Doug Holden, Bolton Wanderers footballer and last survivor of the 1953 ‘Matthews final’ – obituary

Doug Holden, who has died aged 90, was the last surviving footballer from the celebrated 1953 FA Cup final; although Bolton Wanderers famously lost that match 4-3 to Stanley Matthews’s Blackpool side, he eventually collected a winner’s medal when they beat Manchester United in 1958 in the wake of the Munich air disaster.

He was one of the finest wingers of his generation, comfortable on either flank, but in an era when England had Matthews on the right and Tom Finney on the left, he won only five caps.

Albert Douglas Holden was born on September 28 1930 in Manchester, virtually on the doorstep of Maine Road, home of Manchester City; he attended Princess Road School in Moss Side, where he played for the school team, then joined his three brothers at Manchester YMCA of the Lancashire Amateur League.

In 1948 he joined Bolton Wanderers, initially as an amateur. Manchester United and City both wanted him, but he reasoned that he would get more chances at Burnden Park.

He went on to play for the England Youth side and completed his National Service, then signed professional terms in 1951, and after only a dozen reserve games he was pitched into first-team action against Liverpool.

His brief was made clear from the outset: feed Nat Lofthouse, one of England’s greatest ever centre-forwards. “I was told my job was to get the ball on Lofty’s head, basically,” he recalled in 2011. “When he was in the team, we played to him. Find him, you got a winner. When he wasn’t on form, neither was the team.”

Holden started out on the left wing but was soon moved to the right, and throughout his career he switched flanks happily. For the 1953 Cup final he was on the right, and after 55 minutes Wanderers were 3-1 up. But over on Blackpool’s right wing Stanley Matthews was having the game of his life, setting up a Stan Mortensen hat-trick.

The game became known as “the Matthews final”, and when Mortensen died in 1991 one wag remarked: “They’ll probably call it ‘the Matthews funeral’.”

Five years later Wanderers met a Manchester United side that had been shorn of eight Busby Babes in the Munich air disaster three months before, and the Red Devils were able to field only two players from the previous season’s final defeat, against Aston Villa. Two goals from the marauding Lofthouse saw Bolton to victory.

Holden’s ability to turn a game with pinpoint crosses was eventually recognised by the England set-up in 1959, by which time both Matthews and Finney had departed the international stage. He was picked for the Football League XI against the Irish League in March that year, and the following month won his first senior cap, against Scotland. Four more followed in quick succession, but none after that.

In 1962 Holden left Burnden Park to sign for Preston North End; he had played more than 400 league games for Wanderers, scoring 40 goals and making many, many more.

Proud old Preston were nearing the end of their days as a force in the English game and had been relegated from the top flight in 1961, a year after the retirement of the irreplaceable Finney. There was one last hurrah, in 1964, when they reached the FA Cup final against West Ham United. Holden opened the scoring after 10 minutes, but the Hammers, led by Bobby Moore, ran out 3-2 winners after twice coming from behind.

That season North End finished third in the Second Division, just missing out on promotion, but Holden was nearing the end of his top-level career, and the following year he moved to Australia to play for Sydney Hakoah. In 1968 he became club coach there before moving on to Auburn FC and Sydney City. In 1970 he returned home and had spells with Grimsby Town and Southern League Dartford.

In retirement he had a successful property business, spending his final decades in Kent.

Doug Holden married, in 1962, Anne Hurst. He was later partner to Margaret for 33 years; she survives him along with 10 children and stepchildren.

Doug Holden, born September 28 1930, died April 7 2021