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Stanley Harding "Stan" Mortensen (born May 26,
1921 in South Shields, died May 22, 1991) was an
England|English football (soccer)|footballer, most
famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (aka
"The Stanley Matthews|Matthews Final"), where he
became the first and - thus far - only player ever
to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup Final at Wembley
Stadium|Wembley.

Stan went to war in 1939 as a wireless operator
and overcame an injury sustained in World War II -
when his Royal Air Force|RAF bomber crashed,
leaving him as the only survivor - to become one
of England|England's best post-war players.

During the war, he scored dozens of goals before
making a strange piece of history by switching
teams to play for Wales national football
team|Wales when they needed a reserve during a
game between themselves and England in 1943.

In 1947, Stan made his full England debut in
Portugal and immediately announced himself on the
scene by grabbing 4 goals in a 10-0 win. The next
year, Mortensen played all 6 England
internationals and scored 7 goals, including a
hat-trick against Sweden national football
team|Sweden. In 1953, Mortensen played his part in
England v Hungary (1953)|England's mauling at the
hands of Hungary, but this was a rare blotch on a
otherwise outstanding record (and he did at least
manage to get on the scoresheet).

In a career spent mostly with Blackpool
F.C.|Blackpool, Stan Mortensen scored 197 league
goals in 317 games. By the end of his career, Stan
had played 25 times for England and scored 23
goals. This puts him in 13th position on the list
of all-time England goalscorers, although when he
retired in 1953, he was most likely in 3rd
position behind  Viv Woodward and Steve Bloomer.

Between 1945 and 1950, Mortensen scored in 12
consecutive rounds of the FA Cup, including the
Final in 1948.

As well as Blackpool, Stan also moved on to play
for Hull City F.C.|Hull City, Bath F.C. and
Lancaster F.C. After retiring, he managed
Blackpool between 1967 and 1969. He also auctioned
his football medals in order to help Blackpool
through a tough spell.
 
Mortensen topped the Football League First
Division#Previous First Division champions|First
Division goalscoring charts in 1951, with 30
goals, before he pulled Blackpool from 3-0 behind
to 3-3 with a hat-trick in the 1953 FA Cup Final
against Bolton, the third goal coming with just a
minute left in the game. After the start of extra
time, it was Mortensen who supplied Bill Perry
with the pass that gave Blackpool the winning
goal. Thanks to Mortensen's often-forgotten
contribution to the game (because of the
significance of the game to the career of Stanley
Matthews), Blackpool went on to lift the trophy.

Many players have scored twice in FA Cup finals
since Mortensen's unique achievement without
getting the elusive third goal. Bryan Robson had a
golden opportunity to equal Mortensen's feat in
the replay of the 1983 final but, having scored
twice for Manchester United, he passed up the
chance to take a penalty awarded later in the
game, with Arnold Muhren instead scoring from the
spot.

On his death, it was said, "I suppose they'll call
it the Matthews funeral," in reference to
Mortensen's overshadowing by Stanley Matthews
after the 1953 FA Cup Final.