The Way It Was; My Autobiography

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780747271086
• ISBN10: 0747271089
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Headline Book Pub Ltd

Summary

Stanley Matthews was the most popular footballer of his era, the man who epitomized a generation of legendary players: Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse, Billy Wright, and many more. He was the first footballer ever to be knighted, the first European Footballer of the Year (at 41), and he played in the top division until he was 50. He will be forever remembered for his performance in the Matthews FA Cup final of 1953, when he inspired Blackpool to victory over Bolton. The Way It Was is the fascinating memoir of a great footballer and the remarkable story of an extraordinary life, written in the last months of his life.

Table of Contents

1 If it Wasn't for my Mother	1	(17)
2 From Office Boy to International	18	(24)
3 When 149,000 Went Silent at Once	42	(29)
4 Changing the Wingers' Style	71	(10)
5 Making the Nazis Storm Out	81	(12)
6 Scotland Defeated at Last	93	(11)
7 On the Brink	104	(12)
8 The Great and Glorious of the Thirties	116	(16)
9 Corporal Matthews of the RAF	132	(13)
10 The Burnden Park Disaster	145	(15)
11 Going to the Golden Mile	160	(22)
12 The First Footballer of the Year	182	(25)
13 England's Greatest Ever Forward Line	207	(15)
14 World Cup Lessons Unlearned	222	(20)
15 Forties Favourites	242	(9)
16 Thoughts of Going Home	251	(17)
17 Through - but Phew!	268	(18)
18 Cup Fever in Blackpool	286	(7)
19 The Mortensen Final	293	(17)
20 Trying to Catch the Galloping Major	310	(20)
21 The End of my England Career	330	(14)
22 Fifties Favourites	344	(11)
23 My Final Bow	355	(31)
24 Footballing Missionary	386	(20)
25 Football in the New Millennium	406	(9)
Epilogue by Les Scott	415	(12)
Career Record	427	(3)
Index	430