Stanley Matthews was the most popular footballer of his era, the man who epitomised a generation of legendary players: Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse, Billy Wright and many more. He was the first footballer ever to be knighted, the first European Footballer of the Year (at 41), and he played in the top division until he was 50 - and he will be forever remembered for his performance in the Matthews FA Cup final of 1953, when he inspired Blackpool to victory over Bolton. But THE WAY IT WAS is not just the fascinating memoir of a great footballer, it is the remarkable story of an extraordinary life. For the last months of his life, he was working on his definitive autobiography, finishing it just weeks before he died.