TODAY is the day Worcester City celebrate their 120th anniversary but would they even have been here had it not been for a certain English footballing icon back in 1951.

It seems fitting that the finale in the Worcester News' series of throwbacks to memorable moments in the club's history is one that quite probably ensured it was not all lost.

Sir Stanley Matthews, arguably one of the greatest to ever grace the game on British shores, came to Worcester City's rescue all those years ago on Thursday, May 3.

It was a turbulent time for the football club. The accounts had shown a trading deficit for two seasons in a row and the Board had to seek a loan of £5,000 from the Football Association, with the Supporters Club assuming responsibility for the repayments.

So in order to try and pull themselves out of their financial crisis, City’s Player-Manager Percy James set-up a “Save the Club”fundraising game utilising his contacts in the full-time game

The opposition was made up entirely of Blackpool and West Bromwich Albion players. To put that into context, Blackpool finished third in Division One that season, and the previous Saturday they had played in the F.A. Cup final, losing to Newcastle United.

St George's Lane was packed to the rafters to watch the legend that was Matthews and the rest of the professional players on show, including Ray Barlow, Rex Adams, Bill Wardle and Joe Kennedy.

The game itself didn’t live up to its billing and was most notable for the fact that a young City player, Gordon McKenzie, injured Matthews with an over-enthusiastic tackle, forcing him to depart the field fifteen minutes before the final whistle.

City lost 2-0 and McKenzie, who was doing his national service at Norton Barracks at the time, never played for City again.

Matthews was forced to miss England’s next two games, including a prestigious friendly against Argentina because of the bruised foot.

However, his star name did manage to raise over £900 for Worcester City and the club survived with the help of a donation of £800 from the Supporters Club on top.

City’s goalkeeper that day was Ron Baynham, who is in the photo standing in front of the huge crowd.

Baynham is still alive and is the oldest surviving England international player. He was eventually sold to Luton Town in 1952 and went onto win three international caps as well as playing in the 1959 F.A. Cup final.

So despite getting a clatter that day, less than 90 minutes of football from Sir Stanley Matthews ensured the football club stayed alive and maybe, the reason it is still here today.