1953 FA Cup Final

1953 FA Cup Final
Event	1952–53 FA Cup
Date	2 May 1953
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Sandy Griffiths (Abertillery)
Attendance	100,000

The 1953 FA Cup Final, also known as the Matthews Final,[1] was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War. The football match was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, with Blackpool winning 4–3, equalling the record for the highest scoring FA Cup Final which had been set in the final of 1890.[2] The match became famous for the performance of Blackpool winger Stanley Matthews, after whom it was nicknamed. It was the third FA Cup Final (after those in 1890 and 1894) to feature a hat-trick, scored by Blackpool's Stan Mortensen.[3][4] Blackpool were making their third FA Cup appearance in six years having been losing finalists twice, in 1948 and 1951.

In February 2010, the boots worn by Matthews in the match were auctioned at Bonhams in Chester for £38,400, to an undisclosed buyer[5] and in November 2014 Matthews' winning medal was sold for £220,000.[6] The match ball fetched £5,250 in 2018.[7]

Road to Wembley

Third round
- Sheffield Wednesday 1 Blackpool 2
- Bolton Wanderers 4 Fulham 1
Fourth round
- Blackpool 1 Huddersfield Town 0
- Bolton Wanderers 1 Notts County 1 – Replay 2–2, 2nd replay 1–0
Fifth round
- Blackpool 1 Southampton 1 – Replay 2–1
- Luton Town 0 Bolton Wanderers 1
Sixth round
- Arsenal 1 Blackpool 2
- Gateshead 0 Bolton Wanderers 1
Semi-final
- Blackpool 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
- Bolton Wanderers 4 Everton 3

Match summary

Matthews inspired his team to come from 3–1 down against Bolton Wanderers, to win 4–3, and on a personal note, he claimed the trophy that had eluded him in two previous finals. Despite the final being more famous for the heroics of Matthews, Stan Mortensen scored three goals for Blackpool on the day, becoming the first and only player to have scored an FA Cup Final hat-trick at the original Wembley Stadium.[8] Bill Perry scored the winning goal, following another Matthews' assist. Nat Lofthouse, who scored Bolton's first goal, scored in every round of that year's FA Cup.[1] Bolton took the lead after just 75 seconds with a Nat Lofthouse shot. Mortensen equalised after 35 minutes with a deflected "cross-shot". Four minutes later, Bolton took the lead again when Willie Moir outstripped Blackpool's goalkeeper George Farm after short crossing pass of Bobby Langton and Bolton went in at half-time 2–1 ahead. Ten minutes into the second half, Eric Bell, playing through injury with a torn hamstring, put Bolton further ahead, a lead they kept for 13 minutes. Then came the turnaround for which the match has become famous, when Matthews proved to be the inspiration for a Blackpool comeback. His cross from the right wing, with 22 minutes remaining, was met by Mortensen who netted his and Blackpool's second goal. Then, with less than two minutes remaining, Mortensen completed his hat-trick and Blackpool's comeback to equalise directly from a free-kick. Then, with just seconds remaining, Matthews again crossed from the right wing. His cross, which passed just behind Mortensen, was met by Bill Perry, whose shot made the score 4–3 and won the match for the Seasiders. Even Nat Lofthouse, in defeat, is said to have stood and applauded.[1][9]

Coverage

The match was considered the first major TV audience for a sporting event. Televisions had been bought or rented by many households for the forthcoming Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. On Radio the match was broadcast in full on the BBC World Service and the second half on the domestic Light Programme. After this final proved to be so popular, the Cup Final was given its own standalone slot and broadcast in full on TV and radio.

Match details

2 May 1953

Blackpool	4–3	Bolton Wanderers
Mortensen 35', 68', 89' Perry 90+2'	(Report)	Lofthouse 2' Moir 39' Bell 55'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: B. M. Griffiths

Blackpool

Bolton Wanderers



GK	1	George Farm
RB	2	Eddie Shimwell
LB	3	Tommy Garrett
RH	4	Ewan Fenton
CH	5	Harry Johnston (c)
LH	6	Cyril Robinson
OR	7	Stanley Matthews
IR	8	Ernie Taylor
CF	9	Stan Mortensen
IL	10	Jackie Mudie
OL	11	Bill Perry
Manager:
Joe Smith



GK	1	Stan Hanson
RB	2	John Ball
LB	3	Ralph Banks
RH	4	Johnny Wheeler
CH	5	Malcolm Barrass
LH	6	Eric Bell
OR	7	Doug Holden
IR	8	Willie Moir (c)
CF	9	Nat Lofthouse
IL	10	Harold Hassall
OL	11	Bobby Langton
Manager:
Bill Ridding

References

"1953 – The Matthews Final". BBC Sport. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
Ross, James M. (6 August 2020). "England FA Challenge Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
http://www.thefa.com/news/2019/may/18/fa-cup-final-man-city-watford-180519
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/raheem-sterlings-response-question-whether-16166667
Stanley Matthews' boots sold for £38,400 at bbc.co.uk
Sir Stanley Matthews FA Cup medal sells for £220,000 at bbc.co.uk
"1953 FA Cup final hat-trick football sells for £5,250". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
"Blackpool 4-3 Bolton Wanderers: 1953 FA Cup final – as it happened". The Guardian. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
|title=Wembley – Saturday 2nd May Blackpool 4 Bolton Wanderers 3 |publisher=fa-cupfinals.co.uk |date=10 May 2001 |url=http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1953.htm |accessdate=25 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122050521/http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1953.htm |archivedate=22 January 2008}}

External links

1953 FA Cup Final (Matthews Final) Match Report at RetroFootball.co.uk
Original Pathe News coverage of the match
Minute by minute account on The Guardian

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[bbc1321960-1] "1953 – The Matthews Final". BBC Sport. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2008.

[2] Ross, James M. (6 August 2020). "England FA Challenge Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

[3] ttp://www.thefa.com/news/2019/may/18/fa-cup-final-man-city-watford-180519

[4] ttps://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/raheem-sterlings-response-question-whether-16166667

[5] Stanley Matthews' boots sold for £38,400 at bbc.co.uk

[6] Sir Stanley Matthews FA Cup medal sells for £220,000 at bbc.co.uk

[7] "1953 FA Cup final hat-trick football sells for £5,250". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.

[8] "Blackpool 4-3 Bolton Wanderers: 1953 FA Cup final – as it happened". The Guardian. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.

[fac-1953-9] |title=Wembley – Saturday 2nd May Blackpool 4 Bolton Wanderers 3 |publisher=fa-cupfinals.co.uk |date=10 May 2001 |url=http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1953.htm |accessdate=25 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122050521/http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1953.htm |archivedate=22 January 2008}}

FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
History Trophy List of finals Third-fourth place matches Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

Blackpool F.C. matches
FA Cup Finals	1948 1951 1953
FA Charity Shield	1953
Anglo-Italian Cup Finals	1971
Football League Play-Off Finals	1991 Fourth Division 1992 Fourth Division 2001 Third Division 2007 League One 2010 Championship 2012 Championship 2017 League Two
Football League Trophy Finals	2002 2004

Bolton Wanderers F.C. matches
FA Cup Finals	1894 1904 1923 1926 1929 1953 1958
League Cup Finals	1995 2004
FA Community Shields	1958
EFL Championship play-offs Finals	1995 1999 2001
EFL League One play-offs Final	1991
Football League Trophy Finals	1986 1989