‘SIR STANLEY MATTHEWS TO PLAY AGAINST REAL MADRID IN THE BERNABEU‘ ran the Spanish headline. Surely no particularly dramatic scoop with the legendary English winger playing in most of the world’s great stadiums and against many of the world’s top teams during his lengthy career? But this particular headline was published in 1970 when Stanley Matthews was a near pensionable 55 years of age.

The numbers were hard to reconcile. It had been 5 years since he had actually retired, 13 years since his last international cap, 17 years since his famous FA Cup win with Blackpool, 36 years since his international debut and 38 years since his first competitive match for Stoke City; yet now he was touted as a likely starter for the Maltese part-timers, Hibernians, in a Cup Winners’ Cup tie.

Stanley Matthews had bought a retirement villa in Malta a couple of years earlier and became involved with youth coaching at the Hibernians club as a hobby. Still in good shape for his age, Matthews would readily participate in training and the occasional friendly match too. When the team’s head coach quit, club president Lawrence Xuereb asked him to step in and take charge of the first team. Now, the story went, he would temporarily become player-manager for this big occasion and play in the Madrid leg only, as the grass-free Maltese pitches were too punishing for his legs. The sensational story spread quickly throughout Europe.

The story was of course a work of fiction, albeit a brilliant one by an imaginative Madrid-based journalist. Real Madrid was a club in decline and the 1970/71 season was their first ever outside the rarefied atmosphere of the European Cup. Entry to the Cup Winners Cup was seen as the poorest of substitutes, a First Round draw against part-timers from Malta only emphasising the low-key nature of the occasion. The tie itself had little for journalists to work with, so, armed with the knowledge that Matthews did occasionally play in Malta in some form, the imaginative addition of a supposed debut in European club competition at the age of 55 suddenly made it a very big deal.

Matthews told reporter Norman Cutler: “Never for one moment did I ever consider it. It was a silly rumour from beginning to end. Naturally I would like to play against Real but the years talk too loudly. Experience and knowledge one retains, but faculties, no.”

Sir Stanley Matthews duly took his place in the Bernabéu dug-out and watched as his charges went down to a 5-0 defeat, this after commendably holding the Spanish giants to a goalless draw in the first leg. To the delight of the home crowd, Sir Stan did indeed make a brief cameo appearance on the pitch. There was no timeless wing-wizardry to admire; the great man simply walked towards the centre circle at the final whistle and modestly acknowledged the warm ovation he received from the respectful Madrid supporters.