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English Football Legends Series

"I grew up in an era when Stanley Matthews was a god to those of us who aspired to play the game. He was a true gentleman and we shall never see his like again"
Brian Clough

Stanley Matthews

Clubs: Stoke City, Blackpool

Position: Winger

Appearances*: 709

Goals*: 71

Honours: Division 2 Championship, 1
FA Cup, 1

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* League appearances and goals only

One of the greatest players of the English game, Matthews was an immensely talented winger whose dribbling skills earned him the nicknames "The Wizard of the Dribble" and "The Magician".

Stoke City

An England schoolboy international at 13, Matthews signed for for his local club, Stoke City in 1932. Stoke were then in the Second Division, but won promotion to the First Division in the 1932/33 season.

Playing at the higher level Matthews skills soon attracted attention and he won his first England cap in 1934, aged just 18.

Thereafter, Matthews established himself as an England regular, but Stoke continued to struggle and after they finished 17th in the 1937/38 season, Matthews put in for a transfer.

In response, more than 3,000 fans staged a protest outside the ground and Matthews was persuaded to stay.

The Second World War brought a suspension of competitive football, and Matthews served in the Royal Air Force and was stationed near Blackpool.

During the war he guest for a number of clubs, including Blackpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Rangers.

Blackpool

After the war, he again requested a transfer and was sold to Blackpool for 11,500 pounds, joining a team that included Stan Mortensen, Harry Johnson, Bill Perry and George Farm.

In 1947/48, Blackpool reached the FA Cup final but were beaten 4-2 by Manchester United.

There was some consolation for Matthews though, as he was awarded the inaugural Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year Award.

Blackpool finished 3rd in the First Division in 1950/51 and again reached the final of the FA Cup. But again Matthews ended up on the losing side as Newcastle United won 2-0.

The Matthews Final

The club reached a third final in 1952/53, where they faced Bolton Wanderers.

In a match that subsequently became known as the "Matthews Final" Bolton led 3-1 with 30 minutes to go, but some sublime dribbling from Matthews and a Stan Mortensen hat-trick, turned the game on its head.

Blackpool won 4-3 and Matthews finally had his first medal.

European Footballer of the Year

In the 1955-56 season Blackpool finished 2nd in the league and Matthews was voted European Footballer of the Year.

Matthews won his final England cap against Denmark in May 1957. He was 42 years old.

Rejoining Stoke City

In 1961, he rejoined Stoke City, who were now back in Division 2. Now 46 years old, Matthews helped the club to win the Second Division title.

He was also voted Footballer of the Year for the second time in his career.

Retirement and knighthood

Stanley Matthews played his final game for Stoke on February 6th, 1965, at the grand old age of 50.

His career had taken in 701 games, and he'd scored 71 times.

In 1965, he became the first footballer to be knighted for services to sport.

Management Career

After retiring, Matthews had a short spell as manager of Port Vale but resigned after allegations of illegal payments to players.

He moved to Malta, where amazingly he became player-manager of Hibernians, playing on until the age of 55.

He later coached in South Africa and Canada.

Death

Stanley Matthews died on February 23rd 2000, three weeks after his 85th birthday.

In 2002 he was one of the inaugural inductees to the English Football Hall of Fame.

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