1952-53 FA Cup · The Final
1953 FA Cup Final: Blackpool 4-3 Bolton Wanderers
The Matthews Final
The final everyone calls the Matthews Final was decided by a Mortensen hat-trick and a goal that was first reported as an own goal.
Blackpool came from 3-1 down to beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3 at Wembley, with Stan Mortensen scoring the only hat-trick ever recorded in a Wembley FA Cup final.
Saturday 2 May 1953 · Wembley Stadium
What you will not find elsewhere
The first Blackpool goal was first reported as an own goal
The standard record credits Stan Mortensen with Blackpool's 35th-minute equaliser. The National Football Museum says contemporary commentary and reports gave the goal as an own goal, scored by the unfortunate Harold Hassall, and that The FA's yearbook later awarded it to Mortensen. The page records the goal under Mortensen because that is the official attribution, but it keeps the doubt in the open rather than pretending the case is closed.[1][2]
Stanley Matthews thought the 'Matthews Final' name did his team-mates an injustice
The match is universally known as the Matthews Final, but Matthews himself was uncomfortable with the name. The National Football Museum records that he believed the moniker did an injustice to the work of his team-mates, particularly Stan Mortensen, in turning the tie around. Mortensen scored three goals, provided the assist for the winner was Matthews', and remains the only player to score a hat-trick in a Wembley FA Cup final.[1]
Bolton scored their third goal through a player who had torn his hamstring
Eric Bell tore his hamstring after 18 minutes. With substitutions not introduced until 1965, he stayed on the pitch until full-time and, despite being barely able to walk, headed in Bolton's third goal in the 55th minute. The fact is simple - a player injured early in the first half scored Bolton's third goal - but the circumstance is not.[1][2]
The footage
The match report
Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3 in the 1953 FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday 2 May 1953. The match became known as the Matthews Final, after Stanley Matthews, Blackpool's 38-year-old winger, but the two decisive facts were Stan Mortensen's hat-trick and Bill Perry's last-minute winner. It was Blackpool's first FA Cup win at the third attempt, having lost finals in 1948 and 1951.[1][2]
Bolton took the lead inside the first two minutes when Nat Lofthouse scored. Blackpool equalised after 35 minutes through Stan Mortensen, though contemporary reports said the shot was deflected in by Bolton's Harold Hassall and was first recorded as an own goal. Willie Moir restored Bolton's lead four minutes before the interval, and Bolton went in 2-1 ahead at half-time.[1][2]
The decisive period of the match began early in the second half. After 18 minutes of the first half, Bolton left-half Eric Bell had torn his hamstring. Substitutions were not introduced to the FA Cup until 1965, so Bell stayed on the pitch as a passenger. Ten minutes after the restart he headed in Bolton's third goal from close range, putting his side 3-1 ahead.[1][2]
Blackpool scored three times in the closing stages to turn the match around. Mortensen met a Matthews cross at the far post after 68 minutes, then drove a free-kick into the top corner three minutes from time to complete the only hat-trick ever scored in a Wembley FA Cup final. With the game heading for a replay, Matthews got past Ralph Banks on the right and pulled the ball back for Bill Perry to score the winner in the last minute of normal time.[1][2]
The name Matthews Final has persisted, but Matthews himself thought it did an injustice to his team-mates, particularly Mortensen. The National Football Museum records that when Mortensen died in 1991 a journalist remarked that they would probably call it the Matthews funeral, a dark comment on how Mortensen's contribution had been overshadowed.[1]
The crowd at Wembley was given as 100,000. For Blackpool the trophy remains their only FA Cup. For Matthews it was a first winners' medal at the third attempt. Mortensen's hat-trick remains the only one scored in a Wembley FA Cup final.[2][1][6]
How the match unfolded
- 2'Nat Lofthouse gives Bolton the lead. Some contemporary accounts put the goal at 75 seconds, but the standard record lists it as the second minute.[2][3]
- 18'Bolton left-half Eric Bell tears his hamstring. Substitutions are not permitted in the FA Cup until 1965, so he stays on the pitch.[1]
- 35'Stan Mortensen equalises for Blackpool. Contemporary reports say the shot was deflected in by Bolton's Harold Hassall, and it was initially recorded as an own goal.[1][2]
- 39'Willie Moir restores Bolton's lead before half-time.[2][3]
- 55'Despite his hamstring injury, Eric Bell heads in Bolton's third goal from close range.[1][2]
- 68'Mortensen meets a Stanley Matthews cross at the far post to pull a goal back for Blackpool.[1][2]
- 89'Mortensen scores direct from a free-kick to complete the only hat-trick ever scored in a Wembley FA Cup final.[1][2]
- 90'Stanley Matthews beats Ralph Banks on the right and pulls the ball back for Bill Perry to score the winner in the last minute of normal time. Some sources time this at 90+2.[1][2][3]
Match facts
Where they played
Both sides as they lined up. Choose any player to read what they did in this final.
Select a shirt for that player's note.
Route to the final
Blackpool
- Third round: Sheffield Wednesday (a) won 2-1
- Fourth round: Huddersfield Town (h) won 1-0
- Fifth round: Southampton (h) drew 1-1, replay (a) won 2-1
- Quarter-final: Arsenal (a) won 2-1
- Semi-final: Tottenham Hotspur (Villa Park) won 2-1
Bolton Wanderers
- Third round: Fulham (h) won 3-1, played on 14 January after a fog postponement
- Fourth round: Notts County (a) drew 1-1, replay (at Sheffield Wednesday) won 1-0
- Fifth round: Luton Town (a) won 1-0
- Quarter-final: Gateshead (a) won 1-0
- Semi-final: Everton (Maine Road) won 4-3
Line-ups
Blackpool · 2-3-5
- George Farm Goalkeeper
- Eddie Shimwell Right back
- Tommy Garrett Left back
- Ewan Fenton Right half
- Harry Johnston Centre half and captain
- Cyril Robinson Left half
- Stanley Matthews Outside right, aged 38, provided the assist for the winning goal
- Ernie Taylor Inside right
- Stan Mortensen Centre forward, scored a hat-trick
- Jackie Mudie Inside left
- Bill Perry Outside left, scored the winning goal
Bolton Wanderers · 2-3-5
- Stan Hanson Goalkeeper
- John Ball Right back
- Ralph Banks Left back, beaten by Matthews for the winning goal
- Johnny Wheeler Right half
- Malcolm Barrass Centre half
- Eric Bell Left half, tore his hamstring in the first half but still scored Bolton's third goal
- Doug Holden Outside right
- Willie Moir Inside right and captain, scored Bolton's second goal
- Nat Lofthouse Centre forward, scored Bolton's opening goal
- Harold Hassall Inside left, may have deflected Mortensen's first goal into his own net
- Bobby Langton Outside left
Trivia and detail
- Stanley Matthews was 38 years old when he won his first FA Cup winners' medal. It was his third FA Cup final appearance, after defeats with Blackpool in 1948 and 1951.[1][2]
- Stan Mortensen's hat-trick remains the only one ever scored in a Wembley FA Cup final.[1][6]
- Blackpool manager Joe Smith signed Matthews in 1947 and asked him whether he thought he could make it for another couple of years. Matthews played for Blackpool until 1961.[1]
- Bolton's Eric Bell tore his hamstring after 18 minutes but stayed on the pitch because substitutions were not permitted. He still managed to head in Bolton's third goal.[1][2]
- The winning goal came from Bill Perry, not Matthews. Matthews provided the assist after beating Bolton left-back Ralph Banks on the right wing.[1][2]
- Blackpool's route to the final included three away ties against top-flight opposition in the last four rounds: Arsenal in the quarter-final and Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final.[4]
How well do you know the 1953 final?
Five questions. Every answer is sourced from the material on this page.
-
Who scored a hat-trick for Blackpool in the 1953 FA Cup final?
-
Which Bolton player scored their opening goal inside the first two minutes?
-
Who scored Blackpool's winning goal in the last minute of normal time?
-
How old was Stanley Matthews when he won his first FA Cup winners' medal in 1953?
-
Which Bolton player tore his hamstring but still scored their third goal?
What is not settled
Honesty matters more than tidiness. These details are contested or unrecorded, and we have not guessed at them:
- The exact minute of Nat Lofthouse's opening goal is reported as both the second minute and 75 seconds.
- Bill Perry's winning goal is timed at 90 minutes by fa-cupfinals.co.uk and at 90+2 by other sources.
- Stan Mortensen's first goal was initially reported as a Harold Hassall own goal, deflected in by the Bolton inside left. The FA's yearbook later awarded it to Mortensen.
- The spelling of the Bolton inside left varies between Hassall and Hassell in contemporary and modern sources.
- The half-time score is agreed as 1-2; the identity of the first Blackpool scorer in the official record depends on whether the deflection is counted as an own goal.
How we know
Every claim on this page is tied to a numbered source below. These are the contemporary records behind it, each one fetched and matched word for word before publication rather than taken on trust:
- 1953: More than the Matthews Final · National Football Museum
Where a primary record and a modern account disagree, we show both rather than choosing the tidier number.
Sources
- 1953: More than the Matthews Final · National Football Museum
- 1953 FA Cup Final: Blackpool vs Bolton Wanderers · FA Cup Finals
- Blackpool FC - Bolton Wanderers 4:3 (FA Cup 1952/1953, Final) · worldfootball.net
- FA Cup 1952-53 · Football Club History Database
- 1953 FA Cup final · Wikipedia
- Last survivor of famous 1953 FA Cup final between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers passes away · Blackpool Gazette