Stanley Harding "Stan" Mortensen (born May 26, 1921 in South Shields, died May 22, 1991) was an English footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (aka "The 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.
Stan went to war in 1939 as a wireless operator and overcame an injury sustained in World War II - when his RAF bomber crashed, leaving him as the only survivor - to become one of 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 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. In 1953, Mortensen played his part in 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, 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, 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 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.
