Although many people still recognise the name of Stanley
Matthews, few know the full extent of his achievements, fame
and what the game today owes him - the man who heralded the
footballer as superstar and celebrity.
Stanley, the third of four sons, was born to Elizabeth and
Jack Matthews in 1915.
Jack a local barber and semi-pro boxer took his training very
seriously.
Spotting Stan’s athletic potential early, he helped instil in
his son the temperament and dedication that was to last a
lifetime Stan’s ability, fitness and love of the
game was such that he continued to play, at the highest level, until
an incredible 50 years of age - well into the modern era.
However, when Stan signed for Stoke City as a professional at
the age of 17, football was a very different game to the one
we know today.
Stan had to walk to work.
He was paid a maximum wage of £5 a week, which went down to £3 in the summer
break and nobody had even considered ideas like product endorsement.
Soon his reputation began to spread.
Wearing the number 7 shirt he was to make his own, his ability
to confound and outfox defenders led to him being called ‘The
Wizard of Dribble’ and the ‘The Magician’.
One ploy in particular rightly caught the public imagination.
Dubbed ‘the Matthews Move’ it helped proclaim his remarkable
ability.
The Matthews Move was to prove the downfall of some of the
best players of the era and helped redefine the role of the
winger.
Mixed fortunes with the England squad inspired Matthews to ​
even greater efforts.
He broke new ground with the sort of strict diet, early morning runs, exercise
plan, and stamina training that is now taken for granted.
It was said that Stan could draw crowds of up to 10,000 extra
people at away games, just to see him in action.
Suspension of the football league during the WWII robbed
football of the joy of seeing Stan at his peak and only
allowed glimpses of the heights his career might have
reached.
With the return of the football league in 1946-47, and after
playing with Stoke from 1932, Stan moved to Blackpool FC.
The move provided Stan with a fresh the opportunity to
realise a long cherished ambition, and despite falling at the
final hurdle in the FA cup finals of ‘49 and ’51,
In 1953, in the last 20 minutes of the game, famously called
the Matthews final, Blackpool turned a 3-1 deficit into a
remarkable 4-3 victory.
And in front of an 80,000 crowd, besotted supporters began to chant: 'On Stanley,
on!'
An embarrassed Matthews pointed out afterwards that it should
be the ‘Mortenson Final’, as he had scored the winning hat-
trick.
Universal fame was rare, but even little children playing in
Zanzibar knew who Stanley Matthews was – as he found out when
he visited.
His raised profile meant new opportunities for Stan to
supplement what, by today’s standard, were paltry wages; £12
a week; some £380 in today’s money.
Neymar earns around £3,000 per hour.
A non-smoker, he promoted cigarettes, had his own brand of
football boots and even ‘authored’ a newspaper column he
didn’t actually write.
Although, he never got a chance to shine in a World Cup
tournament, memorably, in 1956, England defeated Brazil 4-2
at Wembley, in a match where Stanley Matthews completely
outplayed the man marking him, Nilton Santos.
At the time, Santos, was 28, Matthews was 41.
Santos is still considered one of the all time great defenders.
That year Stanley Matthews was the inaugural winner of the
Ballon d'Or - the European Footballer of the Year.
Stan returned to play for an ailing Stoke City team in 1961.
On his ‘debut’ against Huddersfield Town, at the age of 46,
he trebled the previous week’s attendance.
Stan played his last game in 1965, just after his 50 th
birthday.
Official retirement in no way saw an end to Stan’s
involvement with football.
He had a long association with Africa and had once been crowned the King
of Soccer in Ghana.
Something to add to the knighthood he received in 1965.
Stan’s African adventures culminated in him being the first
coach to lead an all-black soccer team on a tour outside of
South Africa’s harsh apartheid regime.
when he coached a team of boys in Sowetto.
Narrowly averting an international incident, they went to Brazil and met the
boy’s footballing heroes.
To learn more about the talent that was Sir Stanley Matthews,
buy ‘MATTHEWS – the original Number 7’ – on DVD and VOD now.