Stanley Matthews, the £50-a-week soccer wizard, dies a legend at 85

His retirement lasted 35 years, only a little longer than his playing career. But the legend of Sir Stanley Matthews was still burning bright when he died last night at the age of 85.

Twice European footballer of the year and the only 50-year-old to play in English football's top flight, Matthews was a legend long before his last competitive game in 1965. Known as the "wizard of the dribble," his appearance was thought to be worth 15,000 in the attendance of any game. Yet his basic wage never topped £50 a week.

His finest hour came in the 1953 FA Cup Final when, after losing the 1948 and 1951 finals with Blackpool, he and the club won at the third attempt, and in dramatic fashion.

"The Matthews final," as it became known, saw Bolton lead 3-1 with 20 minutes to go. Already an old man by football standards, the 38-year-old Matthews seemed to be on the verge of a third defeat. But, baggy shorts flapping, he proceeded to tear the Bolton defence apart; creating three goals, the last of them in the dying seconds of the game.

Unlike other soccer greats, such as Pele, his repertoire of skills was limited. He was no prolific goal-scorer, hated heading the ball, and confessed he had never won a tackle. But at the thing he did well, he was peerless.

Ireland's Con Martin, who played against him on many occasions, described the frustration of opposing full-backs: "You knew what he was going to do. He would take the ball up to you, feint, and in a flash he was gone on the outside. Every time you faced him in that situation, you thought you had him. But his timing and acceleration over 10 yards were phenomenal."

And yet, interviewed by The Irish Times's Peter Byrne just before his 80th birthday, Matthews said he never conquered the nervousness he felt before a game. "My pre-match routine was a shower, a massage and then I would be physically sick."

The son of Jack Matthews, known as "the Fighting Barber of Hanley," he also admitted he never enjoyed his father's praise.

Matthews snr. never once spoke to him about his football career, even when he was picked for England. "It was only years afterwards I discovered that he closed the shop on Saturday afternoons when Stoke were playing at home and sneaked off to stand in the crowd. But if he liked what he saw, he never said it."