23 February 2000 - The Late Great Stanley Matthews

On 23 February 2000, Stanley Matthews, winner of the first Ballon d'Or, passed away at the age of 85.

A winger who is widely considered one of the greatest players in football history, Matthews acquired a long list of accomplishments over the course of his 33-year career, which he spent with only two clubs, Stoke City (1932-47, 1961-65) and Blackpool (1947-61). In all, he made a total of 783 appearances and scored 80 goals. But he won only one major trophy, claiming the 1953 FA Cup with Blackpool with an outstanding performance that led the game being called "the Matthews Final."

He came close twice before, reaching the FA Cup Final with Blackpool in 1948 and 1951, and also finished as league runners-up in 1956, the year he won the inaugural Ballon d'Or as Europe's greatest player. The following year, he was made a Commander of the British Empire, becoming the first (and so far only) English footballer to be knighted while still an active player.

Matthews also starred at the international level, making 54 England appearances and winning nine British Home Championships (three of which were shared titles).

His dedication to fitness and training sustained his career so that, at 50, he became the oldest player to appear in the English top flight. He is also the oldest person ever to play for England, making his last appearance at the age of 42 years, 104 days.

Upon his death in 2000, testimonials flew in from all around the world, including comments from Pelé, who said that Matthews "taught us the way football should be played" and Berti Vogts, who said "All over the world, he is regarded as a true football genius."

27 January 2011 - Surely The Loss Was Punishment Enough

On 27 January 2011, the Premier League fined Blackpool £25,000 for fielding a weakened team against Aston Villa earlier that season.

The match in question was played on 10 November. Blackpool, playing in their first top-flight season since 1971, had risen to 11th in the table after a win over West Brom and a draw with Everton over the previous week. With upcoming games against West Ham and Wolves, who occupied the table's last two spots, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway (pictured) made ten changes to his side for the Villa match, resting key players.

Holloway acknowledged that the line-up was not his strongest, but defended his decision, saying "We've got four games in twelve days and the lads I've played every week are struggling to keep up the level." Even with the changes, Blackpool nearly got a result, but fell 3-2 (they then got a win and a draw in their next two games).

Afterward, the Premier League accused Blackpool of deliberately fielding a weakened side in contravention of league rules. An offended Holloway threatened to resign in the league levied any fine against his team.

Nevertheless, on 27 January, the Premier League announced its decision to fine the club £25,000. Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston labeled the decision "unjust" and said they would appeal, but they ultimately decided against it. Holloway remained with the club, who finished the season in nineteenth and were relegated.

24 April 1954 - Liverpool Sinks

On 24 April 1954, Liverpool ended 50 consecutive seasons in the top flight with a 3-0 loss to Blackpool. They would not return for eight years.

Founded in 1892, Liverpool joined the Football League in 1893 and had been in the First Division since the 1905-06 season. In 1947, they won their fifth league title, but they had finished no higher than eighth in the intervening years and dropped all the way to 17th in 1953.

The 1953-54 season started poorly, with five losses in their first eight matches. They hit bottom on 19 December after a 5-1 loss to Manchester United and remained there for the remaining 19 weeks. At one point, they set a current club record by going 14 matches without a win.

They rallied in early April, rattling off four wins in six matches, but it was not enough to lift them up from last place. A loss at home to Cardiff City on 17 April guaranteed their relegation. A win against Blackpool in their last match would have put them above Middlesbrough on goal average, but Blackpool won 3-0, firmly sticking Liverpool on the bottom.

They remained in Division 2 until 1962 when Bill Shankly, in only his second full season in charge, guided them back to the top flight, where they have remained ever since.

12 June 1971 - Blackpool, International Champions

On 12 June 1971, Blackpool won their first (and to date only) international trophy, beating Bologna in the Anglo-Italian Cup.

Organized by agent Luigi Peronace in 1970, the Anglo-Italian Cup matched teams from six teams from each country. For the 1971 edition, those teams were Blackpool, Huddersfield Town, Swindon Town, Crystal Palace, West Brom, and Stoke City, while the Italian teams were Bologna, Cagliari, Inter Milan, Roma, Sampdoria, and Verona. Teams from both countries were mixed into three groups. The clubs from each country with the most points at the end of the group stage then faced each other in the final.

The final was played before a crowd of 26,000 at Bologna's Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. The hosts went ahead in the 32nd minute, beating Blackpool's 19-year old goalkeeper, John Burridge. After the break, Blackpool fought with renewed energy in the Italian heat and were rewarded with a 62nd-minute equalizer from John Craven. Still level at the end of regulation, Blackpool's Micky Burns scored the extra-time winner in the 99th minute.

Blackpool returned to the final in 1972, but lost to Roma. After the 1973 tournament, interest in the competition waned and it was not held again until 1992. The renewed tournament fared no better than the previous one, however, and the last tournament was played in 1996.

2 May 1953 - They Could Have Just Called It The Stanley Final

On 2 May 1953, Blackpool rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Bolton 4-3 in the FA Cup Final. Although Blackpool forward Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick, the match is nicknamed "the Matthews Final" after his teammate, winger Stanley Matthews, who inspired the comeback.

The two teams had split their meetings in the league that season, with both teams winning at home to set up the decider in the Final. It was Blackpool's third trip to the Final after losing their first two, while Bolton had already won it three times.

Playing before a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse put his team ahead in only the second minute with a speculative shot from outside the box that bounced through the arms of keeper George Farm. Mortensen equalized in the 35th minute, but goals from Bobby Langton (40') and Eric Bell (55') made it look like Bolton's cup to lose.

But thirteen minutes later, the 38-year old Matthews blew through the Bolton back line and cross the ball in for a Mortensen header. In the 89th minute, Mortensen equalized with a free kick to complete his hat-trick. Blackpool controlled the ball for the remaining time, with Matthews befuddling the defense with clever dribbling and speed (though it certainly helped that two Bolton players were playing injured for the last 20 minutes). In the second minute of stoppage time, he provided another cross in from the right that was headed in by left winger Bill Perry for the win.

It was Blackpool's first major silverware and the only major club trophy won by Matthews in his 33-year career.

6 February 1965 - He Brought A Lot Of Experience To The Team

On 6 February 1965, Sir Stanley Matthews made the last of his 704 English league appearances. He was 50 years old.

A talented outside right forward known equally for his sportsmanship and dedication to fitness, Matthews played in England for an incredible 30 seasons. He spent the first 11 of them with Stoke City, joining the Potters in 1931 when they were in the Second Division and helping lead them to promotion in 1933. In 1947, at the age of 32, he moved to Blackpool for a fee of £11,500.

There, partnered with center forward Stan Mortensen, he advanced to the 1948 FA Cup Final, but lost. After finishing as runners-up again in 1951, they finally claimed the Cup in 1953 with a dramatic 4-3 win over Bolton in a match that has been dubbed "the Matthews Final" (even though Mortensen scored three of Blackpool's goals).

In 1961, the then-46 year old Matthews returned to Stoke, who had fallen back into the Second Division in his absence. He again helped them earn promotion in 1963, making 31 appearances that year. But age began to take its toll at last and he was reduced to 9 appearances in 1963-64 and had not played at all in the 1964-65 season until called upon for the match against Fulham on 6 February.

He took the field at 50 years old--the oldest player to appear in the English top flight--and lifted Stoke to a 3-1 victory. It was his only appearance of the season, after which he became the manager of Maltese side Hibernians.

26 July 1887 - The Ebb And Flow Of Blackpool

On 26 July 1887, Blackpool F.C. was founded in the town of Blackpool in Lancashire, England.

The club was created after a group of five individuals split from St. John's F.C., another club that had been in Blackpool for almost ten years. During a meeting of the St. John's players, the five argued that the club's name should be changed to reflect the name of the town. When the other members remained unconvinced, the five left the meeting and immediately formed Blackpool F.C. Shortly after, the remaining members of St. John's left that club to join Blackpool and St. John's shut down.

Blackpool were founding members of the Lancashire League, which played its first season in 1889-90. Blackpool won the league title in 1894, but soon after began to struggle and, in 1896, switched its membership to the competing Football League. They have remained in the Football League ever since, with the only exception being a return to the Lancashire League for the 1899-1900 season.

Blackpool were readmitted to the Football League in 1900 as a member of Division Two. Despite flirtations with relegation in the following years, they won the division in 1930 and were promoted to England's top flight over second-place finishers Chelsea. They lasted three seasons in the top flight before being relegated after the 1932-33 season.

Blackpool enjoyed their most successful period in the years following World War II, when they spent 21 consecutive seasons in the top flight from 1946 to 1967, finishing second in 1956 and third in 1951. It was during this period that they attained their greatest achievement to date, winning the FA Cup in 1953 with a 4-3 win over Bolton after being down 1-3.

The club began a slow decline in the 1970s and '80s, getting relegated to the Fourth Division from 1981 to 1985, then again from 1990 to 1992. An upswing in fortune saw them reach the Premier League for the 2010-11 season, but they dropped down to the Championship, England's second tier, the following season and have remained there since.

18 October 1961 - Stanley Matthews Comes Home

On 18 October 1961, former Stoke hero Stanley Matthews returned to the club after a fourteen-year absence and finished his career there.

Matthews, who had been born in Stoke in 1915, originally joined the club's youth academy in 1930, then cracked the first team in 1932. He remained there for fifteen years (but only ten seasons, as World War II brought a halt to league play from 1939 to 1945). In that time, he helped lead the club out of the Second Division and made them top flight title challengers; they finished fourth in 1936 and again in 1947.

But in May 1947, dissatisfaction with the club prompted then then 32-year old Matthews to move to to Blackpool. There, he won his only major honor, the 1953 FA Cup Final, and came close to a few others, reaching the cup final in 1948 and 1951, as well as finishing as league runners-up in 1956.

After fourteen seasons with the club, Matthews saw his playing time decrease and negotiated a move back to Stoke for a fee of £3,500. The club had slipped back into Division Two in the meantime, but Matthews again helped them earn promotion, reaching the top flight for the 1963-64 season. He retired in 1965 having made a total of 358 appearances for Stoke out of his career total of 783.

27 August 1938 - Makes You Wonder Why They'd Ever Want To Change It

On 27 August 1938, Everton's "beacon" crest made its debut, but did so in a relatively inconspicuous location.

Everton's first crest, which dates back to 1920, consisted simply of the interlocking initials "EFC." According to the official club history, secretary Theo Kelly decided that a newer crest was needed—he wanted to include one on a club necktie. He also designed the crest, using the local landmark known as Prince Rupert's Tower as its centerpiece, adding laurels as emblems off success, and including the motto "Nil satis, nisi optimum," which translates to "nothing but the best is good enough."

The club produced the neckties as proposed, and they were worn for the first time by Kelly and club chairman Earnest Green on the opening day of the 1938-39 season in the First Division. Everton were away at Blackpool that day and won 0-2 with goals from Tommy Lawton and Alex Stevenson.

Kelly and Green continued to wear the ties throughout the season, which ended with Everton claiming their fifth league title (and Kelly became the team's manager for the following season). The new crest was not used on the team's shirts, however, until 1978.

The crest has since undergone several modifications, most recently in 2013 when the club simplified the design, dropping both the laurels and the motto. But those changes caused an uproar among Everton supporters and the club vowed to reevaluate the crest at the end of the 2013-14 season.

23 February 2000 - The Late Great Stanley Matthews

On 23 February 2000, Stanley Matthews, winner of the first Ballon d'Or, passed away at the age of 85.

A winger who is widely considered one of the greatest players in football history, Matthews acquired a long list of accomplishments over the course of his 33-year career, which he spent with only two clubs, Stoke City (1932-47, 1961-65) and Blackpool (1947-61). In all, he made a total of 783 appearances and scored 80 goals. But he won only one major trophy, claiming the 1953 FA Cup with Blackpool with an outstanding performance that led the game being called "the Matthews Final."

He came close twice before, reaching the FA Cup Final with Blackpool in 1948 and 1951, and also finished as league runners-up in 1956, the year he won the inaugural Ballon d'Or as Europe's greatest player. The following year, he was made a Commander of the British Empire, becoming the first (and so far only) English footballer to be knighted while still an active player.

Matthews also starred at the international level, making 54 England appearances and winning nine British Home Championships (three of which were shared titles).

His dedication to fitness and training sustained his career so that, at 50, he became the oldest player to appear in the English top flight. He is also the oldest person ever to play for England, making his last appearance at the age of 42 years, 104 days.

Upon his death in 2000, testimonials flew in from all around the world, including comments from Pelé, who said that Matthews "taught us the way football should be played" and Berti Vogts, who said "All over the world, he is regarded as a true football genius."

27 January 2011 - Surely The Loss Was Punishment Enough

On 27 January 2011, the Premier League fined Blackpool £25,000 for fielding a weakened team against Aston Villa earlier that season.

The match in question was played on 10 November. Blackpool, playing in their first top-flight season since 1971, had risen to 11th in the table after a win over West Brom and a draw with Everton over the previous week. With upcoming games against West Ham and Wolves, who occupied the table's last two spots, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway (pictured) made ten changes to his side for the Villa match, resting key players.

Holloway acknowledged that the line-up was not his strongest, but defended his decision, saying "We've got four games in twelve days and the lads I've played every week are struggling to keep up the level." Even with the changes, Blackpool nearly got a result, but fell 3-2 (they then got a win and a draw in their next two games).

Afterward, the Premier League accused Blackpool of deliberately fielding a weakened side in contravention of league rules. An offended Holloway threatened to resign in the league levied any fine against his team.

Nevertheless, on 27 January, the Premier League announced its decision to fine the club £25,000. Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston labeled the decision "unjust" and said they would appeal, but they ultimately decided against it. Holloway remained with the club, who finished the season in nineteenth and were relegated.

12 June 1971 - Blackpool, International Champions

On 12 June 1971, Blackpool won their first (and to date only) international trophy, beating Bologna in the Anglo-Italian Cup.

Organized by agent Luigi Peronace in 1970, the Anglo-Italian Cup matched teams from six teams from each country. For the 1971 edition, those teams were Blackpool, Huddersfield Town, Swindon Town, Crystal Palace, West Brom, and Stoke City, while the Italian teams were Bologna, Cagliari, Inter Milan, Roma, Sampdoria, and Verona. Teams from both countries were mixed into three groups. The clubs from each country with the most points at the end of the group stage then faced each other in the final.

The final was played before a crowd of 26,00o at Bologna's Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. The hosts went ahead in the 32nd minute, beating Blackpool's 19-year old goalkeeper, John Burridge. After the break, Blackpool fought with renewed energy in the Italian heat and were rewarded with a 62nd-minute equalizer from John Craven. Still level at the end of regulation, Blackpool's Micky Burns scored the extra-time winner in the 99th minute.

Blackpool returned to the final in 1972, but lost to Roma. After the 1973 tournament, interest in the competition waned and it was not held again until 1992. The renewed tournament fared no better than the previous one, however, and the last tournament was played in 1996.

2 May 1953 - They Could Have Just Called It The Stanley Final

On 2 May 1953, Blackpool rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Bolton 4-3 in the FA Cup Final. Although Blackpool forward Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick, the match is nicknamed "the Matthews Final" after his teammate, winger Stanley Matthews, who inspired the comeback.

The two teams had split their meetings in the league that season, with both teams winning at home to set up the decider in the Final. It was Blackpool's third trip to the Final after losing their first two, while Bolton had already won it three times.

Playing before a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse put his team ahead in only the second minute with a speculative shot from outside the box that bounced through the arms of keeper George Farm. Mortensen equalized in the 35th minute, but goals from Bobby Langton (40') and Eric Bell (55') made it look like Bolton's cup to lose.

But thirteen minutes later, the 38-year old Matthews blew through the Bolton back line and cross the ball in for a Mortensen header. In the 89th minute, Mortensen equalized with a free kick to complete his hat-trick. Blackpool controlled the ball for the remaining time, with Matthews befuddling the defense with clever dribbling and speed (though it certainly helped that two Bolton players were playing injured for the last 20 minutes). In the second minute of stoppage time, he provided another cross in from the right that was headed in by left winger Bill Perry for the win.

It was Blackpool's first major silverware and the only major club trophy won by Matthews in over 30 years of playing.

24 April 1954 - Liverpool Sinks

On 24 April 1954, Liverpool ended 50 consecutive seasons in the top flight with a 3-0 loss to Blackpool. They would not return for eight years.

Founded in 1892, Liverpool joined the Football League in 1893 and had been in the First Division since the 1905-06 season. In 1947, they won their fifth league title, but they had finished no higher than eighth in the intervening years and dropped all the way to 17th in 1953.

The 1953-54 season started poorly, with five losses in their first eight matches. They hit bottom on 19 December after a 5-1 loss to Manchester United and remained there for the remaining 19 weeks. At one point, they set a current club record by going 14 matches without a win.

They rallied in early April, rattling off four wins in six matches, but it was not enough to lift them up from last place. A loss at home to Cardiff City on 17 April guaranteed their relegation. A win against Blackpool in their last match would have put them above Middlesbrough on goal average, but Blackpool won 3-0, firmly sticking Liverpool on the bottom.

They remained in Division 2 until 1962 when Bill Shankly, in only his second full season in charge, guided them back to the top flight, where they have remained ever since.

6 February 1965 - He Brought A Lot Of Experience To The Team

On 6 February 1965, Sir Stanley Matthews made the last of his 704 English league appearances. He was 50 years old.

A talented outside right forward known equally for his sportsmanship and dedication to fitness, Matthews played in England for an incredible 30 seasons. He spent the first 11 of them with Stoke City, joining the Potters in 1931 when they were in the Second Division and helping lead them to promotion in 1933. In 1947, at the age of 32, he moved to Blackpool for a fee of £11,500.

There, partnered with center forward Stan Mortensen, he advanced to the 1948 FA Cup Final, but lost. After finishing as runners-up again in 1951, they finally claimed the Cup in 1953 with a dramatic 4-3 win over Bolton in a match that has been dubbed "the Matthews Final" (even though Mortensen scored three of Blackpool's goals).

In 1961, the then-46 year old Matthews returned to Stoke, who had fallen back into the Second Division in his absence. He again helped them earn promotion in 1963, making 31 appearances that year. But age began to take its toll at last and he was reduced to 9 appearances in 1963-64 and had not played at all in the 1964-65 season until called upon for the match against Fulham on 6 February.

He took the field at 50 years old--the oldest player to appear in the English top flight--and lifted Stoke to a 3-1 victory. It was his only appearance of the season, after which he became the manager of Maltese side Hibernians.

10 September 1960 - Not Quite Ready For Prime Time

On 10 September 1960, fledgling British station ITV carried the first live broadcast of a regular Football League fixture, a match between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers. The match, played at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road ground, was intended to be the start of a regular series of televised games.

It echoed the famous 1953 FA Cup Final, which Blackpool won over Bolton by the score of 4-3. But by 1960, both clubs were in decline. Nor did it help that Bolton's star forward Stanley Matthews was absent due to injury.

In the event, Bolton won 1-0 in what most observers considered a bleak display. Ratings were so poor that ITV scrapped its plans for televised football. In fact, it delivered such a blow that the next live broadcast of a Football League fixture came over 23 years later, on 2 October 1983.

26 July 1887 - The Ebb And Flow Of Blackpool

On 26 July 1887, Blackpool F.C. was founded in the town of Blackpool in Lancashire, England.

The club was created after a group of five individuals split from St. John's F.C., another club that had been in Blackpool for almost ten years. During a meeting of the St. John's players, the five argued that the club's name should be changed to reflect the name of the town. When the other members remained unconvinced, the five left the meeting and immediately formed Blackpool F.C. Shortly after, the remaining members of St. John's left that club to join Blackpool and St. John's shut down.

Blackpool were founding members of the Lancashire League, which played its first season in 1889-90. Blackpool won the league title in 1894, but soon after began to struggle and, in 1896, switched its membership to the competing Football League. They have remained in the Football League ever since, with the only exception being a return to the Lancashire League for the 1899-1900 season.

Blackpool were readmitted to the Football League in 1900 as a member of Division Two. Despite flirtations with relegation in the following years, they won the division in 1930 and were promoted to England's top flight over second-place finishers Chelsea. They lasted three seasons in the top flight before being relegated after the 1932-33 season.

Blackpool enjoyed their most successful period in the years following World War II, when they spent 21 consecutive seasons in the top flight from 1946 to 1967, finishing second in 1956 and third in 1951. It was during this period that they attained their greatest acheivement to date, winning the FA Cup in 1953 with a 4-3 win over Bolton after being down 1-3.

The club began a slow decline in the 1970s and '80s, getting relegated to the Fourth Division from 1981 to 1985, then again from 1990 to 1992. They are currently enjoying an upswing in fortune and are playing in the Championship, England's second tier, after being promoted from League One in 2007.

18 March 1899 - Arsenal Drains Blackpool

18 March 1899 - Woolwich Arsenal beat Blackpool, 6-0. Arsenal were still in the Second Division at the time, having been elected to the League as a Second Division team in 1893.