The 1953 Football Association Charity Shield was the 29th

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

and FA Cup competitions. It was held at Highbury Stadium on 12 October 1953. The game was played between

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, champions of the

1952–53 Football League The 1952– 53 season was the 54th completed season of The Football League. Final league tables The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundationwebsite and in ''Rothmans Bo ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, who had beaten

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

to win the

1953 FA Cup Final The 1953 FA Cup Final, also known as the Matthews Final, was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War. The football match was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, with Blackpool winning 4–3, equalling the ...

. 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's goal in the 30th minute. Against the run of play, however, Arsenal equalised through Tommy Lawton and in the second half they went ahead when Doug Lishman 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

was founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. It was a contest between the respective champions of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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 winners for the first time.

qualified for the 1953 FA Charity Shield as champions of the

First Division. The other Charity Shield place went to

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 of the competition, which pitted Blackpool against

, was best remembered for Stanley Matthews' 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 be ...

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 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

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 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

), and lost two (

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

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 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'' 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, 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 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 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 illDodgin at centre-half, and the high promise of young enWills, playing only his second game at right back." Arsenal took the lead in the 65th minute when Jimmy Logie's pass was collected by Holton. His shot at goal rebounded into the path of Doug Lishman, who was following up, and he scored. Ten minutes before the end, a cross by

Don Roper Donald George Beaumont Roper (14 December 1922 – 8 June 2001) was an English footballer. Playing career Born in Botley, Hampshire, Roper was a prolific scorer as a schoolboy. He was spotted playing parks football by Toby Keleher, assistant m ...

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. Gate receipts for the match totalled £6,589. In his assessment of the game, '' The Manchester Guardians 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:

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2016 FA Community Shield Charity Shield Charity Shield 1953 Charity Shield 1953 Charity Shield

Background

Match

Summary

Details

See also

References