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A 30 year-old Matthews and Mortensen sought to earn themselves a fast buck by selling contraband whilst on international duty for England. They carried a suitcase that was crammed full of coffee and soap and sought out Brussel shopkeepers and signed autographs whilst serving in the Royal Air Force.
But the duo fell into a trap laid by the RAF's Special Investigation Branch (SIB). Military police who had received an anonymous tip-off that members of an "Armed Services International XI" playing in Belgium were breaking trading and currency regulations by trying to sell rationed goods.
They had visited a Brussels jewellery boutique, Bijouterie Assia, staffed by three female shop assistants. After pretending to show interest in some bracelets, Matthews and Mortensen, who was the sole survivor of a crash in an RAF bomber in 1939, proffered a suitcase they were carrying and showed their prospective clients what they had to offer.
The sight of the uniformed sporting celebrities selling black market goods was interpreted as grounds for launching a criminal inquiry into the whole England team.
The incident resulted in both men being formally charged with "conduct to the prejudice of good order and Air Force discipline",
In the end, the two Stans , who had helped the England side beat Belgium 3-2, proved easier to catch off the pitch than on it. When confronted with evidence that he had sold 5lb of coffee for about 700 Belgian francs, equivalent to about $16, Matthews simply said: "I am guilty, I sold the coffee." After receiving formal reprimands, the footballers were asked what they had spent their ill-gotten gains on. The rather old-fashioned response was that they bought presents for their wives.
Scource Independent:
Footnote: The above story reads today like some old Ealing comedy in its depiction of a more innocent and honest time. You may take the view that this is also a little unfair on two of Blackpool and Englands greatest legends some time after their death especially when compared with the excesses of todays stars.
However the story is in the public demain and if you missed it then in view of the interest from a Seasiders perspective we've reproduced part of it. ED