Stanley Matthews

Sir Stanley Matthews
Matthews with Blackpool, lifting his 1953 FA Cup final winner's medal to the sky
Sir Stanley Matthews
Born	Stanley Matthews 1 2, 1915
Birthplace	Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England
Died	Template:Death date and age Newcastle-under-Lyme, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	Footballer, football manager, football coach
Known for	Longest career in English top-flight football; first Ballon d'Or winner; "The Wizard of Dribble"
Awards	Template:Ubl

Sir Stanley Matthews CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right and is considered one of the most significant figures in the history of British football. Known by the nicknames "The Wizard of Dribble" and "The Magician," Matthews maintained a professional career spanning more than three decades, remaining fit enough to compete at the highest level of English football until the age of 50 — a record of longevity unmatched in the sport's history. He was the first recipient of both the European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) award in 1956 and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, and he remains the only footballer to have been knighted while still an active player, receiving the honour in 1965. Over the course of his career, Matthews made 717 league appearances across two spells with Stoke City and a long tenure with Blackpool, scoring 71 goals. He earned 54 caps for England between 1934 and 1957, and his iconic performance in the 1953 FA Cup final — forever known as the "Matthews Final" — cemented his place in football folklore. After retiring from playing, he served briefly as general manager of Port Vale before dedicating himself to coaching around the world, including pioneering work in apartheid-era South Africa.

Early Life

Stanley Matthews was born on 1 February 1915 in Hanley, one of the six towns that form the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. He grew up in a working-class family in the heart of the Potteries, the industrial region known for its ceramics manufacturing. His father, Jack Matthews, was a barber and a keen amateur boxer who instilled in his son a strong commitment to physical fitness and discipline — values that would define Stanley's remarkably long career in professional sport.

From an early age, Matthews displayed exceptional talent with a football. He was selected for England Schoolboys in 1929 at the age of 14, making one appearance for the representative team. His precocious ability attracted the attention of his local professional club, Stoke City, and he joined the Potters' youth ranks in 1930 at the age of 15. Over the next two years he developed his skills within the club's youth system, honing the dribbling technique and body feints that would later earn him worldwide fame.

Matthews grew up at a time when football was deeply embedded in the social fabric of English industrial towns. Stoke-on-Trent, with its tradition of pottery work and working-class communities, provided a grounding that Matthews carried with him throughout his life. His upbringing in Hanley shaped his character — contemporaries and biographers consistently noted his modesty, dedication to fitness, and abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, habits he attributed in part to his father's influence.

His childhood coincided with the interwar period, a time of economic hardship across the English Midlands. Despite the difficulties of the era, football offered a pathway to a professional life, and Matthews seized the opportunity presented by Stoke City's interest. By 1932, at just 17 years of age, he had graduated from the youth setup and was ready to make his mark on the first team.

Career

Early Years at Stoke City (1932–1947)

Matthews made his first-team debut for Stoke City in 1932, embarking on what would become a 19-year association with the club across two separate spells. In his very first full season, 1932–33, he helped Stoke win the Second Division title, securing promotion to the top flight of English football. Still a teenager, Matthews quickly established himself as a regular in the Stoke side, playing on the right wing where his extraordinary dribbling ability, close ball control, and deceptive body movement made him virtually impossible to mark.

During the 1930s, Matthews became one of the most celebrated players in English football. His style of play was distinctive: rather than relying on pace alone, he used subtle shifts of weight, feints, and changes of direction to wrong-foot defenders. He rarely tackled and was not known for prolific goalscoring — across his first spell at Stoke he scored 51 goals in 259 league appearances — but his ability to create chances for teammates and torment opposition full-backs made him the most feared winger in the country.

His performances for Stoke earned him his first call-up to the England national team in 1934, when he was 19 years old. He would go on to represent England 54 times over the next 23 years, scoring 11 goals. He also appeared 13 times for The Football League XI between 1934 and 1956, and three times for the United Kingdom representative team between 1947 and 1965.

Matthews' career was interrupted by the Second World War, during which competitive English league football was suspended from 1939 to 1946. Though he continued to play in wartime fixtures and represented the armed forces, the war years cost him what might have been some of his peak seasons. When professional football resumed after the war, Matthews was already past 30 but showed no signs of decline.

By 1947, Matthews' relationship with Stoke City had become strained. After a protracted period of tension, he transferred to Blackpool in May 1947, a move that caused considerable dismay among Stoke supporters. Reports from the time indicate that thousands of fans petitioned for him to stay, underscoring his immense popularity in the Potteries.

Blackpool and the "Matthews Final" (1947–1961)

Matthews' 14-year spell at Blackpool proved to be the period in which he cemented his status as a legend of the English game. Playing at Bloomfield Road, he continued to dazzle crowds with his wing play and became central to a Blackpool side that was among the strongest in England during the late 1940s and 1950s.

The FA Cup became the stage for some of Matthews' most memorable moments — and his most painful disappointments. He appeared in the FA Cup final in 1948 and again in 1951, but Blackpool lost on both occasions. By the time the 1953 final arrived, Matthews was 38 years old and many feared it would be his last chance to win the trophy.

The 1953 FA Cup final between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, played at Wembley Stadium on 2 May 1953, became one of the most famous matches in football history. Bolton led 3–1 with less than half an hour remaining, but Blackpool staged a dramatic comeback to win 4–3, with Matthews delivering a performance of such brilliance on the right wing that the match has been known ever since as the "Matthews Final." Although Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick in the match, it was Matthews' relentless dribbling runs and crosses — including the pass that set up Bill Perry's winning goal — that captured the public's imagination. The image of Matthews holding his winner's medal aloft became one of the iconic photographs of English sport.

During his time at Blackpool, Matthews made 379 league appearances and scored 17 goals. His longevity was already remarkable; he remained a regular first-team player well into his forties, maintaining his fitness through a rigorous personal regime that was ahead of its time. He was known for his careful diet, regular training, and avoidance of the social habits — drinking and smoking — that were common among footballers of the era.

International Career

Matthews' international career with England spanned from 1934 to 1957, during which he won 54 caps and scored 11 goals. He holds the distinction of being the oldest player to represent England, earning his final cap at the age of 42 years and 104 days.

He participated in two FIFA World Cup tournaments, representing England at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil and the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. The 1950 tournament was notable for England's shocking 1–0 defeat to the United States, one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, though Matthews did not play in that particular match. Over the course of his international career, he also won nine British Home Championship titles with England.

Matthews was also selected three times for the United Kingdom representative team between 1947 and 1965, contributing to Great Britain's football presence during a period when the home nations occasionally fielded combined sides for special fixtures.

Ballon d'Or and European Recognition (1956)

In 1956, France Football magazine launched the Ballon d'Or (European Footballer of the Year) award, and Matthews was named its inaugural recipient. At 41 years of age, he was chosen ahead of every other footballer on the continent, a testament to the enduring respect his skills commanded throughout Europe. He had previously been named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1948, making him the first player to hold both the FWA and European awards.

The Ballon d'Or recognition reflected Matthews' standing not just in England but across Europe. Though he never played for a continental club, his reputation had been built through England internationals, exhibition matches, and the sheer longevity of his brilliance. The award placed him alongside the finest players the European game had produced up to that point.

Return to Stoke City (1961–1965)

In 1961, Matthews returned to Stoke City at the age of 46, a transfer that electrified the Potteries and drew enormous crowds back to the Victoria Ground. His return coincided with a period of renewal for the club. In the 1962–63 season, Matthews helped Stoke win the Second Division title for a second time, echoing his achievement of three decades earlier in the 1932–33 season.

Matthews continued to play first-team football for Stoke until 1965, making 59 league appearances and scoring three goals in his second spell. He also had two loan spells with Toronto City in 1961 and 1965, making a combined 20 appearances in Canada.

He played his final league match for Stoke on 6 February 1965, just five days after his 50th birthday, becoming the oldest player ever to appear in England's top division at the age of 50 years and 5 days. His retirement from playing was marked by a knighthood, conferred in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours list. He was the first professional footballer to be knighted while still an active player, a distinction that reflected not only his sporting achievements but his standing as a national figure.

Across his entire career, Matthews made 717 league appearances and scored 71 goals — statistics that only partially capture the impact of a player whose primary contribution was creating opportunities for others.

Management and Coaching

After retiring from playing, Matthews briefly entered football management, serving as general manager of Port Vale between 1967 and 1968. His time at Vale Park was not a success, and he left the position after approximately one year. Management did not suit Matthews in the way that playing had, and he chose not to pursue further managerial roles in English professional football.

Instead, Matthews embarked on a new chapter, travelling the world to coach football enthusiasts and spread the game to new audiences. His coaching work took him to several countries, but his most notable contribution came in South Africa during the apartheid era. In 1975, despite the severe racial segregation laws in force at the time, Matthews established an all-black football team in Soweto that became known as "Stan's Men." This initiative demonstrated Matthews' willingness to use football as a force for social good, working across racial barriers in a country where such actions carried significant personal and political risk.

He also maintained connections with football in Malta and other countries during his post-playing years.

Personal Life

Stanley Matthews was known for his disciplined personal lifestyle, which was widely credited with enabling his extraordinary longevity in professional football. He maintained a strict fitness regime throughout his career and adhered to a careful diet, avoiding alcohol and tobacco at a time when such habits were common among professional footballers.

Matthews was married and had a family, though he maintained a degree of privacy about his domestic life that was typical of public figures of his generation. Despite his fame, he was consistently described by contemporaries as modest and unassuming.

After retiring from both playing and coaching, Matthews settled in the Staffordshire area, remaining close to the communities where he had grown up and spent much of his career. He continued to attend football matches and public events, and he remained a beloved figure in the Potteries and in Blackpool.

Stanley Matthews died on 23 February 2000 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, at the age of 85, just 22 days after his final birthday. His death prompted tributes from across the football world and beyond, with many commentators reflecting on a career that had spanned five decades and touched millions of fans. Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Stoke-on-Trent for his funeral procession, a final demonstration of the affection in which he was held by the community he had represented.

Recognition

Matthews accumulated a remarkable collection of honours and awards throughout and after his career. His most significant individual recognitions included:

• Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year — Matthews was the inaugural winner of this award in 1948, the first individual prize of its kind in English football. He won it again in 1963, becoming the oldest recipient at the age of 48.
• Ballon d'Or — Named the first European Footballer of the Year in 1956 by France Football magazine.
• CBE — Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1957 in recognition of his services to football.
• Knight Bachelor — Knighted in 1965, the only professional footballer to receive a knighthood while still an active player.

Matthews was named in the PFA's Team of the Century for the period 1907–1976, recognising him as one of the outstanding players across seven decades of English professional football.

In 2002, he was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame at the National Football Museum, an honour bestowed to recognise his contribution to the English game. He was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his time playing in Canada with Toronto City.

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) included Matthews among its list of 48 Football Legend Players, placing him alongside the greatest figures the sport has produced worldwide.

In December 2025, Blackpool Football Club unveiled a mural of Matthews at Bloomfield Road, created by the club's artist in residence, Rob Purdon. The artwork serves as a permanent tribute to Matthews' contribution to the club during his 14 years on the Fylde Coast.

Legacy

Stanley Matthews' legacy in English and world football is substantial and enduring. His career, which stretched from 1932 to 1965, encompassed an era of profound change in the sport — from the pre-war period through the establishment of the World Cup as a global event to the dawn of televised football — and throughout it all, Matthews remained a figure of the highest calibre.

His playing style influenced generations of wingers who followed him. The art of dribbling, which Matthews elevated to its highest expression in the English game, became a benchmark against which subsequent wide players were measured. His ability to beat defenders through skill rather than brute force represented an aesthetic ideal in football that transcended tactical trends. In 2025, The Guardian drew a comparison between Matthews' career longevity and that of modern player Ashley Young, illustrating how Matthews continues to serve as the standard reference point for discussions of extended careers in English football.

Beyond his footballing achievements, Matthews' post-career work in South Africa, where he established an all-black team in Soweto during the height of apartheid, demonstrated a social conscience that extended his influence beyond the pitch. His willingness to cross racial boundaries in a deeply divided society reflected the power of sport as a unifying force, and "Stan's Men" became a symbol of football's capacity to challenge injustice.

In Stoke-on-Trent, Matthews remains a figure of civic pride. The Stanley Matthews statue outside the bet365 Stadium (formerly the Britannia Stadium) serves as a permanent memorial to the city's most famous sporting son. In Blackpool, the 2025 unveiling of a mural at Bloomfield Road demonstrated that his memory remains actively honoured more than two decades after his death.

Matthews' records speak for themselves: the oldest player in England's top division, the oldest England international, the first Ballon d'Or winner, the first FWA Footballer of the Year, and the only footballer knighted while still playing. These achievements, combined with the grace and sportsmanship that characterised his conduct throughout a 33-year professional career, ensure that Stanley Matthews occupies a permanent place in the history of association football.

GiveMeSport noted in 2025 that Matthews himself once identified another English player as being comparable to Pelé and Diego Maradona, a claim that underscored both his humility and his standing as an authority on footballing greatness.