Bio:
In a playing career spent mostly with Blackpool, Mortensen scored 197 league goals in 317 games His 197 goals for Blackpool, all in the top flight, ranks him as the 33rd-highest goalscorer in history. He is the second-highest top scorer for Blackpool, behind Jimmy Hampson.
Mortensen holds the record of scoring in the most consecutive league matches, with 15. Another record he still holds today is that he scored in twelve consecutive rounds of the FA Cup, including the defeat in the 1948 FA Cup Final. In the FA Cup semi-final of 1947–48, Tottenham Hotspur were leading 1–0 with four minutes remaining when Mortensen equalised from a cross from Stanley Matthews.
Mortensen scored two more goals in extra-time as Blackpool reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time. Mortensen had scored in every round thus far, seven goals in total. In the final, Blackpool took an early lead from a penalty against Manchester United before Jack Rowley equalised. Mortensen scored before half time to make it 2–1, becoming the first player in history to score in every round of the FA Cup in one season. Rowley scored again in the second half, before two goals in the last ten minutes secured a 4–2 win for United.
Blackpool were back at Wembley for the 1951 FA Cup final. Mortensen had scored five goals during the competition, but could not add to his tally as Blackpool suffered disappointment again. A second-half brace from Jackie Milburn secured a 2–0 win for Newcastle United.
It was third time lucky for Mortensen and Blackpool as they reached their third final in five years in the 1952–53 season. Mortensen wrote himself into the record books, although the final is commonly referred to as the “Matthews Final”. A 2–1 victory against Tottenham took them to their third Wembley final, with Bolton Wanderers their opponents. Nat Lofthouse gave Bolton a second-minute lead, before a Mortensen shot was deflected in for the equaliser. Bolton eventually led 3–1, before Matthews set up Mortensen who made it 3–2. With two minutes, remaining Mortensen scored a twenty-yard free kick to bring the scores level at 3–3, becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a FA Cup final at Wembley.[11] In injury time, Bill Perry converted a Matthews cross to seal a 4–3 win for Blackpool.
Mortensen’s hat-trick became a fact retrospectively: his first goal was widely considered an own goal by Harold Hassell at the time. Kenneth Wolstenholme, the BBC commentator, attributed the goal to Hassell, as did the Sunday newspapers the following morning. In the book The Great English Final, author David Tossell states that only since the publication of the FA Yearbook two months later, which awarded Mortensen with all three goals, that the hat-trick became accepted as fact. In the Charity Shield match at Highbury against Arsenal, Mortensen put the FA Cup winners ahead. However, Tommy Lawton, and a brace from Doug Lishman, resulted in a 3–1 for Arsenal.
The 1950–51 league season saw Mortensen break the record of scoring in the most consecutive matches, a record set by Irishman Jimmy Dunne twenty years earlier. Although missing two games through injury during the span, Mortensen scored in 15-consecutive matches before a blank, but scored again for 16 goals in 17 matches. He scored 25 goals in 22 games from December as he finished that season with 30 league goals. He was top scorer every season during his time at the club. He started his tenth season with the club before being transferred to Second Division Hull City. After joining Southport, Mortensen announced his retirement from playing on 24 April 1958, at the age of 37. “I have been having trouble with my knee and have had several injections,” he said, after deciding against renewing his contract. “Making the decision was not easy. Despite the announcement, he went on to play for non-League clubs Bath City and Lancaster City.
Factfile:
- Full Name: Stanley Harding Mortensen
- Position: Forward
- Date of Birth: 21.05.1921
- Birthplace: South Shields
- Nation: England
- Caps: 25
- Goals: 23
- Club Career: Blackpool
- Period: 1941-1955
- League Games, 317
- League Goals, 197
- Previous Club: –
- Transfer Fee: –
- Collection
- More Facts
- Photo Gallery
- Category
- Video
Leave a Reply