Stoke City arranged a testimonial match in honour of Matthews; it was much needed as he had spent most of his career constricted to the tight maximum wage that had been enforced upon the English game and only abolished a few years before his retirement.[81] The game was played at the Victoria Ground on 28 April 1965, by which time Matthews had decided to retire as a player,[82] and the pre-match entertainment consisted of another match of two veteran teams featuring many legends of the game.