FA Cup ball used in the 'Matthews Final' sold at auction

It was the game which sealed the reputation of Sir Stanley Matthews as one of the greatest players English football has ever produced, placing him among the immortals of the game.

His skill on the ball and his ability to read the game inspired Blackpool to come from 3–1 down against Bolton Wanderers, going on to win in the 1953 FA Cup Final 4–3.

Now the leather ball used in that final - known as the Matthews final for the way the Blackpool’s outside right, know to fans as ‘the Wizard’, controlled the game - has been sold at auction for  £5,250

The 18-panelled leather ball was sold at the Derbyshire auction house Hansons, in Etwall, near Derby to  lifelong Blackpool fan who asked not to be named but said he would be happy to loan the ball to football museums.

The provenance of the ball, which was given a guide price of £3,000to £5,000, is as bewildering as one of Sir Stanley’s mazy runs down the wing.

It was originally claimed by Stan Mortensen after he scored the hat-trick that won Blackpool the game.

But in 1989 the ball was donated by Mortensen as a prize for a charity raffle at a dinner held in his honour at the Savoy Hotel, in Blackpool.

A waitress at the dinner won the ball and subsequently gave it to her brother, who at the time lived in Sutton, south London.

He gave it to an electrician, called Tom Brown, who he had called out one Christmas Day to fix a power failure.

Mr Brown eventually passed the ball on to his close friend Harry Simmons, who in turn left it to his son-in-law Chris Cook, 57, an IT business analyst from Dorking, Surrey.

Mr Cook, who decided to have the ball auctioned, said: “Tom knew about the football and its pedigree and joked about it being given as payment for coming out on Christmas Day. After fixing the electrics, Tom was given the football as a thank you.

“Tom was a great friend of my father-in- law, Harry Keith Simmons, and the ball was eventually passed down to me in 2007.”

Mortensen’s ball was used to score the only hat-trick in an FA Cup Final at the original Wembley Stadium, lending it an added historical and emotional significance for fans of the game.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “It’s been incredible to handle the only football ever used to score a hat-trick in the famous Matthews FA Cup final at the original Wembley Stadium.

“The ball was given to Stan Mortensen at the end of a game, which was watched by 100,000

fans on May 2, 1953. Despite Bolton going 3-1 up, Blackpool came back to win 4-3.”

Football memorabilia fetches a high price at auction, especially if the item is linked to legends such as Sir Stanley.

In February 2010, the boots he wore in the 1953 final were auctioned at Bonhams in Chester for £38,400, to an undisclosed buyer and in November 2014 his' winning medal was sold for £220,000.

Mr Hanson added: “The brown leather, 18-panel football was in a modern style for the period and would only have been used for internationals and finals. Back then, most footballs were of the cheaper laced variety.

“I haven’t dared to try doing a kick-up with it. When you think that this ball was used to score seven goals, including that famous hat-trick, at Wembley 65 years ago, it’s quite humbling for a football fan.

“We hope it finds its way into an international museum of football, or perhaps into a Blackpool football fan’s collection since it represents such a glorious part of our game.”