Stanley Matthews

This article is about football player Stanley Matthews. For the judge and politician known as Stanley Matthews, see Stanley Matthews (lawyer) , for the tennis player of the same name, see Stanley Matthews (tennis player) .

Stanley Matthews
Stanley Matthews (1962)
Personnel
birthday	February 1, 1915
place of birth	Hanley ,  England
date of death	February 23, 2000
Place of death	Newcastle-under-Lyme ,  England
size	174 cm
position	Right winger
Juniors
Years	station
	Stoke St. Peter's
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1934-1947	Stoke City	259 (51)
1947-1961	Blackpool FC	391 (17)
1961-1965	Stoke City	59 0(3)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1934-1957	England	54 (11)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1965-1968	FC Port Vale
1970	Hibernians Paola
1 Only league games are given.

Sir Stanley Matthews , CBE (born February 1, 1915 in Hanley , Staffordshire , † February 23, 2000 in Newcastle-under-Lyme ) was an English football player . Matthews is still considered one of the best English players ever. In 1956 , the right-winger was the first footballer to be named “ Europe's Footballer of the Year ”. Hailed as a “ living legend ”, his active career spanned 35 years before he played his last competitive game at the age of 50. This makes him the second oldest ever active professional player in football history, after Kazuyoshi Miura .

youth

Matthews was born the third of four sons to boxer Jack Matthews in Stoke-on-Trent , Hanley, during World War I. The footballing talent of the young Stanley, who already played against Wales in an English school selection, showed very early on.

Career

Club level

In 1932 the 17-year-old received an offer from the second division ( Second Division ) Stoke City to become a professional player for £ 5 a week. Matthews accepted the offer, becoming England's youngest professional player. In March he made his debut against Bury FC . At the end of its first season, Stoke was promoted to the top division, the First Division . Although he had a relatively small share in the rise with 15 missions, he already indicated his great ability.

Through his consistent performance, Matthews helped the team establish themselves in League One. He scored 31 league goals in the first three seasons and, thanks to his basic speed, wing runs and precise crosses, embodied a modern, athletic type of classic winger. Matthews played with little physical effort; his mastery of the ball enabled him to perform quick deception maneuvers. The Stan-Matthews trick (faking left, passing right and vice versa) became famous and he performed it at extreme speed, keeping the ball so close to his foot that it was hardly possible to take it from him by authorized means. Soon he was just called “ The Wizard Of The Dribble ” or simply “ The Magician ”. Since he did not play for the English championship with Stoke, but only ended up in the middle of the league (the big exception was fourth place in 1936, to this day the club's best placement in the first division), he sought a club change in 1938. Surprised by this intention, more than 3,000 fans held a public protest in Kings Hall to persuade their star to stay; another 1,000 fans marched to the stadium with posters to try to change Matthews' mind. He was overwhelmed by the sympathy and extended his contract in Stoke.

In 1940, World War II also interrupted the career of Matthews, who was drafted into the military. He served in the Royal Air Force near Blackpool . The war probably brought him to some of his prime, in which he only laced his shoes for various clubs in regional rounds (including Manchester United , Crewe Alexandra ), as there was no regular league operation.

Should be as Matthews after the war ended in 1947 with 32 years deported at Stoke as "old man" returned to the bench, he joined for a fee of 11,500 pounds to Blackpool on. After a strong first season, he was in 1948 with his new club in the FA Cup final at Wembley , which Blackpool lost. In the same year he was named " England's Footballer of the Year ", making him the first player to receive this award.

Blackpool lived from the strong interaction between right winger Matthews and center forward Stan Mortensen , which is why the team also landed third in the First Division at the end of the 1950/51 season and was again in the FA Cup final at Wembley, which was lost again.

In 1953 he was with his team for the third time in the final, which is still referred to as the " Matthews Final " and is one of the most memorable games in English football history. The game against Bolton Wanderers , who were still 3-1 with 20 minutes to go, was decided by “ Stan ” almost single-handedly. The decisive goal for the 4-3 victory came in the final minute after Matthews' third assist. The 38-year-old became a living legend and the final was nicknamed the “Matthews Final” despite striker Mortensen scoring three goals.

In 1956 Blackpool missed the championship and finished second. In the same year Matthews was the first footballer to receive the newly created title of “ European Footballer of the Year ” (Ballon d'Or). At the beginning of 1957 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II .

When in 1961 everyone expected Matthew's departure from active football, the surprise followed. The 46-year-old returned to his hometown club Stoke City, which experienced an unexpected boom: the average attendance rose from 8,000 to over 20,000 per game, and two disused railway lines had to be put back into operation to cope with the rush. Despite his old age, the number 7 (Matthew's number) had a great football influence on the team. In just two years, he led his team from the bottom of the Second Division back to the first division. In recognition of his achievements, he was named England's Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1963 . He remained loyal to the Potters until the end of his career. After an almost twelve month break due to injury, he played his last competitive game on February 6, 1965 (shortly after his 50th birthday) against Fulham FC . Significantly, he prepared the equalizer. For more than 50 years, Matthews remained the oldest active professional footballer in history, only being overtaken by Japanese Kazuyoshi Miura in early March 2017 .

In April 1965, Matthews played his farewell game against a FIFA selection in front of 35,000 spectators at the Victoria Ground in Stoke , in which Lev Jashin , Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo Di Stéfano took part. After the final whistle, Matthews was carried off the pitch on shoulders. In the same year he was knighted in the first footballer ever for his services to the sport and of Queen Elizabeth II. The Knights defeated (Sir). On the occasion of this honor, the Duke of Edinburgh presented him with the sentence: "Stan, you are a legend." His incredible physical fitness was also due to the fact that he went running on the beach every day and also paid close attention to his health. He is said to have said after his active career that he could have played longer.

Matthews was always respected and respected by his opponents, because the extremely fair and great sportsman was never sent off or cautioned during his entire career.

National team

On September 28, 1934, Stan made his debut for the English national football team at the age of 19 , making him the first selection player from Stoke in 30 years. In the 4-0 win over Wales , he even scored a goal. A few weeks later, Matthews was part of the team that defeated reigning world champions Italy 3-2 in the famous “ Battle of Highbury ” . He later recalled that game as one of the most brutal he had ever played. In 1937 he managed a hat trick in the game against Czechoslovakia (5-4 win for England). He was now also with the " Three Lions " the absolute star and crowd favorite in almost every stadium in England.

After the Second World War, national coach Walter Winterbottom refrained from nominating Matthews in 1946/47 and instead relied on Tom Finney as the right-winger. But in 1948 Matthews returned to the team and on his return prepared all the goals in the 5-2 win against Belgium .

England first took part in a World Cup in 1950 and Matthews was the oldest player in the squad at 35. In the first group game, Chile were defeated 2-0, befitting their rank, Matthews himself did not play. In the second game against the underdog USA , coach Winterbottom wanted to spare his star and left him on the bench, but England lost sensationally 1-0. In the third group game against Spain Matthews could not avert the 0-2 defeat. England had to travel home after the preliminary round. But also in the following years the team had international problems and was humiliated in 1953 by the "miracle team" from Hungary with 3: 6 at Wembley (England's first home defeat against a team from mainland Europe).

At the age of 39, he traveled to Switzerland for his second World Cup in 1954 . When England had serious problems in the first group game against Belgium, Winterbottom ordered his star to move into the center from the far right. This change brought the desired success and the game ended 4: 4. England were group winners, but in the second round it was over after a 2: 4 against Uruguay . On May 15, 1957 Matthews played his last international match against Denmark at the age of 42 and ended his 23-year career in the national team. This makes him the oldest ever active England international to this day. He played a total of 54 international matches (11 goals) and 29 unofficial games (2 goals) during the war.

After football

In July 1965, he became a manager at Stoke's rival FC Port Vale . But financial problems and the associated sporting failure led to his departure again in 1968. In 1970 he switched to the Maltese club Hibernians Paola as a coach . There he laced his shoes at the age of 55 to play along. In the 1970s, he often took part in charity and friendly games around the world. In 1992 Matthews was awarded the FIFA Gold Medal.

Stanley Matthews died on February 23, 2000 at the age of 85, shortly after his birthday. On the day of his funeral (March 3, 2000), around 100,000 people lined the streets of Stoke when his urn was brought to Britannia Stadium . Famous footballers such as Gordon Banks , Nat Lofthouse , Bobby and Jack Charlton and Tom Finney attended and paid their final respects to the funeral service that followed . He received a place in the English Football Hall of Fame . There is a statue of Sir Stanley Matthews in front of the Britannia Stadium today, and his ashes lie there under the field.

Trivia

German soccer player Reinhard Libuda was nicknamed Stan because his control over the ball reminded one of Matthews.

Web links

Commons : Stanley Matthews  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Stanley Matthews in the database of weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tony Mason: Matthews, Sir Stanley (1915-2000). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of January 2011
2. ↑ Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992 . Breedon Books Sport.
3. ↑ Japanese is the oldest professional soccer player in history
4. ↑ Sir Stanley Matthews' Testimonial remembered . In: BBC News . 2005. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
5. ↑ The Sentinel , November 19, 2005