After picking up an injury, he missed January onwards of the 1963–64 campaign, and thereby missed the 1964 Football League Cup Final defeat to Leicester City, playing in just nine of Stoke's 42 First Division matches that season. Discovering that niggling injuries which would have cost him one day out of action now required more than two weeks worth of rest to recover from, Matthews decided to retire after one more season, taking his playing career into his 50th year.[77]