The 1953 Football Association Charity Shield was the 29th
FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's
Football League First Division and
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
competitions. It was held at
Highbury Stadium
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nickname ...
on 12 October 1953. The game was played between
Arsenal, champions of the
1952–53 Football League and
Blackpool, who had beaten
Bolton Wanderers to win the
1953 FA Cup Final. This was Blackpool's first FA Charity Shield appearance to Arsenal's ninth.
In the match, Blackpool started strongly and scored first with
Stan Mortensen
Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...
's goal in the 30th minute. Against the run of play, however, Arsenal equalised through
Tommy Lawton
Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy.
Born in F ...
and in the second half they went ahead when
Doug Lishman
Douglas John Lishman (14 September 1923 – 21 December 1994) was an English footballer. Lishman, who played as an inside forward, featured for clubs Walsall, Arsenal & Nottingham Forest throughout his career. Lishman is as well Arsenal's seven ...
reacted first to a rebounded shot. Lishman scored his second of the match in the 80th minute, which sealed a seventh Charity Shield honour for Arsenal.
Background
The
FA Charity Shield was founded in 1908 as a successor to the
Sheriff of London Charity Shield
The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queens Park also took part in 1899. The ...
. It was a contest between the respective champions of the
Football League and
Southern League, and then by 1913 teams of amateur and professional players. In 1921, it was played by the Football League champions and
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
winners for the first time.
Arsenal qualified for the 1953 FA Charity Shield as champions of the
1952–53 Football League First Division.
The other Charity Shield place went to
Blackpool who won the
1952–53 FA Cup
The 1952–53 FA Cup was the 72nd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Blackpool won the competition for the first time, beating Bolton Wanderers 4–3 in the ...
.
The
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
of the competition, which pitted Blackpool against
Bolton Wanderers, was best remembered for
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...
' performance, and later associated by his name. The 1953 Shield marked Blackpool's first appearance in the annual contest.
By contrast, this was Arsenal's ninth Charity Shield appearance; prior to the game they had won six Shields (
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...
,
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
,
1933,
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
,
1938 and
1948), and lost two (
1935 and
1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
).
Arsenal announced their team two days before the match, recalling
Cliff Holton
Clifford Charles Holton (29 April 1929 – 31 May 1996) was an English footballer.
Born in Oxford, Holton played as a full back for non-league Oxford City as a youth, before joining Arsenal in October 1947 at the age of 18. He spent three sea ...
who had recovered from injury.
Blackpool refused to reveal their team until the evening of 12 October, but manager
Joe Smith did confirm to the press that Matthews would start.
Match
Summary
On a foggy, floodlit night at Highbury, it was the visitors who dominated the early proceedings; ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' football correspondent assessing that Blackpool's forward line had "…flowed sweetly, the ball on the ground in the most lovely
'sic'' sweeping movements."
Matthews was at the heart of their best moves and, in particular, one pass through the Arsenal defence sent
Bill Perry clear on goal. He tripped over the incoming Arsenal goalkeeper
Jack Kelsey
Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (19 November 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales.
Early life
Jack Kelsey was born at ...
, but quickly managed to get up. With Kelsey out of his line, Perry was presented with the chance to score, but his shot hit the post. Blackpool continued to create chances and went ahead after 30 minutes of play. Breaking forward with the ball from the half-way line, Matthews combined with his team-mate
Ernie Taylor, which culminated in
Stan Mortensen
Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...
getting the better of his marker and shooting past Kelsey.
Despite Blackpool's dominance, Arsenal managed to equalise seconds before half-time. From the left wing, Holton got the better of his opponent
Eddie Shimwell
Edmund Shimwell (27 February 1920 – 30 September 1988) was an English professional footballer.
Playing career
Born in Birchover,[Tommy Lawton
Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy.
Born in F ...](_blank)
who scored from the byline.
Once play resumed in the second half, Blackpool struggled to reproduce the same kind of intensity that had merited their earlier lead.
Arsenal dictated play the longer the match went on, and looked more assured in defence – ''The Times'' singled out Mercer’s growing influence, adding "…one noticed the improvement of
Dodgin">illDodgin at centre-half, and the high promise of young
Wills">enWills, playing only his second game at right back."
Arsenal took the lead in the 65th minute when
Jimmy Logie
James Tullis Logie (23 November 1919 – 30 April 1984) was a Scottish footballer.
Career
Born in Edinburgh and raised in the city's Grassmarket, Logie first played for Scottish junior side Lochore Welfare, before being signed by London giant ...
's pass was collected by Holton. His shot at goal rebounded into the path of
Doug Lishman
Douglas John Lishman (14 September 1923 – 21 December 1994) was an English footballer. Lishman, who played as an inside forward, featured for clubs Walsall, Arsenal & Nottingham Forest throughout his career. Lishman is as well Arsenal's seven ...
, who was following up, and he scored.
Ten minutes before the end, a cross by
Don Roper into Blackpool’s penalty area was headed down by Lawton; the ball reached Lishman who scored again to make sure of Arsenal's win.
The Shield was presented to Arsenal by
Lord Alexander of Tunis, the
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
. Gate receipts for the match totalled
£6,589. In his assessment of the game, ''
The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
s football correspondent John Woodcock wrote: "The football was not the only thing that had been of a high order. The sportsmanship and spirit in which it was played had been in every way as fine."
Arsenal ended the season 12th in the First Division, and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup. Blackpool finished six positions higher in the league, but progressed no further than the fifth round of the cup competition.
Details
Source:
See also
*
1953–54 Football League
The 1953– 54 season was the 55th completed season of The Football League, which ran from August 1953 until April 1954.
Final league tables
The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Sport.Soccer Stati ...
*
1952–53 FA Cup
The 1952–53 FA Cup was the 72nd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Blackpool won the competition for the first time, beating Bolton Wanderers 4–3 in the ...
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2016
FA Community Shield
Charity Shield
Charity Shield 1953
Charity Shield 1953
Charity Shield