THE wait was over for football fans as a new statue of sporting hero Sir Tom Finney was unveiled.

The life-size glass fibre replica was given to Preston's National Football museum by a private collector, and a host of sporting legends celebrated.

Three years ago local sculptor Peter Hodgkinson approached Preston North End bosses with the idea of building a giant bronze statue of his hero, Sir Tom.

Peter began designing a fitting tribute to the North End legend -- based on his legendary 'Splash' in his 1950s heyday.

But as the campaign to raise the £100,000 needed to complete the statue took longer than expected Peter completed a cheaper prototype, made out of fibreglass, and sold it to a collector -- who decided that it should take pride of place in the museum.

Sir Tom said: "It is a wonderful tribute and I'm very thrilled.

"What with having a stand at PNE and a road named after me, they can't do much more, can they? There were so many of the old players there, it was like a reunion."

During his career at the club, Sir Tom played an amazing 433 games for Preston, scoring 187 goals.

Mark Bushell, spokesman for the museum, said: "We are keen to display material of national importance and there are few players who contributed more to the game in this country and indeed throughout the world than Sir Tom Finney."

And the legendary player, who was so good he could switch from playing as a centre-forward to a winger, scored 30 goals in 76 matches for England.

On hand to unveil the statue were former PNE players Tommy Docherty, Tommy Thompson and Frank O'Farrell, and Sir Tom himself.

AS exclusively revealed by The Citizen, it is hoped that the larger than life size bronze statue will to stand outside the Deedale football ground will be ready for Sir Tom's birthday in April.