distillery gave in 0-5!

The club's playing record in Europe's various competitions is:              P10 W0 D1 L9 F8 A34

Finney was my brother's favourite footballer as a youngster and he supported Preston as a youngster. I favoured the tangerine of Blackpool and Stanley Matthews. I don't think either of us Sussex lads had any idea where these places were, but we did follow the Lancashire clubs' successes and failures week by week.

Known as Distillery FC, the club originates from 1880, becoming founder members of the Irish League in 1890. In 1999, they became known as Lisburn Distillery FC. They first played at Distillery Street, Grosvenor Park and found a new ground in 1980 at the New Grosvenor Park, which they ground share with Brantwood and Crusaders at Ballykeagh in South Belfast.

Club groundsman, Dale Winton, sleeps at the ground so he can get to work at 7am on the dot.