“Self-willed, strong-minded, humorous, generous of spirit and, for all his fame, as down to earth as the folk who once adorned the terraces in the hope of seeing him sparkle gold dust onto their harsh working lives.”
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Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest English players, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing football, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. His nicknames included "The Wizard of Dribble…
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sports · English footballer (1915–2000) · association football player · autobiographer · association football coach · also Stanley Matthews, Sir Stanley Matthews, Matthews
Born 1 February 1915 · Died 23 February 2000 · Q216140
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2026· 3 entries
“bury their heads in the sand.”
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Public attention spiked: 3,385 Wikipedia readers in one day, 3.4× the usual 1,009, with 0 article edits.
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2017· 1 entry
A documentary film was made about Matthews' life entitled Matthews with son Stanley Jr
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2007· 1 entry
Won award: PFA Team of the Century (1907–1976) (2007).
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2002· 2 entries
Won award: English Football Hall of Fame (2002).
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To honour his contribution to the English game
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2000· 1 entry
Died 2000-02-23.
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1998· 1 entry
Won award: Football League 100 Legends (1998).
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1995· 2 entries
Won award: FWA Tribute Award (1995).
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Won award: Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (1995).
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1992· 1 entry
Won award: FIFA Gold Order of Merit (1992).
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1987· 1 entry
Won award: PFA Merit Award (1987).
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1986· 1 entry
Won award: Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy (1986).
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1985· 1 entry
At the age of 70; the English lost 6–1 to a team that included Amarildo, Tostão and Jairzinho
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1975· 1 entry
Ignored apartheid to form a team of black schoolboys in Soweto called "Stan's Men"
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1971· 3 entries
Won: Maltese FA Trophy with Hibernians (1970–71).
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Won: Independence Cup with Hibernians (1970–71).
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Won: Sons of Malta Cup with Hibernians (1970–71).
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1967· 1 entry
While on a tour of Czechoslovakia with Port Vale, Matthews met 44-year-old Mila, the group's interpreter
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1965· 1 entry
Won award: Knight Bachelor (1965).
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1963· 2 entries
Won award: FWA Footballer of the Year (1963).
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Won: Football League Second Division with Stoke City (1962–63).
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1961· 2 entries
During the English off-season, he played abroad in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with Toronto City, appearing in 14 matches
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Played for Stoke City F.C. (1961–1965) — 59 appearances, 3 goals.
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1957· 3 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1957).
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Won award: Order of the British Empire (1957).
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At the age of 42, Matthews travelled to Ghana to play some exhibition games for Ghanaian club Hearts of Oak
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1956· 5 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1956).
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Won award: Ballon d'Or (1956).
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That May he was recalled to the England front line for an encounter against Brazil in a crowded Wembley in what was the first friendly match played by both teams
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Was named the winner of the inaugural Ballon d'Or, a prize given to the best European footballer each year
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When he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre
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1955· 2 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1955).
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As the selectors erratic choices helped to ensure a 1–0 defeat to France, a 1–1 draw with Spain, and a 3–1 defeat to Portugal
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1954· 2 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1954).
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Because of their admiration for Matthews
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1953· 1 entry
Won: FA Cup with Blackpool (1952–53).
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1952· 1 entry
Despite artificial lighting having been experimented with as far back as 1878, and for years insisted on using outdated kit such as heavy "reinforced" boots)
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1951· 1 entry
Runner-up: FA Cup with Blackpool (1950–51).
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1950· 1 entry
And 1954, and winning nine British Home Championship titles
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1949· 1 entry
– a 3–1 defeat to Scotland in the British Home Championship
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1948· 3 entries
Won award: FWA Footballer of the Year (1948).
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Won: British Home Championship with England (1948).
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Runner-up: FA Cup with Blackpool (1947–48).
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1947· 3 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1947).
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Played for United Kingdom national association football team (1947–1955) — 2 appearances, 0 goals.
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Played for Blackpool F.C. (1947–1961) — 379 appearances, 17 goals.
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1943· 1 entry
Won: Football League War Cup with Blackpool (1942–43).
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1941· 1 entry
Won: Glasgow Charity Cup with Rangers (1940–41).
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1939· 1 entry
Won: British Home Championship with England (1939).
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1938· 2 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1938).
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Played eight games for England, starting with defeat to a Scotland team containing a young Bill Shankly
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1935· 2 entries
Won: British Home Championship with England (1935).
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With Wales and Scotland in 1939, and with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1956
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1934· 3 entries
Won: Staffordshire Senior Cup with Stoke City (1933–34).
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Played for England men's national association football team (1934–1957) — 54 appearances, 11 goals.
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Played for The Football League XI (1934–1956) — 13 appearances, 2 goals.
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1933· 1 entry
Won: Football League Second Division with Stoke City (1932–33).
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1932· 1 entry
Played for Stoke City F.C. (1932–1947) — 259 appearances, 51 goals.
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1930· 1 entry
On his first day as office boy at the Victoria Ground
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1929· 1 entry
In front of around 20,000 spectators at Dean Court, Bournemouth
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1915· 2 entries
Born 1915-02-01.
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Stanley Matthews was born on 1 February 1915 in a terraced house in Seymour Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
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