Sir Stanley Matthews

The Icelandic Consortium was in charge and one of the directors, Peter Coates, the Chief Executive, Jez Moxey and Nigel Johnson "The voice of Stoke City" were the prime movers in setting up the Foundation and presenting it with two aims. The first was to create a statue in memory of Sir Stan who had died in February of that year. The second was to create opportunities for youngsters to develop their sporting disciplines. A Foundation Committee was put in place and the first annual dinner was held in February 2001 to commemorate Sir Stan's birthday at the start of the month. This dinner has been the main fundraising event since the inception of the Foundation. Many important sporting icons have attended as guests of honour. The Foundation holds an annual Wear It With Pride Day which contributes to the finances. Many schools and businesses take part in this particular event. The Foundation appreciates any offers of financial support and methods of making payments are outlined on forthcoming pages. Having created the statue, the emphasis became on teaching youngsters life skills through the taking part in sport. Individuals, clubs and groups apply for financial help and a sub-committee appraises the applications and makes grants where applicable. The focus is now on the training of coaches and with this we can give more youngsters more access to more sports. The Centenary Year