Editing Stanley Matthews (section)

==Family and early life==

Stanley Matthews was born on 1 February 1915 in a terraced house in Seymour Street, [[Hanley, Staffordshire|Hanley]], [[Stoke-on-Trent]], Staffordshire. He was the third of four sons born to Jack Matthews,<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |first1=Tony |last1=Mason |title=Matthews, Sir Stanley (1915–2000), footballer |date=23 September 2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/73782 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/73782 |access-date=1 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> a local [[Boxing|boxer]] known as the "Fighting Barber of Hanley". In the summer of 1921, Jack Matthews took six-year-old Stanley to the [[Victoria Ground]], home of the local club [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]], for an open race for boys under the age of 14, with a staggered start according to age. His father placed a bet on his son winning, and he did.<ref>{{harvnb|Matthews|2000|p=5}}</ref> Matthews attended Hanley's Wellington Road School and later described himself as "in many respects a model pupil".<ref name="page 7">{{harvnb|Matthews|2000|p=7}}</ref> He also said the kickabout games the children played helped to improve his [[dribbling]] and prepared the children for future life by giving them "a focus, a purpose, discipline, and in many respects an escape".<ref name="page 8">{{harvnb|Matthews|2000|p=8}}</ref> At home he also spent "countless hours" practising dribbling around kitchen chairs he placed in his backyard.<ref name="page 8"/>

Though he would later become indelibly associated with Stoke City, Matthews grew up supporting that club's [[Potteries derby|local rivals]] [[Port Vale F.C.|Port Vale]].<ref name="page 7"/> His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a boxer, but Stanley decided at the age of 13 that he wanted to be a footballer.<ref name="page 7"/> After a rigorous training session that made Matthews vomit, his mother, Elizabeth, stood firm and made Jack realise that his son, who had one more year at school, should follow his passion for football.<ref>{{harvnb|Matthews|2000|p=6}}</ref> His father conceded that should he be picked for [[English Schools' Football Association|England Schoolboys]] then he could continue his footballing career; around this time his school football master picked Matthews as an [[Forward (association football)#Outside forward|outside-right]], rather than as his then-preferred position of [[Defender (association football)#Centre-back|centre-half]].<ref>{{harvnb|Matthews|2000|p=10}}</ref> Matthews played for England Schoolboys against Wales in 1929, in front of around 20,000 spectators at [[Dean Court]], [[Bournemouth]].<ref>{{harvnb|Matthews|2000|p=18}}</ref>