Sir Stanley Matthews: Footballs First Superstar

Sir Stanley Matthews has been called football's first superstar.

He was named English Footballer of the Year twice, the second time aged 48 in 1963, and was the first British player to be named European Footballer of the Year in 1956. He played top-class football for 33 years until he retired aged 50, playing for his hometown club Stoke City.

He was a full-back's worst nightmare. out on the wing, he would sway to the left, put the opponent off balance, swerve, and flick the ball with his right boot. Having pulled the left back inside out he would disappear down the touchline to whip in a cross of which David Beckham would now be proud.
Knowing what he would do was no defence. His timing, pace, and balance allowed him to beat defenders however good they were, over and over again, across four decades of football.

He was the game's first knight but a modest gentleman, who was never booked in over 700 league games. Typically,m he always called his greatest game, Blackpool's 4-3 win over Bolton in the 1953 Cup Final, "Morts final, not mine". And when he retired in 1965, borne aloft by legends Peskas and Lev Yashin, in front of his home crowd during his testimonial, his own legend was now assured. He was the greatest winger Britain has ever produced and people will debate for as long as the game exists whether it is he or George Best who deserves the title of the finest British footballer.