Blackpool-Bolton FA Cup Final 1953

[@elshadjafar2437]

Good day. Thak you so much for the historical match. Enjoyed and liked of course. Bravo! Greetings and gratitude from country Azerbaijan

[@microwave9996]

Ernie Taylor is my grandfather, well, was. It was a shame when he died, I never met him, he died before I was born 👍

[@geoffm9944]

It wasn’t just the superb performances from Matthew and Mortenson that made this a remarkable ‘come back’ final, but also the two glaring goalkeeping errors, one committed by George Farm, the Blackpool goalkeeper that gave Bolton the lead, and the other error from Hansen, the Bolton goalkeeper, that gave Blackpool their all important second goal. A fair amount of the play in the second half consisted of defenders hitting long balls, hoping to find one of their forwards, but too often this resulted in simply giving the ball away to the opposition. But this was 1953, where intricate short passing and close ball possession was nor encouraged, something which we learnt to our cost in 1953, when Hungary hammered England. For sheer stamina, graft, robust tackling and dribbling (which characterised so much of the English game in the 1950’s) this final was ‘par excellence.’ It was a cup final where sportsmanship was of paramount importance and where players made light of injuries sustained on the field. Kenneth Woolstenholme, the commentator, promoted this ethos of ‘toughing out’ an injury, by frequently making light hearted comments after a player went down with an injury. He often chuckled that the trainer with his ‘magic sponge’ would soon put matters right. The fact was that this was 1953, and National Service’ was still in full swing, hence it was frowned upon for players to express pain, but to put on a brave face and battle on, even though they they were in extreme physical discomfort. To illustrate this fact, two of the Bolton players, Nat Lofthouse and Bell were both in serious pain, but despite being injured, they stayed on the pitch! In the last half an hour of the match, the Bolton players, were clearly exhausted (Lofthouse was virtually a passenger) and with Blackpool’s superior stamina and Stanley Matthew’s magic, Blackpool earned a well fought and deserved victory. On hindsight, Bolton could have played a tight, short passing, possession game after going 3 - 1 up, but this was 1953, and such tactics were not considered as desirable, since the spirit of the game was not to ‘shut’ down the opposition, but to keep the ball in open play. How things have changed!

[@markpesmaster5989]

IT'S REALLY A PRIVILEGE TO BE ABLE TO SEE A GAME LIKE THIS AND I WRITE THIS AFTER I HAVE SEEN MORE THAN 32000 FOOTBALL GAMES

[@-AboFAHAD]

I like the player number 7 with BLACKPOOL ,wow he is amzing

[@Nigelpreece]

The kind of cup final we dream of, the sun shining, the wembley turf glistening, goals a plenty. Perfect. Why can't it be like this now.

[@aatifshawkat7712]

I also wish it could be like those days

[@ollyf5088]

This footage seems years ahead of its time!!

[@stephenreeds3632]

Stanley Matthews refused to believe that it was Matthews' final. To him, it was Mortensen's final....he got a hat trick!

[@seekah1]

Thanks a mill for upping this one, mega!!

[@belong53]

Proud to see my Uncle Jackie Mudie in this clip

[@davidtilstone4814]

I fitted Jackie's headstone in Newcastle under Lyme.

[@cedarpan5305]

anyone else in your extended family playing football after him?

[@microwave9996]

You uncle was in the same team as my grandfather!!! Proud to see my grandfather, Ernie Taylor. Respect, my friend, respect ✌️

[@prolifik5]

It's insane how fast Matthews was at 38! Beats his full-back every time.

[@yhg7ygo7g7igoi]

prolifik5 lol what’s crazy is he went on to play over 10 years

[@Puma9621-d2c]

Stanley Matthews wa to my mind the greatest British footballer ever. Never a kicker but always played with skill, intelligence and anticipation. The only player who could bear comparison with the greats of the 50's e.g. Pele, Puskas, Schiaffino etc. Not only a truly great outside right but able to play as in the 1954 World Cup at inside forward and thread balls through a la Zico.

[@Dude0000]

Wasn’t that ‘quick’ just about efficient as one could be. So smooth, like Ronnie O’Sullivan playing snooker, a Bugatti Veyron verses thé Ferrari’s, McLaren’s, Lotus’ etc of other ‘quick player. Quickness of thought, definitely. Imagine if he had todays diet, exercise and training. Would be interesting. Wonderfully gifted player.

[@geoffm9944]

Woolstenhome stated that Johnstone of Blackpool was one of the greatest ever players we’ve seen in modern times An astonishing claim and far from the truth. It was this sort of hyperbole, where we classified British footballers as far better than they were, which lulled the British public into overrating the English game of football. Hungary, in 1953 & 54, put paid to this sort of jingoism. Johnstone, even by 1953 standards, was slow and would have been no match against fast moving continental forwards.

[@markschlesinger]

Amazing!

[@yiseng4602]

That 1953 FA Cup final between Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool at Wembley on May 2 in the year of the Queen's coronation was arguably the greatest of all FA Cup finals.Only the 1948 FA Cup final between Manchester United and Blackpool five years earlier came closed in comparison but that final produced six goals one less than the 1953 final. For Blackpool that 4-3 came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the FA Cup made up for the disappointment of those two earlier FA Cup final defeats to Manchester United and Newcastle United.Stanley Matthews featured in both the finals. At 38 in 1953 Matthews had sensed that it would be his last chance to win an FA Cup winners medal. Being 3-1 down Blackpool inspired by Stanley Matthews wing play staged one of the greatest comebacks ever in FA Cup history. Stanley Mortenson scored a hattrick thus the only player so far to do so and Billy Perry notched in the winner.

[@geoffm9944]

Woolstenholme was a highly intelligent and likeable man, who had a very distinguished war record. He came from an RAF background where injuries were made light of and where men got on with life despite any pain they may be have been suffering. In the 1950’s most young men did national service where discipline was strict and where you were taught to shrug off pain, setbacks and adversity. Woolstenholme was a product of that generation where football was played with few players moaning or protesting about things during a match. Woolstenholme commentated as if he was a benign junior officer at a combined services football match, not a cup final. His relentlessly cheerful manner and ‘jolly’ quips could be irritating at times. Nevertheless, he had an excellent speaking voice, but his commentary was by today’s standards perhaps somewhat lacking in sparkle and provided little in the way of details about the action. Players who were injured or in great pain, were dismissed with light hearted comments as if this was all a ‘jolly good show’ inferring no one was really hurt. He would constantly tell the viewers about the names of players who scored and how much time had been played, but little else. Indeed, when Blackpool scored their second goal, courtesy of an error by Bolton goalkeeper, Hansen, he offered no immediate response, either to the error or the goal. However, Woolstenholme was a fine broadcaster who had a long and illustrious career at the BBC.

[@BritishRaceCaller]

I am a professional commentator who works around 170 days per year calling horse races that are shown around the world. With that in mind and knowing TV history as I do., I strongly disagree. Television in this era was incredibly difficult to broadcast and many people in 1953 would have just got their first television sets when coverage of live football was truly in its infancy. Wolstenholme was an excellent commentator at a time when the art of commentating was still an unwritten book

[@geoffm9944]

@@BritishRaceCaller I agree with your comments about Woolstenholme being an excellent commentator of his era. He spoke impeccably well and like all BBC sports commentators of the 50’s decade, his clarity of speech was a joy to listen to during a match. However, it’s interesting to note that by the 1960’s his style began to change and become less detached, in the sense his observations were more informative as to incidents in the game - and he was more disposed to make critical remarks regarding players. I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Kenneth Woolstenholme doing a live report outside the Royal Garden Hotel in 1966, a week prior to the World Cup Final. He was a polite and cheerful man, who radiated an easy going charm, but underneath that jolly exterior he was a total professional.

[@BritishRaceCaller]

@@geoffm9944 TV had changed a lot especially by the mid 1960s. Video used for recording matches and the advent of action replay first used at the 1966 world cup allowed commentators to speak in longer sentences and to.editorialize in a way that just was not possible in the day of optical soundtracks and 16mm film having to be quickly processed and cut to shreds for Sports Special or the early years of MoTD. That said, the shadow of David Coleman especially after he first left Grandstand in 1968 spelled the start of the end for Wolstenholme. But Peter Dimmock offered to double his salary in 1971 with the provision Coleman got the 1972 Cup Final as Colemans agent demanded it. Coleman won and Wolstenholme stormed out The problem was exasperated by Wolstenholme wanting first pick on big matches but Bryan Cowgill had younger commentators like Barry Davies and John Motson int the wings. Had Wolstenholme held his nerve, the chances are he would have eventually have covered more Cup finals as Coleman went on strike at the end of 1976 but by then the die was cast.

[@geoffm9944]

@@BritishRaceCaller I enjoyed reading your interesting comments about David Coleman, who like Woolstenholme, had a very engaging voice, perfect for broadcasting. I used to watch Coleman on ‘Grandstand,’ an iconic sports show for a Saturday afternoon. His superb presentation of this remarkable Saturday afternoon sports programme made it a huge success with the TV public. In terms of sports commentating (in my humble view) Coleman was the ‘voice’ of the 1960’s. He had a ‘classless’ voice, which inspired many would be commenters. I could never harness my speaking voice to sound like Kenneth Woolstenholme, but I could with David Coleman. His football and athletic commentaries added a dimension of excitement and immediacy to sporting events, and of course, he wasn’t adverse to using hyperbole to describe a goal. Coleman certainly did his homework on the teams and players, as his commentaries were very detailed. Also, Coleman wasn’t as restrained as Woolstenholme when describing individual players or goals. When I look back at the 50’s and 60’s, the BBC were fortunate indeed to have these two great commentators on their staff.

[@19sept76]

Stanley Mortensen was the last player to score a hat trick in an FA cup final.

[@SimonFoster23111971]

And the only player

[@AS-mw6pw]

@@SimonFoster23111971 not quite. It was done twice in the 1800s.

[@QPRTokyo]

Football played with a real football.

[@jamesgriffin7163]

CORRECTION: WILLIAM PERRY WAS THE FIRST (LIGHT SKIN) BLACK MAN TO REPRESENT ENGLAND NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM (NOT BENJAMIN ODEJE OR VIV ANDERSON) THOUGH HE WAS CALL A MAN OF MIX RACE , HE WAS OF BLACK DECENT FROM SOUTH AFRICA, AND WHO FATHER WAS AN ENGLISH CHAP....PERRY ALSO PLAYED WITH THE GREAT SIR STANLY MATTHEWS, TO WIN THE 1953 FA CUP FOR BLACKPOOL F.C.

[@davefisher9418]

great to see this, even though I wasn't even born!

[@aboriginalbrotha9947]

The Matthews Cup final.

[@danielcarter1993]

19 days after my Aunt was born on 11/04/53

[@paulquinn8709]

I wonder why this final is known as the Matthews final when Mortensen scored a hat trick.

[@Torbjorn_Main]

Stanley Matthews are my favourite Blackpool player!

[@Finn_Lawless]

1953 - Injured after 15 minutes? Just wrap some elastic around your leg, move to outside left, limp around in pain for the rest of the match and still get stuck in. 2021 - Five subs from 12 on the bench? Complain about going back to pre-COVID 3 from 7, roll around like Neymar whenever anyone looks at you

[@TIMBOWERMAN]

That video was one of a series done by BBC Video on VHS tapes and was interesting to learn of TV football (soccer) coverage in 1953, the year of the Coronation, they were using two cameras near the Royal Box, one for panoramic coverage at the top of the steps coming down, and one for closer in coverage half way down the same steps, no videotape recording - it did not exist, all recording was done by telecine. BBC Video did a series of Cup Final recordings to 1979. The 1964 final between Preston NE and West Ham Utd had all the main cameras opposite the Royal Box and had "radio cameras" a forerunner to today's minicams and these were used to follow players from the tunnel.

[@kodysamson8750]

I guess it is quite randomly asking but does anybody know of a good site to watch new series online ?

[@jeffreyfrank6998]

@Kody Samson I would suggest flixzone. You can find it by googling =)

[@leonelryker6834]

@Jeffrey Frank definitely, I've been using Flixzone for years myself :)

[@kelvinameer8678]

@Jeffrey Frank Yea, I have been using Flixzone for since april myself =)

[@dustinedward9768]

@Jeffrey Frank Definitely, I've been using flixzone for since april myself :D

[@garyhunt8067]

Since when they used action replay in 1953

[@musicex2287]

STANLEY IS GOOD PLAYER

[@ollyf5088]

I wish football commentary was still like this. No constant need to talk all the time and reel off pointless stats.

[@irsw51]

Interesting how frequently Wolstenholme mentions the positions (Left half etc). My father couldn't stick him because his commentary was often just a list of names. I always felt he was a little unfairly pushed aside in favour of David 'One-Nil' Coleman in the early seventies.

[@ollyf5088]

@@irsw51 when was David Coleman sampled by New Order?

[@MrJayalilay]

Who ever disliked is actually dead to me

[@spencermax]

Probably a Preston fan

[@Adyman182]

Is this the oldest full football game available on KZbin?

[@redstonelevar6754]

I'm pretty sure yes.

[@QPRTokyo]

There is a clip of Spurs 1901 Cup final .

[@Adyman182]

Can't seem to find any over a few minutes long

[@diegodomingues8584]

apitaram a final guigue da França o primeiro jogo campos de Portugal os dois jogos finais

[@mcfcfan1870]

1:07:38 fuck me dead, thats some pace!

[@petrasant5495]

I bet all the players enjoyed their cigarettes at half time.

[@clemilsonpedrodesouza4839]

O estilo de jogo do Matthews é igual ao brasileiro

[@xantigarijomikeliz720]

Blackpool 1 farm 2 shimwell 3 garrett 4 fenton 5 johnsson 6 Robinsón 7 mattwews 8 taylor 9 mortensen 10 mudie 11 perry. Bolton 1 han son 2 ball 3 banks 4 wheeler 5 barrass 6 bell 7 holden 8 morir 9 lofthouse 10 hassall 11 langton. Agurrak euskal herritik!

[@bopmc3969]

Up the pool!

[@josephyearwood1179]

Up the drers!

[@johnpeters6636]

UTMP 🍊

[@Logan_Zimmerman]

Attendance for the 1953 FA Cup Final was a sellout crowd of 100,000 fans.

[@tommytinklercomedy1552]

0:31-46:03 46:18-1:32:56

[@bobkippuz]

Very poor standard compared to now. Football has come a long way.

[@Hanamy7777]

Yes. It's all in colour now. And those black and white players didn't seem to be able to dive properly like players nowadays.