THE FA Cup final of 1958 was the one the rest of the country did not want Wanderers to win. They met Manchester United, who had done magnificently to reach the final following the Munich disaster three months before that had claimed so many of their great players.

It was an emotional day with Wanderers seemingly playing a supporting role as United rode on a wave of sympathy.

The Wanderers line-up was known as the £110 team as no player had cost more than the £10 signing on fee.

Wanderers approached the match calmly and Lofthouse kept his remarkable scoring record going when he struck early on.

The second and final goal of the game again came from Lofthouse but was surrounded by controversy after he had charged United keeper Harry Gregg and the ball flew into the net.

It was a goal that has been discussed time and time again over the years. Now it would have been disallowed and Lofthouse is the first to admit that, but in 1958 it was a deemed a fair tactic, providing the keeper has both feet on the ground.

Wanderers claimed that was the situation as Lofthouse went in to challenge Gregg. United fans thought otherwise.

Even so, the record books say Wanderers won the 1958 final and nothing will change that.

Five years earlier Wanderers crowned the 1953 season with another Wembley appearance and should have won that one as well.

In a Lancashire derby they came up against a Blackpool side boasting the talents of Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen.

Wanderers, however, had different ideas and when they strolled into a 3-1 lead, the game looked over. Lofthouse, who had finished top scorer in the First Division with 30 goals, had also scored in every round of the cup and he continued that sequence by scoring early on.

Wanderers were forced to shuffle their side when Bell was injured in the 18th minute and was forced to play at outside left. While they were readjusting to that, Blackpool scored an equaliser when Harold Hassall deflected a Mortensen shot past Stan Hanson in the Bolton goal. Four minutes later, however, Wanderers were ahead again when skipper Willie Moir headed in Langton's fine cross.

And then 10 minutes after half-time it looked all over when Bell, despite his injury, threw himself at a Holden cross to score the third. But Blackpool had not given up and spurred on by Matthews they scored througth Mortensen in the 66th minute. Two minutes from the end Mortensen levelled the scores and as the game went into injury time, Matthews laid on the pass from which Perry scored a dramatic winner.

Victory had been snatched from the jaws of defeat with the game forever being known as the Matthews final, despite Mortensen's hat-trick. That was an injustice to Mortensen, whose hat-trick was the defining highlight of the game, while most Bolton fans reckon it was more a Wanderers giveaway than a Blackpool achievement.