On This Day – 19th March
It was on this day in 1932 that a certain Stanley Matthews made his first-team debut for Stoke City. Little would he, or anyone else know that he would continue to play professional football for another 33 years!
Only 4,000 people can claim that they were there to see 17-year-old Matthews make his professional debut. It came in a 1-1 draw away to Bury at Gigg Lane in the Second Division.
Stoke would go on and finish third that season, missing out on promotion to the First Division by only two points. Matthews stayed at the club until 1947, when he left to join Blackpool. He would return to the Victoria Ground in 1961 at the age of 46!
He would finally retire from the game in 1965 at the age of 51. Incredibly, Matthews felt that he retired too early; admitting that he could have played for another two years!
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