Terry Finnissy 1972 to 1977
Born in Farnborough hospital in April 1961, Terry Finnissy attended St Vincent's in Mottingham and, along with John D’Silva and Nick Pannizzi, arrived at t Mary’s in September 1972.
His first form master was Rod Turner and the prefect was Steve King.
I’m sure Rod won’t mind me sharing a memory from Terry:
“Rod had organised line out practice one lunchtime,” he says. “This required the services of John (scrum-half) and me (fly-half). Unfortunately, we were attending extra French lessons with Sue Worthington. We had just settled when the classroom door was taken off its hinges and there stood Rod.Three words were uttered:
’Finnissy. D’Silva. Out!’
”Second school motto: Never allow academic work to interfere with rugby!"
Terry was part of a Chislehurst contingent which included John D’Silva, plus Dave ‘Bobby’ Thompson and Gerard ‘Pat’ Whelan:
“We all caught the 228 bus from The Gordon Arms In Chislehurst together to school,” says Tery. “The ‘Gordon’s’ became my favoured watering hole for a good few years.”
“Not academically gifted I did manage to secure a job as a clerk with the TSB in the city,” says Terry. “Realising quite early on office life wasn’t for me, I left within a year. A couple of interim jobs followed before I found a job with a furniture removals company.
“This lasted for several years before I joined a hygiene company driving vans, then much larger lorries delivering into the City and West End and did this until a couple of years ago.
“Tired of the stress and aggravation of London driving, I joined a local family run car parts company, which comes with less stress, good bosses and fine work companions.”
Terry loved his rugby at St Mary’s and remains passionate about the sport.
He met his wife, Annie, through his good friend, Rob, who was then skipper of Orpington RFC at the time: “His wife worked with Annie and introduced us,” says Terry. “We were married in 2003. Again rugby played a part as the wedding and honeymoon had to take part around England’s games in the Rugby World Cup. We returned in time for the final, however I remember little of that weekend!!”
Richard D’Silva, John’s older brother was best man at Terry and Annie’s wedding and they are godparents to his son.
The picture above shows Terry with England Number 8 forward, Billy Vunipola at a testimonial and charity benefit evening for Saracens, England and British and Irish Lions centre Brad Barritt at the Dorchester Hotel
“My sixtieth birthday present was to be a trip to South Africa to see the British & Irish Lions,” says Terry. “Alas, we were not allowed to travel, so my darling wife, who knows Brad and wanted to support him and his charity, purchased a table for us and eight of my closest friends. A fabulous evening was had by all.
“Life has, on the whole, been very good to me. We continue to enjoy living in the delightful village of Otford near Sevenoaks where we have been for 19 years. We are season ticket holders at Saracens and have been lucky enough to follow them all over Europe and watch their European Cup triumphs.
”As I drive past the old place today (St Mary’s),I feel it looks a bit sad. No playground to play tennis ball football in. If the ball went on ‘Boss’s’ roof some light-footed lad would be dispatched to retrieve it. If he was caught, he was threatened with: “I’ll send you home with a letter to your parents!” Happy days!”