David Gwilliam
Well-Known Member
I have just finished watching the 1953 cup final Blackpool 4 Bolton 3 better known as The Matthews Final. This is usually regarded as the greatest cup final of all time. I did not see it in 1953 as like most homes we did not have a TV. My father saw it at a friends and in those days when men got together with beer they did not welcome schoolboys. The next week my father bought a TV.
In truth it was an average final for 70 minutes when with Bolton 3-1 up Blackpool scored to make it 3-2. With two and a half minutes left Blackpool equalised and then scored the winner in time added on. It must have been a long and sad journey back for Bolton supporters.
One of the things that made it special was that the final gave the public what they wanted. Stanley Matthews was incredibly popular and at 38 this was likely to be his last chance at what was then footballs greatest honour.
Most members of the forum will have heard of Matthews but not know much about him. To set the scene: Matthews first played for England in 1934 and played his last England game in 1957 aged 42. He was playing First Division football at 48 and Second Division football at 50. The commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme said in the commentary that Matthews was perhaps the best footballer ever and certainly the best he had ever seen. This was before Di Stefano Duncan Edwards and Pele and it would be interesting to know if he later changed his mind.
At 38 Matthews was clearly the fastest player on the pitch. Since no player is as good at 38 as they were at 28 I wish there was film of Matthews when he was younger.
This was not the Bolton team that was legendary for its hardness; they would come about three or four years later. However, it did have Nat Lofthouse who scored in every round of the Cup including this final. It is difficult to judge whether he was the greatest England centre forward but he was surely the most exciting. Lofthouse was marked by the England centre half Harry Johnstone; a defender who combined toughness with skill. It really was a clash of two hard men.
Two points that made 1953 different from today. Ten of the Bolton team were born in Lancashire. In the days of the maximum wage there was no incentive to leave your local club. Today players like Matthews and Lofthouse would want Champions League football. Secondly Eric Bell of Bolton was badly injured but played on as there were no substitutes. At one point Lofthouse went down injured. Kenneth Wolstenholme said Lofthouse had to be dead before they got him off the pitch and this seemed only a slight exaggeration .
Matthews disliked the phrase "the Matthews final". Stan Mortenson disliked it even more since he scored a hat trick. Mortenson once complained "When I die they will call it the Matthews funeral."
In truth it was an average final for 70 minutes when with Bolton 3-1 up Blackpool scored to make it 3-2. With two and a half minutes left Blackpool equalised and then scored the winner in time added on. It must have been a long and sad journey back for Bolton supporters.
One of the things that made it special was that the final gave the public what they wanted. Stanley Matthews was incredibly popular and at 38 this was likely to be his last chance at what was then footballs greatest honour.
Most members of the forum will have heard of Matthews but not know much about him. To set the scene: Matthews first played for England in 1934 and played his last England game in 1957 aged 42. He was playing First Division football at 48 and Second Division football at 50. The commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme said in the commentary that Matthews was perhaps the best footballer ever and certainly the best he had ever seen. This was before Di Stefano Duncan Edwards and Pele and it would be interesting to know if he later changed his mind.
At 38 Matthews was clearly the fastest player on the pitch. Since no player is as good at 38 as they were at 28 I wish there was film of Matthews when he was younger.
This was not the Bolton team that was legendary for its hardness; they would come about three or four years later. However, it did have Nat Lofthouse who scored in every round of the Cup including this final. It is difficult to judge whether he was the greatest England centre forward but he was surely the most exciting. Lofthouse was marked by the England centre half Harry Johnstone; a defender who combined toughness with skill. It really was a clash of two hard men.
Two points that made 1953 different from today. Ten of the Bolton team were born in Lancashire. In the days of the maximum wage there was no incentive to leave your local club. Today players like Matthews and Lofthouse would want Champions League football. Secondly Eric Bell of Bolton was badly injured but played on as there were no substitutes. At one point Lofthouse went down injured. Kenneth Wolstenholme said Lofthouse had to be dead before they got him off the pitch and this seemed only a slight exaggeration .
Matthews disliked the phrase "the Matthews final". Stan Mortenson disliked it even more since he scored a hat trick. Mortenson once complained "When I die they will call it the Matthews funeral."
