The Longevity Blueprint

The remarkable endurability of Sir Stanley Matthews, at the very highest level of his sport, has gone down in legend.

In 1956 he became the first recipient of the Ballon d’Or at the seasoned age of 41. A year later he was still representing his country. In 1963 he won the FWA Footballer of the Year merit, fifteen years after claiming the honour at its inaugural ceremony.

He retired aged 50 on February 6, 1965, inspiring his beloved Stoke City to a 3-1 triumph over Fulham. Matthews subsequently aired regret at choosing that moment in time to hang up his boots, drawing to a close 33 years of sensational wing-play. He felt he had a couple of seasons left in him.

A Unique Stance: Plotting a roadmap to endurance

How Matthews sustained his brilliance across a third of a century is testament to a lifelong dedication shown to his craft as well as a stance undertaken on fitness and maintenance that was very much at odds with the mores of the day.

The future knight of the realm was an innovator, putting in practices concerning training methods and dietary habits that became commonplace generations later but at the time bemused his peers no end. He was lightyears ahead of his time.

This unique roadmap to the top of his profession first came into evidence early, in 1932 when still a raw teenager and just weeks away from making his first team debut for the Potters.

While his team-mates played golf as part of their pre-season preparation, Matthews devised an intensive fitness programme, consisting of road work and drills. They thought him mad.

Fast-forward several years later, beyond a world war that saw the player join the RAF, rising to the rank of colonel, and we are at Blackpool, Matthews joining for the princely sum of £11,500.

As the negotiations progressed, his potential new manager Joe Smith shared a worry that had been niggling him. “You’re 32 now,” the Tangerines boss stated. “Do you think you can make it for another couple of years?”

Naturally, Smith can be entirely forgiven for not envisioning the winger winning a Ballon d’Or nearly a decade on, after leading Blackpool to three FA Cup finals. No-one could have foresaw that.

But perhaps he should have been more aware of Matthews’ rare drive to remain in peak physical shape, at an age that typically saw footballers of that era succumb to career-ending injuries or be wearied into mediocrity by muddy pitches.

The Great Innovator: Matthews leads the way

Famously, Stoke’s favourite son wore shoes lined with lead before playing so that his boots felt like ‘ballerina pumps’. His diet meanwhile adhered to habits considered highly unusual in post-war Britain, even committing to refraining from eating each Monday, a half a century before ‘fast-days’ and detoxing came into vogue.

Matthews also sourced a small juicer, many years before they became widely available, and would make a carrot juice daily, espousing its benefits to anyone who would listen. Before games he would drink a large glass of raw eggs, milk and four heaped tablespoon of glucose.

Prior to matches too he went through a regimen of his own conception, consisting of deep breathing and stretching exercises. All the while his team-mates watched on, smirking, some smoking, a habit that Matthews abhorred.

Each summer, while the rest of football headed to holiday camps by the seaside, he could be found in his back garden, playing tennis.

All of which was not only designed to cultivate longevity, but also propagate stamina. A quote from Jimmy Armfield, an esteemed colleague whose job it was to feed Matthews with pass after pass, is revealing in this regard.

“I never once saw him out of breath. That’s an incredible thing to say because when I came in he would have been in his late 30s.”

Sir Stanley Matthews, the great innovator of his sport and ambassador for it, would go on to make fans breathless via his skills for another decade and more.