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
	← 1952 1954 →

The 1953 FA Cup final, also known as the Matthews Final,

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 final 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

15:00 BST

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

^ ^a ^b ^c "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.
^ "Man City Emirates FA Cup To Complete Historic Domestic Treble". The Football Association. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ Jones, Rich (18 May 2019). "Raheem Sterling's response to question of whether he scored FA Cup final hat-trick". Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ "Stanley Matthews' boots sold for £38,400". BBC News. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ "Sir Stanley Matthews FA Cup medal sells for £220,000". BBC News. 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ "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.
^ "Wembley – Saturday 2nd May Blackpool 4 Bolton Wanderers 3". fa-cupfinals.co.uk. 10 May 2001. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 25 September 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

[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] "Man City Emirates FA Cup To Complete Historic Domestic Treble". The Football Association. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2021.

[4] Jones, Rich (18 May 2019). "Raheem Sterling's response to question of whether he scored FA Cup final hat-trick". Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2021.

[5] "Stanley Matthews' boots sold for £38,400". BBC News. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.

[6] "Sir Stanley Matthews FA Cup medal sells for £220,000". BBC News. 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2021.

[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] "Wembley – Saturday 2nd May Blackpool 4 Bolton Wanderers 3". fa-cupfinals.co.uk. 10 May 2001. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2008.

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[9]

v t e 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 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
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v t e 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 2021 League One
Football League Trophy Finals	2002 2004
Football League War Cup Finals	1943

v t e 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 2023
Football League War Cup Finals	1945 (north) 1945 (play-off)