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 FA and the selectors for the heavy loss, though he had great admiration for the Hungarians, particularly Ferenc Puskás. He did not play in the England's 7–1 defeat to Hungary in Budapest in May 1954. However he was in the squad for the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland. Matthews helped England to a 4–4 draw with Belgium, though was left out of a win over Switzerland, before he returned to the first XI as England crashed out of the competition with a 4–2 defeat to Uruguay at the St. Jakob Stadium after mistakes from goalkeeper Gil Merrick. His third