Stanley Matthews he helped Blackpool to win the cup with a formidable personal performance in the "Matthews Final" of 1953. Between 1934 and 1957 he won 54 caps for England, playing in the FIFA World Cup in 1950 and 1954, and winning nine British Home Championship titles. Following an unsuccessful stint as Port Vale's general manager between 1965 and 1968, he travelled around the world, coaching enthusiastic amateurs. The most notable of his coaching experiences came in 1975 in South Africa, where in spite of the harsh apartheid laws of the time he established an all-black team in Soweto known as "Stan's
Stanley Matthews largely credited for the outstanding margin of victory. In this game Duncan Edwards was making his England debut; when Matthews made his, Edwards had not even been born. Matthews went on England's unsuccessful tour of the continent in 1955, 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. Left out against Denmark, he was back in the team in October for a 1–1 draw with Wales. Having been awarded the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 1956, that May he was recalled to the England front line