For other people named Stanley Matthews, see Stanley Matthews ( disambiguation )
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE ( 1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000 ) was an english football player who played as an outdoor right. frequently regarded as one of the greatest players of the british plot, he is the alone player to have been knighted while still playing football, adenine well as being the foremost achiever of both the European Footballer of the year and the Football Writers ‘ Association Footballer of the year awards. His nicknames included “ The Wizard of the Dribble ” and “ The sorcerer ”. [ 5 ]
Reading: Stanley Matthews – Wikipedia
Matthews kept match enough to play at the top level until he was 50 years old. He was besides the oldest player ever to play in England ‘s top football division ( 50 years and 5 days ) and the oldest player ever to represent the country ( 42 years and 104 days ). He was an inauguration inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 to honour his contribution to the english bet on. [ 6 ] Matthews spent 19 years with Stoke City, playing for the Potters from 1932 to 1947, and again from 1961 to 1965. He helped Stoke to the Second Division title in 1932–33 and 1962–63. Between his two spells at Stoke he spent 14 years with Blackpool, where, after being on the lose side in the 1948 and 1951 FA Cup finals, he helped Blackpool to win the cup with a formidable personal performance in the “ Matthews Final “ of 1953. In 1956, he was named the winner of the inaugural address Ballon d’Or, a trophy given to the best european football player each class. Between 1934 and 1957, he won 54 caps for England, playing in the FIFA World Cup in 1950 and 1954, and winning nine british Home Championship titles. Following an unsuccessful least sandpiper as Port Vale ‘s general coach between 1965 and 1968, he travelled around the worldly concern, coaching enthusiastic amateurs. The most celebrated of his coach experiences came in 1975 in South Africa, where in cattiness of the harsh apartheid laws of the time he established an all-black team in Soweto known as “ Stan ‘s work force ” .
family and early liveliness [edit ]
Stanley Matthews was born on 1 February 1915 in a terrace house in Seymour Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. He was the third of four sons born to Jack Matthews, [ 7 ] a local anesthetic boxer known as the “ Fighting Barber of Hanley ”. In the summer of 1921, Jack Matthews took six-year-old Stanley to the Victoria Ground, home of the local golf club Stoke City, for an candid race for boys under the age of 14, with a stagger start according to senesce. His church father placed a bet on his son gain, and he did. [ 8 ] Matthews attended Hanley ‘s Wellington Road School, and former described himself as “ in many respects a model student ”. [ 9 ] He besides said the kickabout games the children played helped to improve his drivel, and prepared the children for future life by giving them “ a focus, a purpose, discipline, and in many respects an escape ”. [ 10 ] At home he besides spent “ countless hours ” practising dribbling approximately kitchen chairs he placed in his backyard. [ 10 ] Though he would late become indelibly associated with Stoke City, Matthews grew up supporting that club ‘s local rivals Port Vale. [ 9 ] His founder wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a boxer, but Stanley decided at the historic period of 13 that he wanted to be a football player. [ 9 ] After a rigorous training session that made Matthews vomit, his mother, Elizabeth, stood tauten and made Jack realize that his son, who had one more class at school, should follow his rage of football. [ 11 ] His don conceded that should he be picked for England Schoolboys then he could continue his footballing career ; around this time his school football victor picked Matthews as an outside-right, rather than as his then-preferred stead of centre-half. [ 12 ] Matthews played for England Schoolboys against Wales in 1929, in battlefront of around 20,000 spectators at Dean Court, Bournemouth. [ 13 ]
Playing career [edit ]
Stoke City [edit ]
Matthews on a football tease in 1939 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion were all rumoured to be interest in Matthews in the wake of his appearance for England Schoolboys. [ 14 ] The Stoke City coach Tom Mather persuaded Matthews ‘ father to allow Stanley to join his baseball club ‘s staff as an office male child on his fifteenth birthday for give of £1 a week. [ 14 ] Matthews played for Stoke ‘s military reserve team during the 1930–31 season, coming up first against Burnley. After the game his forefather gave his common realist assessment : “ I ‘ve seen you play better and I ‘ve seen you play worse ”. [ 15 ] Matthews played 22 reservation games in 1931–32, shunning the sociable scene to focus on improving his game. [ 15 ] In one of these games, against Manchester City, he attempted to run at the left-back and take him on with a deft swerve as the defender committed himself to a challenge, rather than follow the accept wisdom of the day which was to first base wait for the defender to run at the attacker – his newly technique “ worked a treat ”. [ 16 ] The national wardrobe were already predicting a bright future for the adolescent, and though he could have then joined any club in the nation, he signed as a master with Stoke on his seventeenth birthday. [ 17 ] Paid the maximal wage of £5 a week ( £3 in the summer break ), he was on the lapp engage as season professionals before he even kicked a musket ball. Despite this his beget insisted that Matthews save this money, and entirely spend any winning bonus money he earned. [ 18 ] He made his first base team debut against Bury at Gigg Lane on 19 March 1932 ; the “ Potters ” won the game 1–0 and Matthews learned how physical and dirty opponents could be – and get away with it. [ 19 ] After spending the 1932–33 pre-season train intensely by himself ( as opposed to playing golf with his teammates ), Mather selected Matthews in 15 games, enough to earn him in a winners medal after Stoke were crowned Second Division champions, one point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. [ 19 ] On 4 March 1933 he scored his inaugural senior goal in a 3–1 acquire over local rivals Port Vale at The Old Recreation Ground. [ 19 ] He played 29 First Division games in 1933–34, as Stoke secured their top-flight condition with a 12th-place eat up. [ 20 ] Matthews added a Staffordshire Senior Cup winners ‘ decoration in 1934. [ 21 ] He continued to progress in the 1934–35 political campaign, and was selected by The Football League for an Inter-League plot with the Irish League at The Oval, which finished 6–1 to the English. [ 22 ] His England debut followed, and so did a promote game for the Football League against the scots League. [ 23 ] Stoke finished the season in tenth plaza. In 1935–36 Matthews continued to improve, and he added the double body yaw proficiency to his increasing armory of tricks. [ 24 ] largely out of the external video, he put in 45 games for the “ Potters ” as Stoke finished fourth under Bob McGrory – the club ‘s best ever stopping point. He played 42 games in 1936–37, including the club ‘s criminal record 10–3 winnings over West Brom at the Victoria Ground. [ 25 ] At the end of the season he was paid a loyalty bonus of £650, though the Stoke board initially insisted he was only due £500 as he had spent his first two years at the club as an amateur – this attitude left a sour taste in Matthews ‘ talk. [ 26 ] Stoke slipped down the league in an extremely close 1937–38 season, and, annoyed by rumours circulating the city of resentment in the fertilization room against him for his England success, Matthews requested a transmit in February ; his request was denied. [ 27 ] His request became populace cognition, and, disturbed by the attention and harassment he was receiving from Stoke supporters urging him to stay, Matthews decided to take a few days off from the club to relax in Blackpool. [ 28 ] Finding no peace there either, Stoke chair Albert Booth told Matthews he would not be allowed to leave the cabaret, and 3,000 City supporters organized a meet to make their feelings known – they excessively demanded that he stay. [ 29 ] Touched by their strength of feel and worn out by the attention he was receiving, Matthews agreed to stay. [ 30 ] Despite playing regularly for the national side, Matthews put in 38 games for Stoke in 1938–39, helping them to a seventh-place finish – there would not be another wide season of Football League action until 1946 .
Wartime career [edit ]
The war cost Matthews his professional career from the age of 24 to the long time of 30. He rather joined the Royal Air Force, and was based just external Blackpool, with Ivor Powell his NCO. [ 31 ] He rose to the rank of bodied, though he admitted to being one of the most lenient and easy-going NCOs in the forces. [ 32 ] He played 69 Wartime League and Cup games for Stoke, and besides made 87 guest appearances for Blackpool. [ 4 ] In summation to these, he besides played a handful of games for scottish sides Airdrieonians, Morton and Rangers, [ 33 ] where he collected a Charity Cup winners ‘ decoration, [ 34 ] and besides played for Arsenal against FC Dynamo Moscow in extremely thick obscure. [ 35 ] He besides played 29 times for England, though no caps were awarded as these were unofficial games. [ 4 ] One of the last games of the menstruation was an FA Cup Sixth Round second-leg draw clash between Stoke and Bolton Wanderers ; the pit ended in tragedy in what would be known as the Burnden Park catastrophe – 33 people died and 500 were injured. [ 36 ] Matthews sent £30 to the disaster fund and could n’t bring himself to train for respective days afterwards. [ 37 ] Matthews ‘ forefather died in 1945. From his deathbed he made his son promise him two things : to look after his mother, and to win an FA Cup Final. [ 38 ]
Post-war resumption with Stoke [edit ]
The regular Football League returned in meter for the 1946–47 season, during which Matthews played 23 league games and was a major contributor to 30 of the club ‘s 41 league goals. [ 39 ] Stoke matched their record finish of fourth in the league, finishing barely two points shy of champions Liverpool after losing to Sheffield United on the final day of the season. however, in February Matthews was returning from a stifle injury when director McGrory told him he was not in the first eleven for the game against Arsenal ; the crusade reported this as a bust-up. [ 40 ] Relations between McGrory, the Stoke City board, and Matthews had indeed always been off – though once again a narrative that the players sided against Matthews were untrue. [ 41 ] Recalled against Brentford, merely after the game did he find out that this was only because he was a last-minute refilling for an hurt Bert Mitchell. [ 42 ] Matthews put in a irregular remove request, which the Stoke board finally accepted. [ 43 ] He selected Blackpool as his following club as he hush lived in the area following his service in the RAF ; the Stoke circuit board sanctioned the move on the condition that the bargain was to remain a secret until the end of the season, therefore as to not disrupt the club ‘s entitle invite. [ 43 ] The hidden was revealed in a matter of hours, as an unknown person informed the press. [ 43 ]
blackpool [edit ]
On 10 May 1947, immediately after a big Britain versus Rest of Europe match in Glasgow ( Britain won 6–1 ), [ 44 ] he made the move for £11,500, at the old age of 32. [ 45 ] The match itself raised £30,000 for the four Home Nations Football Associations, and since the football team british players received £14 each, Matthews questioned where precisely this money ended up – he doubted that a lot of it ended up as fund for grass-roots football. [ 46 ]
- “You’re 32, do you think you can make it for another couple of years?” – Blackpool manager Joe Smith in 1947.[47]
Smith told Matthews “ there are no shackles here … express yourself … play your own game and whatever you do on the pitch, do it in the cognition that you have my full back. ” [ 48 ] He assembled a talented frontline in Matthews, Stan Mortensen, Jimmy McIntosh, and Alex Munro ; with an emphasis on entertaining football. [ 49 ] The Seasiders finished in ninth seat and reached the 1948 FA Cup Final. On 23 April 1948, the eve of the final, [ 44 ] Matthews won the inauguration Football Writers ‘ Association Footballer of the Year award. Despite taking the run doubly in the equal, Blackpool lost out 4–2 to Matt Busby ‘s Manchester United in the concluding, with Matthews assisting Mortensen for Blackpool ‘s second. [ 50 ] Injury limited him to merely 28 appearances in 1948–49, as Blackpool struggled to a 16th-place finish. He spent the summer touring theatres in a variety show act with his buddy Ronnie, though he was troubled by an ankle injury he picked up in a jacob’s ladder game. [ 51 ] Blackpool finished seventh in 1949–50, and though they were never title contenders vast crowd hush turned out home and away to witness the entertaining football they displayed. [ 52 ] At this meter he received the maximum wage allowed for a professional player – £12 a workweek. [ 53 ] In 1950–51 Blackpool stormed to a third-place polish, and Matthews played 44 games in league and cup. He cited his highlights of the temper as a 2–0 succeed at Sunderland, a 4–4 string at Arsenal, and a 4–2 defeat at Newcastle United. [ 54 ] They besides reached the 1951 FA Cup Final, where they were favourites to beat opponents Newcastle ; however Matthews ended up with a second runner-up decoration thanks to a brace from Jackie Milburn. [ 55 ] After picking up an ankle injury in November, he missed most of the 1951–52 campaign, and was forced to alternatively spend most of his time working at the hotel he and his wife ran. [ 56 ] It was during this clock time that he cut red kernel from his diet to begin his new near- vegetarian diet. [ 57 ] At this steer newfangled Stoke coach Frank Taylor enquired as to whether he might bring Matthews back to the club ; all parties agreed to the estimate in rationale until Joe Smith put his foot down to ensure he stayed, with an inspirational speech he promised Matthews that an FA Cup winners decoration was still possible, telling him that “ a draw of people think I ‘m harebrained, but even though you ‘re 37, I believe your best football is hush to come. ” [ 58 ] Despite spend some three months of the season out with a muscle injury, [ 59 ] the 1952–53 crusade proved Smith ‘s words to be accurate, as a 38-year-old Matthews won an FA Cup winners medal in a match which was, despite Mortensen ‘s hat-trick, subsequently dubbed the “ Matthews Final “. [ 60 ] Bolton were leading 3–1 with 35 minutes to go, but Matthews had “ the game of his life ” in “ the greatest always FA Cup final ” and spurred his team on to a last pant 4–3 victory. [ 60 ] He constantly credited the team and specially Mortensen for the victory, and never accepted the nickname of the “ Matthews Final ”. [ 60 ] He helped the Tangerines to record a sixth-place complete in 1953–54, though hopes of retaining their FA Cup style were ended with a get the better of to Port Vale at Vale Park in the Fifth Round. [ 61 ] Matthews missed good eight league games in 1954–55, though journalists were exquisite to write him off with every episodic off-performance and lost game – “ it was all balderdash ”, he replied. [ 62 ] Despite his age, and more pertinently the media ‘s changeless references to his historic period, Arsenal coach Tom Whittaker tried, unsuccessfully, to lure Matthews to Highbury with a lucrative, if slightly illegal approach. [ 63 ] As Smith began to establish a fresh side with talents such as Jackie Mudie and Jimmy Armfield, Blackpool posted a second-place finish up in 1955–56, though they ended up some 11 points behind champions Manchester United. Matthews believed that the operation he gave in a 3–1 acquire over Arsenal on the opening day of the temper was the finest he always gave. [ 64 ] At the end of the crusade, Matthews was named the winner of the inaugural address european Footballer of the Year award, having narrowly defeated Alfredo Di Stéfano 47 to 44 in the poll. Remaining a key first team extremity in 1956–57, injury restricted him to 25 league appearances, though Blackpool claimed a creditable fourth-place complete. [ 65 ] Matthews scored his 18th and final goal for Blackpool in a 4–1 league victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Bloomfield Road on 3 September 1956. [ 44 ] Blackpool finished one-seventh in 1957–58, after which Joe Smith left the club. In 1957, at the senesce of 42, Matthews travelled to Ghana to play a number of exhibition games for ghanaian club Hearts of Oak. On 26 May 1957, Matthews made his ‘debut ‘ for Hearts of Oak at Accra Sports Stadium against Asante Kotoko in front of 20,000 spectators. alike attendances were recorded for Matthews ‘ adjacent two games against Sekondi Hasaacas and Kumasi Cornerstone. As a result of Matthews ‘ visit to the country, he was installed as a “ soccerhene ” ( soccer head ). Matthews ‘ chew the fat to Ghana besides convinced Ghana ‘s first prime minister Kwame Nkrumah that sport could help the growth of Ghanaian football, american samoa good as tug the ideals of Pan-Africanism. Ghana won their first base Africa Cup of Nations six years former in 1963 under the management of Charles Gyamfi. [ 66 ] back in England, Smith ‘s substitution was Ron Suart, who wanted Matthews to stay out wide, and did not value his contribution in the room that Smith had done. [ 67 ] Suart limited Matthews to 19 league appearances in 1958–59. [ 67 ] Matthews was then used just 15 times in 1959–60, as Suart signed Arthur Kaye to take his place, and local chap Steve Hill besides vied for the outside-right side. [ 67 ] He enjoyed more games in 1960–61, playing 27 league games as the club narrowly avoiding relegation by the odd point. In 1961, during the English off season he played abroad in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with Toronto City, appearing in 14 matches. [ 68 ] He returned for the 1965 season, playing in another five matches for Toronto City. [ 68 ] He started the 1961–62 season behind Hill in the nag orderliness, entirely getting his place second in time for a 4–0 winnings over Chelsea after Hill picked up an injury. [ 69 ] He made his 440th and final appearance in a Blackpool shirt in a 3–0 defeat at Arsenal on 7 October 1961. [ 44 ] It was a equip final examination bow as he always enjoyed playing against Arsenal, and he had “ then many fantastic memories ” at Highbury. [ 69 ] With former teammate and close ally Jackie Mudie at Stoke City, and with Tony Waddington keen to welcome Matthews back to the Victoria Ground, his return to his home-town club was sealed. [ 70 ] however Matthews was not impress when the Blackpool board demanded a £3,500 transfer fee, with one conductor being therefore boldface as to tell him “ You forget. As a player, we made you. ” [ 70 ] Having kept hidden from Stoke a fiddling knee injury Matthews had been carrying, Blackpool got their £3,500 for the musician. [ 70 ]
restitution to Stoke [edit ]
Matthews in 1962 At Stoke, Matthews found himself playing moment Division football for the first time in 28 years. Despite Stoke being strapped for cash, Tony Waddington gave him a biennial narrow at £50 a week – this was double the wages he received at Blackpool. [ 70 ] The sign was broadcast survive on Sportsweek, as Waddington whispered in his auricle “ Welcome home, Stan. For years this clubhouse has been going nowhere. now we ‘re on our way ”. [ 71 ] Waddington delayed his return key debut until 24 October 1961, when Stoke played Huddersfield Town at the Victoria Ground, the attendance was 35,974 – more than treble the previous home bet on – and Matthews set up one of City ‘s goals in a 3–0 acquire. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] He went on to score three goals in 21 games in the rest of the 1961–62 campaign. Waddington signed hardman Eddie Clamp to protect Matthews in the 1962–63 season, and the two would besides become conclude friends off the pitch. [ 74 ] Along with veteran teammates Jackie Mudie, Jimmy O’Neill, Eddie Stuart, Don Ratcliffe, Dennis Viollet, and Jimmy McIlroy, Stoke had the oldest team in the Football League. [ 75 ] Matthews scored his merely finish of the season in the concluding home game of the campaign, as Luton Town were beaten 2–0, the result ensured Stoke gained forwarding to the top flight. [ 76 ] Stoke went up as Second Division champions, and Matthews was voted FWA Footballer of the year for the second time in his career, 15 years after he was made the inaugural address achiever of the prize. Aged 48 when he picked up this award, he became the oldest winner of the award by a across-the-board margin, and remains so more than half a hundred late. After picking up an injury, he missed January onwards of the 1963–64 campaign, and thereby missed the 1964 Football League Cup Final frustration to Leicester City, playing in just nine of Stoke ‘s 42 First Division matches that season. Discovering that niggling injuries which would have cost him one day out of action now required more than two weeks worth of rest to recover from, Matthews decided to retire after one more season, taking his playing career into his 50th year. [ 77 ] He spent the 1964–65 season acting for the reserve side. On 1 January 1965 he became the only football player to always be knighted ( for services to football ) whilst calm an active professional actor ; though he never thought himself worthy of such an honor. [ 78 ] His only first team appearance of the season was besides the survive Football League game of his career ; it came on 6 February 1965, just after his fiftieth birthday, and was necessitated by injuries to both Peter Dobing and Gerry Bridgwood. [ 78 ] The opponents that day were Fulham, and Stoke won the game 3–1. [ 79 ] Though he felt he had retired excessively early, and could have carried on playing for another two years, this brought an end to his 35-year professional career. [ 80 ] Stoke City arranged a testimonial meet in honor of Matthews ; it was much needed as he had spent most of his career constricted to the close maximum wage that had been enforced upon the english game and only abolished a few years before his retirement. [ 81 ] The game was played at the Victoria Ground on 28 April 1965, by which prison term Matthews had decided to retire as a musician, [ 82 ] and the pre-match entertainment consisted of another match of two veteran teams featuring many legends of the bet on. Harry Johnston led out a team consist of Bert Trautmann, Tim Ward, George Hardwick, Jimmy Hill, Neil Franklin, Don Revie, Stan Mortensen, Nat Lofthouse, Jimmy Hagan, Tom Finney and Frank Bowyer ( reserve ). Walley Barnes led out an opposing team consist of Jimmy O’Neill, Jimmy Scoular, Danny Blanchflower, Jimmy Dickinson, Hughie Kelly, Bill McGarry, Jackie Mudie, Jackie Milburn, Jock Dodds, Ken Barnes, and Arthur Rowley ( allow ). [ 83 ] In the independent game itself, two teams of legends were formed, a Stan ‘s XI ( consisting of Football League players ) and an International XI ( including Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stefano, Josef Masopust and Lev Yashin ). The International side won 6–4, and Matthews was carried shoulder-high from the plain at broad time by Puskás and Yashin. [ 84 ]
England international career [edit ]
After playing for England Schoolboys, playing in a trial at Roker Park in front of the England selectors, and representing The Football League, Matthews was given his England debut at Ninian Park in 1934. [ 85 ] Matthews scored the third goal as England beat the Welsh 4–0. [ 86 ] His second plot would be the ill-famed Battle of Highbury, where he set up Eric Brook for the beginning goal of a 3–2 acquire over world champions Italy. [ 87 ] The Italians turned the equal into a “ bloodbath ”, and it ended up as the most violent match that Matthews would always be involved in. [ 88 ] His third ceiling came in a 3–0 over Germany at White Hart Lane on 4 December 1935, after Ralph Birkett was ineffective to play ascribable to injury ; Matthews was outplayed by his diametric number Reinhold Münzenberg in both attack and defense. [ 89 ] Matthews was jeered by England supporters and condemned by the press. [ 90 ] He would have to wait until 17 April 1937 for another find in an England shirt, when he was selected to play in front of 149,000 spectators against the auld enemy at Scotland ‘s Hampden Park. [ 91 ] He was physically ill before the match, as he would be before any adult game. [ 92 ] The “ Hampden Roar ” a big factor, the Scots won 3–1 despite a good english performance. [ 93 ] After another game against Wales, Matthews scored a hat-trick in a 5–4 succeed against Czechoslovakia. [ 94 ] In 1938 he played eight games for England, starting with frustration to a Scotland team containing a youthful Bill Shankly. [ 95 ] He then travelled to Berlin for another run into with Münzenberg, where pre-match he witnessed beginning hand the foreboding idolatry the people showed the Führer when his motorcade drove past a café the England team were dining in. [ 96 ] The game became ill-famed as The FA, themselves under direction from the british government, informed the England team that they had to perform the Nazi salute as character of the scheme of appeasement. [ 97 ] [ 98 ] England won 6–3 with Matthews himself getting on the scoreboard having got the better of Münzenberg this fourth dimension. [ 99 ] The adjacent game was a shock 2–1 get the better of to Switzerland, [ 100 ] which in turn was followed by a 4–2 win over France in Paris. [ 101 ] Following the conclusion of this summer tour of the continent, Matthews scored in a 4–2 kill to Wales in Cardiff, and then played in England ‘s 3–0 winnings over a Europe eleven at Highbury, their 4–0 win over Norway in Newcastle, and their 7–0 acquire over Ireland at Old Trafford. [ 102 ] On 15 April 1939, he returned to a muddy Hampden Park with England to claim a 2–1 victory in front of 142,000 rain-soaked supporters ; he set up Tommy Lawton for the winner with seconds to spare. [ 103 ] That summer was the final time the England would tour Europe before Hitler ‘s Nazis were defeated. The first gear crippled was against Italy, who gave the English a warm reception despite Benito Mussolini ‘s breast-beating and the bad lineage of five years previous. [ 104 ] Again the World Champions, the Italians managed to salvage a 2–2 draw at the San Siro after scoring with a clear handball ; this clock Matthews left the field with a chip hip bone for his efforts. [ 105 ] The following game was a 2–1 loss to Yugoslavia, with Matthews and captain Eddie Hapgood passengers in the game after picking up early injuries ; this injury forced him to sit out the follow find with Romania. [ 106 ] Following the war, his retort for England came against Scotland on 12 April 1947 at Wembley, in a match which finished as a 1–1 draw. [ 107 ] In the summer he took separate in England ‘s go of Switzerland and Portugal. Following a surprise defeat to the Swiss, England cantered to a 10–0 winnings over the Portuguese, with Matthews scoring the 10th. [ 108 ] In September, he put in one of his finest performances in an England shirt as he set up all of England ‘s five goals in a 5–2 victory over Belgium. [ 109 ] In April 1948 he once again travelled with England to Hampden Park, helping his nation to a 2–0 victory ; however after the match he was the subject of an FA question after he claimed tea and scones on his expenses ( at the monetary value of sixpence ). [ 109 ] Regardless of this treatment by the FA, the next calendar month he helped England phonograph record a 4–0 victory over Italy in Turin. [ 110 ] Folklore told that he beat Alberto Eliani only to have the audacity to then pull a comb from his shorts pouch and comb his hair ; the reality was that he plainly used his hand to wipe his sweating eyebrow in the tick italian sun. [ 111 ] however the caption would follow him around the global in late life, and spectators in the crowd were convinced that they had witnessed it. [ 112 ] Later in the year he played in a scoreless puff with Denmark, a 6–2 winnings over Northern Ireland, a 1–0 succeed over Wales, and a 6–0 victory over Switzerland. [ 113 ] Manager Walter Winterbottom began to look for a more defensive winger, and therefore use Matthews fair once in 1949 – a 3–1 defeat to Scotland in the british Home Championship. [ 114 ] only after impressing in an FA go of Canada was he was named as a last minute inclusion body in the England team for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. [ 115 ] He did not play in the gain over Chile or in the ill-famed get the better of to the United States, but played just once, in the 1–0 frustration to Spain at the Maracanã Stadium. [ 116 ] The preparation was not ideal as the FA did not take the competition seriously, and the hotel had “ unpalatable ” food and no trail facilities. [ 117 ] After playing only in two further games, a 4–4 draw with a Europe XI and a 3–1 acquire over Northern Ireland, he found himself bet on in the international scene following his heroics in the 1953 FA Cup Final. [ 118 ] He was selected to play Hungary ‘s Golden team on 25 November 1953, in a 6–3 get the better of that became known as the “ Match of the Century “. [ 119 ] He blamed the FA and the selectors for the heavy passing, though he had bang-up admiration for the Hungarians, particularly Ferenc Puskás. [ 119 ] He did not play in England ‘s 7–1 get the better of to Hungary in Budapest in May 1954. however he was in the police squad for the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland. Matthews helped England to a 4–4 withdraw with Belgium, [ 120 ] though was left out of a gain over Switzerland, before he returned to the first XI as England crashed out of the contest with a 4–2 get the better of to Uruguay at the St. Jakob Stadium after mistakes from goalkeeper Gil Merrick. [ 120 ] His third equal of the class was a 2–0 winnings over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in the 1954–55 british Home Championship, though on the deliver he did not gel well with Don Revie. [ 121 ] Matthews then put in a superb performance in a 2–0 gain over the Welsh, before he helped England to record a 3–1 victory over World Champions West Germany, though only three of the Germans used at Wembley had been in the first xi in the World Cup Final. [ 122 ] England beat Scotland 7–2 in April 1955, and this fourth dimension Matthews linked up much better with Revie, and 40-year-old Matthews was largely credited for the outstanding margin of victory. [ 123 ] In this game Duncan Edwards was making his England introduction ; when Matthews made his, Edwards had not evening been born. Matthews went on England ‘s unsuccessful go of the continent in 1955, as the selectors erratic choices helped to ensure a 1–0 defeat to France, a 1–1 draw with Spain, and a 3–1 defeat to Portugal. [ 124 ] Left out against Denmark, he was second in the team in October for a 1–1 draw with Wales. [ 125 ] Having been awarded the inauguration Ballon d’Or in 1956, that May he was recalled to the England front line for an confrontation against Brazil in a herd Wembley in what was the first friendly match played by both teams. [ 126 ] England won the equal 4–2, though the Brazilians would belated become world champions in 1958. [ 127 ] He then refused to take part in that summer ‘s european enlistment, having already committed himself to his second summer of coach in South Africa. [ 128 ] In his future external game, against Northern Ireland on 6 October 1956, aged 41 years and 248 days, he became the oldest England player ever to score an international goal. [ 44 ] He played three of England ‘s four reservation games for the 1958 FIFA World Cup : a 5–1 victory over the Republic of Ireland, and the 5–2 and 4–1 wins over Denmark. On 15 May 1957, Matthews became the oldest actor always to represent England, when at 42 years and 104 days old he turned out for the victory over the Danes in Copenhagen. [ 44 ] Despite calls by the iron for him to be included in the 1958 World Cup team, this meter the selectors did not bow to the pressure. [ 129 ] so far after 23 years, cipher would always enjoy a longer career with the England team. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1956 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre. [ citation needed ] He was one of many signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958 opposing ‘the policy of apartheid ‘ in external sport and defending ‘the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games ‘.
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style of play [edit ]
Franz Beckenbauer said that the speed and skill Matthews possessed meant that “ about no one in the game could stop him ”. [ 131 ] John Charles noted that “ he was the best cross I ‘ve ever seen – and he had to contend with the old big ball ”. [ 132 ] Johnny Giles said that “ he had everything – good conclude control, great dribbling ability and he was lightning quick. He was besides an intelligent player, who knew how to pass the ball ”. [ 133 ] Despite his capital talents, he rarely tackled opponents and was not adept at heading the testis or using his entrust foot. [ 134 ] An outdoor right, before 1937–38 he had scored 43 goals in four seasons, and full-backs began to mark him more tightly ; because of this he decided to drop deeper to collect the testis and calculate to play pinpoint crosses as opposed to going for aura himself. [ 135 ] Though he would never again score more than six goals in a season, this made him more an effective team player and a greater threat to the opposition. His daughter Jean Gough told how Matthews would wear lead in his shoes walking to the crunch, so that “ when he put his football boots on they felt like ballerina shoes. ” [ 136 ] Having trained to a level of seaworthiness few other players would reach, by the mid-1950s he was able to cut back on his intense train as his degree of seaworthiness was by then ingrained in his body. [ 137 ] He never smoked ; rather, he was very conscious of every detail of food and drink he consumed, and he maintained a rigid casual train government from childhood up until his old long time. [ 138 ] In an consultation with the FA he said, “ I had some identical good advice and started to eat more salads and fruit, and every Monday I had no food. Just one day, on a Monday, but I felt better. ” [ 5 ] The merely time he wittingly consumed alcohol was when drinking champagne out of the FA Cup in 1953. [ 139 ] In accession to his attention to detail in diet and fitness, he besides afforded close scrutiny to his kit. 1950–51 he struck a boot sponsorship conduct with the Co-op, though he rather began wearing a more lightweight pair of boots he had discovered on show at the World Cup – at the time they were not available to buy in England. [ 140 ] He would wear the customize boots until his retirement, though they were thus delicate that he got through countless pairs every season. [ 141 ] An avid scholar of the game, in the 1950 FIFA World Cup Matthews stayed on to watch teams such as Brazil and Uruguay compete in the tournament after England ‘s elimination – the English FA, coach and media all returned home to, as Matthews said, “ bury their heads in the backbone. ” [ 142 ] Matthews regularly condemned the “ blazer brigade ” at the FA in his autobiography, slating them as “ bourgeois ” and stressing that many of them were Old Etonians ; in his horizon they treated players and supporters ill, demonstrated arrogance by ignoring competitions they did not control ( the World Cup and European domestic competitions ), and viewed innovations with excessive suspicion ( for exemplar the FA sanctioned lone the use of floodlights in 1952 despite artificial lighting having been experimented with as far back as 1878, and for years insisted on using outdated kit such as heavy “ reinforced ” boots ). [ 143 ] Writing about the fact that the FA allocated entirely 12,000 of the 100,000 available tickets for the 1953 FA Cup Final to Blackpool supporters, Matthews wrote : “ I could n’t make my mind up whether they were dunderheads or just did n’t care about the genuine supporters who were the lifeblood of the game ”. [ 144 ] He was never booked or sent off throughout his entire career, [ 145 ] and teammate Jimmy Armfield noted that Matthews would never retaliate to the many extremely forcible challenges opponents would much make to try and take him out of the crippled. [ 146 ] indeed, he ran the full moon gauntlet of emotions that all footballers run, but always retained a level head on the lurch, never losing his temper or allowing his emotions to affect his game. [ 147 ]
Coaching and management career [edit ]
Matthews was appointed cosmopolitan coach at Stoke ‘s rivals Port Vale in July 1965, aboard good supporter Jackie Mudie ; Matthews was unpaid, though was given expenses. [ 148 ] The pair had a plan of bringing through talented schoolboys and selling one or two off every indeed often to improve the club ‘s black fiscal picture, whilst at the same prison term advancing through the leagues ; in his autobiography he said that what Dario Gradi later achieved at Crewe Alexandra is what he had in beware for the Vale. [ 149 ] Matthews concentrated his research in North East England and Central Scotland, where he discovered talented striker Mick Cullerton, though overlooked a adolescent Ray Kennedy. [ 149 ]
Matthews as Port Vale director with youth players Handed dispatch managerial control condition following Mudie ‘s resignation in May 1967, Matthews could n’t guide the club to success – rather, Port Vale were fined £4,000 in February/March 1968 and expelled from the Football League for fiscal irregularities. [ 150 ] He was forced to use his name to plead with the other Football League clubs to re-elect the Vale, which they duly did. [ 151 ] He stood down vitamin a director in May 1968, and despite being owed £9,000 in wage and expenses, agreed to stay at Vale Park to continue his work with the youth team. A “ final settlement ” was reached in December 1970, Matthews was given £3,300, with the other £7,000 he was owed to be written off. [ 150 ] Player Roy Sproson later said that “ he [ Matthews ] trusted people who should never have been trusted and people took advantage of him. I am convinced a bunch of people sponged off him and, all the while, the club were sliding. ” [ 152 ] The know “ left a sour taste ” in his mouth, and was enough to convince him never to try his hand as management in English football again. [ 151 ] Matthews gave up his summers every year between 1953 and 1978 to coach inadequate children in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania. [ 153 ] In South Africa in 1975, he ignored apartheid to form a team of black schoolboys in Soweto called “ Stan ‘s valet ”. [ 154 ] The members of his team told him that it was their dream to play in Brazil, thus Matthews organised a tripper there ; they were the first black team ever to tour outside of South Africa. [ 155 ] He did not have the money to fund the trip himself, though used his connections ( for the lone prison term other than when he used them to save Port Vale in 1968 ) to arrange sponsorship from Coca-Cola and the Johannesburg Sunday Times newspaper. [ 155 ] The south african authorities did not want to cause an external incident, sol did not prevent Stan ‘s homo from getting on the airplane to Rio de Janeiro, where they would meet legendary player Zico. [ 155 ] It was on this trip that Matthews met Ronnie Biggs. [ 155 ] On the way back from the travel, the Stan ‘s Men captain Gilbert Moiloa called Matthews “ black world with the white confront ”. [ 155 ] In the 2017 documentary film on his animation Matthews, the film crew travel to Soweto to interview Stan ‘s man about their memories with Matthews. [ 156 ] He played his final game of football for an England Veterans XI against a Brazil Veterans XI in Brazil in 1985 at the age of 70 ; the English lost 6–1 to the likes of Amarildo, Tostão, and Jairzinho. [ 157 ] He damaged his cartilage during the match : “ a promise career abridge tragically brusque ”, he wrote in his autobiography. [ 158 ]
Retirement and death [edit ]
The statue of Matthews at Hanley town center Having toured the world coach in Australia, the United States, Canada and particularly in Africa, Matthews returned to Stoke-on-Trent with wife Mila in 1989. [ 159 ] specifically he moved to The Views in Penkhull a listed build which was the birthplace of Sir Oliver Lodge. [ 160 ] He late served as president of Stoke City and honorary vice-president of Blackpool. Matthews died on 23 February 2000, aged 85, after falling ill while on holiday in Tenerife. Mila had died the previous year. [ 161 ] It was a recurrence of an illness that he beginning suffered in 1997. His death was announced on the radio good before the start of an England v Argentina friendly match. He was cremated following a funeral service in Stoke on 3 March 2000. His funeral was attended by many of his mate footballers, such as Bobby Charlton and Jack Charlton, Gordon Banks, Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney. His ashes were buried beneath the center circle of Stoke City ‘s Britannia Stadium, which he had formally opened in August 1997. [ 162 ] After his death, more than 100,000 people lined the streets of Stoke-on-Trent to pay tribute. As the cortège wound its direction along the 12-mile road, employees downed tools and schoolchildren stood inactive to witness his final pass. [ 163 ] After his death, dozens of footballing legends paid tribute to him, and the epilogue to his autobiography contains respective pages of quotations. Pelé said he was “ the man who taught us the manner football should be played ”, [ 164 ] and Brian Clough added that “ he was a true gentleman and we shall never see his like again ”. [ 132 ] English goalkeeping caption Gordon Banks said that “ I do n’t think anyone since had a identify thus synonymous with football in England ”, [ 146 ] whilst World Cup winning german defender Berti Vogts commented that “ It is not good in England where his name is celebrated. All over the world he is regarded as a genuine football genius ”. [ 165 ]
bequest [edit ]
Stanley Matthews was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. [ 166 ] Matthews was made an inauguration draftee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his talents. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics voted him the 11th greatest football player of the twentieth hundred. [ 167 ] Matthews was placed 17th in World Soccer cartridge holder ‘s “ 100 Greatest Players of the twentieth Century ” list, published in 1999. [ 168 ] He was inducted into the Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road when it was formally opened by Jimmy Armfield in April 2006. [ 169 ] Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted ; Matthews is in the 1950s. [ 170 ] The West Stand at Blackpool ‘s Bloomfield Road is named in his honor. He was besides inducted into the Stoke-on-Trent Hall of Fame when it was opened in January 2011. [ 171 ] There is a statue of Matthews outside Stoke City ‘s Britannia Stadium and another in the kernel of Hanley. The commitment on the former reads : “ His name is symbolic of the beauty of the game, his fame dateless and international, his sportsmanship and modesty universally acclaimed. A charming player, of the people, for the people. ” The Stanley Matthews Collection is held by the National Football Museum. In February 2010, the boots worn by Matthews in the 1953 FA Cup Final were auctioned at Bonhams in Chester for £38,400, to an undisclosed buyer. [ 172 ] Sierra Leonean football golf club Mighty Blackpool F.C., based in the capital city of Freetown, changed their appoint from Socro United in 1954 because of their wonder for Matthews. [ 173 ] Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy is a secondary school in Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, named after him. In 2017, a objective movie was made about Matthews ‘ liveliness entitled Matthews with son Stanley Jr. as executive Producer. [ 174 ]
personal life [edit ]
In the summer of 1934, Matthews married Betty Vallance, daughter of Stoke City trainer Jimmy Vallance, whom he first met on his fifteenth birthday in 1930 on his first day as office boy at the Victoria Ground. [ 175 ] The couple had two children together : Jean ( born 1 January 1939 ) and Stanley Jr. ( bear 20 November 1945 ), who went on to become a tennis player under the tutelage of John Barrett. [ 176 ] He became Wimbledon Boys ‘ champion in 1962, making him the last English musician to do so. [ 177 ] He never translated his success into the elder game, though, and rather moved to the United States to run the Four Seasons Racquet Club in Wilton, Connecticut. [ 178 ] [ 179 ] Jean married Robert Gough, whom she had met at their tennis club. In 1965, Matthews became a grandfather after Jean gave birth to a son, Matthew Gough. She would have two early children — daughters Samantha and Amanda. [ 180 ] Gough made Matthews a great-grandfather in 1999 when he and his wife had a son, Cameron. Matthews had six other great-grandchildren. [ 181 ] In 1967, while on a enlistment of Czechoslovakia with Port Vale, Matthews met 44-year-old Mila, who was the group ‘s interpreter for the travel. [ 182 ] Matthews was placid married to Betty, but as he was convinced he had found the genuine beloved of his life in Mila, he and Betty divorced. He and Mila spent the ensuing years living at diverse times in Malta ( specifically Marsaxlokk ), [ 183 ] South Africa and Toronto. They besides travelled extensively as Matthews ‘s coaching jobs and guest appearances dictated. After Mila died on 5 May 1999 at the age of 76, [ 184 ] according to Les Scott ( who helped Matthews write his autobiography ), Matthews “ was never the same person ”. [ 145 ]
“ froward, strong-minded, humorous, generous of spirit and, for all his fame, as down to earth as the family who once adorned the terraces in the hope of seeing him sparkle gold dust on to their harsh working lives. ”Les Scott describing Matthews’ personality in the epilogue to his autobiography.[185]
career statistics [edit ]
club [edit ]
- ^ These three matches were played before competitive football was suspended ascribable to the outbreak of the Second World War and are not included in the sum
International [edit ]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England[187] | 1934 | 2 | 1 |
| 1935 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1937 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1938 | 8 | 3 | |
| 1939 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1947 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1948 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1949 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1950 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1951 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1953 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1954 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1955 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1956 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1957 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 11 | |
- Scores and results list England’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Matthews goal.
managerial statistics [edit ]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Port Vale | 31 May 1967 | 31 May 1968 | 49 | 13 | 15 | 21 | 0 26.5 |
| Total[186] | 49 | 13 | 15 | 21 | 0 26.5 | ||
Honours [edit ]
player [edit ]
Stoke City
Rangers
Blackpool
England
coach [edit ]
Hibernians
individual [edit ]
Orders [edit ]
- CBE: 1957
- Knight Bachelor: 1965
autobiography [edit ]
Matthews ‘ autobiography, The Way It Was, was released by Headline in 2000. The book is dedicated to his wife Mila, who died the class before its publication. [ 3 ] Matthews, then 84, collaborated with Les Scott, his friend of 10 years, in the write of the book over an 18-month period on an about day by day basis. “ Stan, as he had been all his life, was an early riser ”, wrote Scott in the epilogue. “ Our collaborations were over by eleven in the morning and, without fail, took position in his den. He loved working on his book and, after I had left him, he would give the good morning ‘s seance more applied remember — more much than not ringing me at home to provide extra thoughts or anecdotes. ” [ 192 ] Matthews besides wrote an earlier autobiography entitled Feet First. This was published by Ewen And Dale in 1948 .
See besides [edit ]
- Matthews (film) – a 2017 documentary film about Stanley Matthews
References [edit ]
bibliography [edit ]
- Brown, Geoff; Hogsbjerg, Christian (2020), Apartheid is not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign, London: Redwords, ISBN 9781912926589
- Matthews, Stanley; Scott, Les (2000), The Way It Was, Headline, ISBN 0-7472-6427-9
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