Sir Tom Finney, George Ross, Fred Else and Tommy Docherty were all at the party, organised by the PNE Former Players' Association at Garstang Country Hotel and Golf Club.

Thompson, twice capped by England, enjoyed a phenomenal goalscoring record at Deepdale, netting 128 goals in 213 appearances between 1955 and 1961.

It cost Preston £27,000 to lure Thompson to Deepdale from Aston Villa, and in his best season, the 1957-58 campaign, when Preston finished runners-up to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the First Division, Thompson scored 34 times.

Ian Rigby, secretary of the PNE Former Players' Association, said: "We had 180 guests at Tommy's party and it was a fabulous turn-out for a fabulous player.

"Tommy enjoyed a fantastic playing partnership with Sir Tom Finney and I can't see anybody beating his 34 goals in a season for a long time.

"He also netted 17 goals in a run of 11 consecutive league games and that's an amazing statistic.

"Frank O'Farrell came up from Torquay and Peter McParland from Bournemouth, so it is testament to what they think about Tommy as a person."

Thompson began his career with Newcastle in 1946 and had spells with Stoke and Barrow when he left PNE.



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