Stanley Matthews

OMG. That really brought back some memories. And a tear or two.
I remembered the Matthews era. The times I saw him running on the beach in the early morning. I started work often a 07.00 and was on the Post Office motor bike going down the Prom.
The number of times I took Telegrams to The Grange, the Matthews house on St Annes Rd.
I was at Wembley on the day.
Only watched up to the winner in the FA Cup Final, but will watch the rest later.
 
Watched it in bed. Very good. If anyone hasn't already I would recommend reading his autobiography. He fills in a lot of gaps in the footballing action of pre-War internationals which, unfortunately, weren't filmed except for news footage.
 
Thank you ! Brought back many memories from a bygone era.
Meeting and talking to the players during that time as a youngster never to be forgotten.
Blackpool still my team. Followed with interest their ups and downs for 69 years.
Royal Forest of Dean.
Gloucestershire.
 
Just watched the 2nd half of the film.
What I forgot to say was that when taking telegrams to his house on St Annes Rd, he often invited me in whilst he opened the telegram.
He would then give me a threepenny bit or even a Tanner.
On the morning the team came back with the Cup I was working. Had a telegram for him. Going down from Church St onto the Prom
was amazing. The Prom was packed all along waiting for the coach.
When I got to the house Mrs Matthews said, 'Are they back yet?' I said that they weren't but the crowds were enormous.
One thing that the second part of the program showed is that SM wasn't just a footballer, he was a humanitarian also.
We will never see his like again, both as a footballer and as a great human being.
 
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picked up his autobiography in Barter Books in Hexham (if you're ever near there call in its unreal)

Fascinating account of a very focussed and driven individual who was years ahead of his time with regards to everything we take for normal in modern football.

The esteem he was held in by some of the all time greats in football shows how good he was
 
Triumph said:
what a fabulous player, just like our Tom Finney. We unfortunately will never see the likes of these two magnificent players again. All we can do is thank the two of them for the happy memories they gave us.
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I have to confess l have watched very little footage of Tom Finney but will see what’s on youtube
 
Davepick said:
OMG. That really brought back some memories. And a tear or two.
I remembered the Matthews era. The times I saw him running on the beach in the early morning. I started work often a 07.00 and was on the Post Office motor bike going down the Prom.
The number of times I took Telegrams to The Grange, the Matthews house on St Annes Rd.
I was at Wembley on the day.
Only watched up to the winner in the FA Cup Final, but will watch the rest later.
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Happy days Dave...I was also lucky enough to have been around for his last few years at Blackpool.
A great documentary but a shame that there is so little footage of him at his absolute peak..there was however enough tantalising glimpses of his skills to show us just how special he was.
Like Messi and Ronaldo there was divided opinion about him and Finney but I think its fair to say that Matthews was the most famous footballer in the world before Pele came along.
 
My dad knew Sir Stan, not sure how but wish I had found out more detail. He very generously gave a £1 to open my Post Office Savings account. My mum told the tale of me being given red ball by Sir Stan which I referred to as 'Tans ball. Only recollection of meeting the maestro is of a visit with my dad and being given a Refresher sweet by Mrs M. Bizarre what you remember from a very young age, obviously made an impression though.
 
Seeing SM with the ball at his feet motionless with the opposition player not knowing what the next movement of the ball will be and SM going from 0-20 in the blink of an eye and going past his opponent swinging his body from left to right and back again, often left the Blackpool fans in awe then a great roar would be heard, even opposition fans would be aghast at his actions and of course the cross from the wing with those heavy balls were sublime.
I had the pleasure to see both him an Finney in the same matches from time to time, Finney the more direct player while SM, well you just didn't know what he would do next and that made him an exceptional player in his day.
 
I was among the 40k crowd at Deepdale for Finney's testimonial game against an international X1 including a good few Blackpool players.
Both Stan and Tom were incomparable really but Matthews was the great entertainer who literally put thousands on away gates whenever he was playing.
 
tango94 said:
I was among the 40k crowd at Deepdale for Finney's testimonial game against an international X1 including a good few Blackpool players.
Both Stan and Tom were incomparable really but Matthews was the great entertainer who literally put thousands on away gates whenever he was playing.
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There is no doubt whatsoever that Stan Matthews & Tom Finney were the 2 best footballers in England at the time.
Completely different styles though. Stan was always on the Right and took the ball to the full-back before waltzing round him
Tom was a much more direct player and extremely fast down the wing (either wing), and scored more then Stan.
From memory I can't remember how many times they played for England in the same game. I think the 'selectors' 🙄 didn't often play them together because they thought they were too much alike in style etc. Which they weren't.
Selectors eh? 😠
 
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One common theme with past Legends, Sir Stan, Sir Tom, Nat Lofthouse, Jimmy McIlroy, Jock Dodds, Jimmy Armfield etc was how humble they were in person. Nothing flash about them just ordinary in a human sense but with a special presence.
 
Steamgun said:
One common theme with past Legends, Sir Stan, Sir Tom, Nat Lofthouse, Jimmy McIlroy, Jock Dodds, Jimmy Armfield etc was how humble they were in person. Nothing flash about them just ordinary in a human sense but with a special presence.
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I've read SM's autobiography, very interesting too.
I was just too young to see him play but grandad & dad were both ST Holders in South Stand. Grandad thought Stan was great but dad was less keen because 'he didn't like to dirty his shorts'. His hero was Morty whom he said would head a brick wall if necessary (though I'm sure he admired Sir Stan too really)...
 
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