He helped the Tangerines to record a sixth-place finish in 1953–54, though hopes of retaining their FA Cup title were ended with a defeat to Port Vale at Vale Park in the Fifth Round.[61] Matthews missed just eight league games in 1954–55, though journalists were keen to write him off with every occasional off-performance and missed game – "it was all balderdash", he replied.[62] Despite his age, and more pertinently the media's constant references to his age, Arsenal manager Tom Whittaker tried, unsuccessfully, to lure Matthews to Highbury with a lucrative, if somewhat illegal approach.[63]