English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers are mourning the death of footballing legend Nat Lofthouse, known as The Lion of Vienna, who died yesterday at the age of 85 in a Bolton nursing home.
Nat signed for Bolton Wanderers, his hometown club (and mine), on 4th September 1939, just three days after World War II broke out, at the age of just 14, although he didn't make his debut until 22nd March 1941, when he scored two goals in a 5-1 win against local rivals Bury. He was conscripted in 1943 and worked in Mossley colliery as a Bevin Boy.
His league debut came on 31st August 1946, when he scored twice in a 4-3 defeat against Chelsea. He would go on to play for Bolton until 1960, scoring 255 goals in 452 appearances. He never played for any other club.
His greatest moment in his footballing career must have been when he helped Bolton to win the 1958 FA Cup, when they beat Manchester United 2-0, with Nat - the captain - scoring both goals. United were in mourning, as the game was played just three months after the Munich air disaster, when seven United players and three United staff were killed in a plane crash at Munich airport.
Five years earlier, in 1953, Bolton played Blackpool in the FA Cup Final (known to this day as the Matthews Final), with Nat scoring a goal in a 4-3 defeat for Bolton. Blackpool's Stan Mortensen scored what remains the only hat-trick in an FA Cup Final. But Nat was named 1953 player of the year.
In addition to his career with Bolton Wanderers - who also won the first ever FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in 1923 - he also played 33 times for England, scoring 30 goals, giving himself one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level. He scored his first England goal in a 2-2 draw against Yugoslavia in November 1950.
On 25 May 1952, Nat earned the title 'Lion of Vienna' after scoring his second goal in England's 3–2 victory over Austria in Vienna. In doing so he was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind and finally brought down by the goalkeeper, but still scored. He was also stretchered off unconscious in the same game, but eventually came back on to continue playing.
On 26 November 1958, Nat made his final England appearance, against Wales, at the age of 33, and he officially retired from the game in January 1960 because of an ankle injury, although his final league game wasn't until 17 December of that year, when he suffered a knee injury against Birmingham City. Nat stands seventh in the list of English football's top division goalscorers.
Nat was the recipient of various honours after retiring from the game. On 2 December 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. On 1 January 1994, he was appointed an OBE and, on 18 January 1997, Bolton decided to name their East Stand at their new Reebok Stadium after him. On 7 April 1993, he appeared as a special guest on the TV guest show This Is Your Life.
Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside wrote today on the team's website: "He was a one-club man and our football club meant as much to him as he did to us. I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Nat's family, who are very much in our thoughts at this time. We will miss him but we will celebrate his life, his legacy and great times that he brought to Bolton."
Bolton Wanderers and England legend Nat Lofthouse dies aged 85
By Duncan White
16 Jan 2011
The Telegraph
Legend of the game: Nat Lofthouse was one of England's finest Photo: PA
Nat Lofthouse epitomised the kind of English centre forward that has become an intrinsic part of football culture and in his extraordinarily prolific career with Bolton Wanderers became the kind of iconic one-club servant so rarely seen in the contemporary game.
Lofthouse was born in Bolton in 1925 and began playing for his hometown club at the beginning of the Second World War. In a taste of what was to come, he scored twice on his debut against Bury on March 22 1941 but did not makes his full league debut until the war was over.
He scored twice in that game too as Bolton lost 4-3 to Chelsea on August 31 1946.
Under manager Bryan Edwards, Lofthouse developed into one of the most prolific strikers in the country and he scored 255 goals in 452 league appearances, and 285 in 503 overall, for Bolton between 1946 and 1960.
He is the seventh highest goalscorer in the history of the English top flight. "He was a one-club man and our football club meant as much to him as he did to us," said Bolton chairman Phil Gartside. "I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Nat's family, who are very much in our thoughts at this time," added Gartside in a statement on the Bolton website. “We will miss him but we will celebrate his life, his legacy and great times that he brought to Bolton."
Lofthouse played, captained and scored in arguably the most famous FA Cup Final in the history of the competition – the Matthews Final of 1953.
Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3 with Stanley Matthews delivering his historic performance and Stan Mortensen scoring a hat-trick for the winners.
The White Horse Final, 1923
Bolton Wanderers won the first ever FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium, when they beat West Ham United 2-0 in 1923. The match is known to this day as the White Horse Final. An incredible 300,000 people turned up at the stadium to watch the match, even though it then had a capacity of 125,000, and the terraces overflowed, with the result that spectators found their way into the area around the pitch and even onto the playing area itself. Mounted policemen, including one on a light-coloured horse which became the defining image of the day, had to be brought in to clear the crowds from the pitch to allow the match to take place. The match began 45 minutes late as crowds stood around the perimeter of the pitch. Although West Ham started strongly, Bolton proved the dominant team for most of the match and won 2–0. David Jack scored a goal two minutes after the start of the match and Jack Smith added a controversial second goal during the second half. The pre-match events prompted discussion in the House of Commons and led to the introduction of a number of safety measures for future finals. The match is commemorated by the White Horse Bridge at the new Wembley Stadium which opened in 2007.
In scoring in the final, after just two minutes, Lofthouse scored in every round of the FA Cup that season. He was named English footballer of the year for 1953 and it remains one of the best seasons by any centre-forward in the history of English football.
He had better luck in the FA Cup five years later, as Bolton won the trophy in 1958, Lofthouse scoring twice as Bolton beat Manchester United at Wembley. The game was not without controversy however.
Bolton captain Nat Lofthouse collects the FA Cup at Wembley in 1958 after his team beat local rivals Manchester United 2-0 in the Final, with Lofthouse scoring both goals. It was just three months after seven Manchester United players were killed in the Munich air disaster, and it remains the last time Bolton Wanderers have won the FA Cup.
The Munich Air crash had happened three months earlier and United were still in mourning. The nation’s football fans naturally had much sympathy for United.
Lofthouse gave a physical performance and, for his second goal, actually barged the United goalkeeper Harry Gregg over the line with a shoulder charge (which wouldn't be allowed nowadays).
The tactic was legitimate at the time but remains one of the most controversial goals in the history of the FA Cup final.
Lofthouse did not win as many caps as his prolific club form might have suggested but in his 33 games for England, he scored a remarkable 30 goals.
The Lion of Vienna: Nat Lofthouse had one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level Photo: REX
He earned the nickname “The Lion of Vienna’ for his heroic performance against Austria in 1952, scoring a famous goal while the Austrian defence tried to stop him with three separate fouls.
Lofthouse won his final cap on 26 November 1958, against Wales, at the age of 33. He retired from club football in 1960.
Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium
Lofthouse became a coach at Bolton soon after he quit playing and, after a brief spell as a caretaker manager, took the manager’s job in 1968.
He continued to work at the club in various capacities, including working as the chief scout. He had a second spell as caretaker in 1985 and a year later was named club president.
He was a freeman of the city of Bolton and received an OBE for his services to football. In 1997 Bolton named the East stand of the Reebok stadium after the top scorer in their history. His name is inextricably linked with the football club.
telegraph.co.uk
Nat signed for Bolton Wanderers, his hometown club (and mine), on 4th September 1939, just three days after World War II broke out, at the age of just 14, although he didn't make his debut until 22nd March 1941, when he scored two goals in a 5-1 win against local rivals Bury. He was conscripted in 1943 and worked in Mossley colliery as a Bevin Boy.
His league debut came on 31st August 1946, when he scored twice in a 4-3 defeat against Chelsea. He would go on to play for Bolton until 1960, scoring 255 goals in 452 appearances. He never played for any other club.
His greatest moment in his footballing career must have been when he helped Bolton to win the 1958 FA Cup, when they beat Manchester United 2-0, with Nat - the captain - scoring both goals. United were in mourning, as the game was played just three months after the Munich air disaster, when seven United players and three United staff were killed in a plane crash at Munich airport.
Five years earlier, in 1953, Bolton played Blackpool in the FA Cup Final (known to this day as the Matthews Final), with Nat scoring a goal in a 4-3 defeat for Bolton. Blackpool's Stan Mortensen scored what remains the only hat-trick in an FA Cup Final. But Nat was named 1953 player of the year.
In addition to his career with Bolton Wanderers - who also won the first ever FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in 1923 - he also played 33 times for England, scoring 30 goals, giving himself one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level. He scored his first England goal in a 2-2 draw against Yugoslavia in November 1950.
On 25 May 1952, Nat earned the title 'Lion of Vienna' after scoring his second goal in England's 3–2 victory over Austria in Vienna. In doing so he was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind and finally brought down by the goalkeeper, but still scored. He was also stretchered off unconscious in the same game, but eventually came back on to continue playing.
On 26 November 1958, Nat made his final England appearance, against Wales, at the age of 33, and he officially retired from the game in January 1960 because of an ankle injury, although his final league game wasn't until 17 December of that year, when he suffered a knee injury against Birmingham City. Nat stands seventh in the list of English football's top division goalscorers.
Nat was the recipient of various honours after retiring from the game. On 2 December 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. On 1 January 1994, he was appointed an OBE and, on 18 January 1997, Bolton decided to name their East Stand at their new Reebok Stadium after him. On 7 April 1993, he appeared as a special guest on the TV guest show This Is Your Life.
Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside wrote today on the team's website: "He was a one-club man and our football club meant as much to him as he did to us. I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Nat's family, who are very much in our thoughts at this time. We will miss him but we will celebrate his life, his legacy and great times that he brought to Bolton."
Bolton Wanderers and England legend Nat Lofthouse dies aged 85
By Duncan White
16 Jan 2011
The Telegraph
Legend of the game: Nat Lofthouse was one of England's finest Photo: PA
Nat Lofthouse epitomised the kind of English centre forward that has become an intrinsic part of football culture and in his extraordinarily prolific career with Bolton Wanderers became the kind of iconic one-club servant so rarely seen in the contemporary game.
Lofthouse was born in Bolton in 1925 and began playing for his hometown club at the beginning of the Second World War. In a taste of what was to come, he scored twice on his debut against Bury on March 22 1941 but did not makes his full league debut until the war was over.
He scored twice in that game too as Bolton lost 4-3 to Chelsea on August 31 1946.
Under manager Bryan Edwards, Lofthouse developed into one of the most prolific strikers in the country and he scored 255 goals in 452 league appearances, and 285 in 503 overall, for Bolton between 1946 and 1960.
He is the seventh highest goalscorer in the history of the English top flight. "He was a one-club man and our football club meant as much to him as he did to us," said Bolton chairman Phil Gartside. "I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Nat's family, who are very much in our thoughts at this time," added Gartside in a statement on the Bolton website. “We will miss him but we will celebrate his life, his legacy and great times that he brought to Bolton."
Lofthouse played, captained and scored in arguably the most famous FA Cup Final in the history of the competition – the Matthews Final of 1953.
Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3 with Stanley Matthews delivering his historic performance and Stan Mortensen scoring a hat-trick for the winners.
The White Horse Final, 1923
Bolton Wanderers won the first ever FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium, when they beat West Ham United 2-0 in 1923. The match is known to this day as the White Horse Final. An incredible 300,000 people turned up at the stadium to watch the match, even though it then had a capacity of 125,000, and the terraces overflowed, with the result that spectators found their way into the area around the pitch and even onto the playing area itself. Mounted policemen, including one on a light-coloured horse which became the defining image of the day, had to be brought in to clear the crowds from the pitch to allow the match to take place. The match began 45 minutes late as crowds stood around the perimeter of the pitch. Although West Ham started strongly, Bolton proved the dominant team for most of the match and won 2–0. David Jack scored a goal two minutes after the start of the match and Jack Smith added a controversial second goal during the second half. The pre-match events prompted discussion in the House of Commons and led to the introduction of a number of safety measures for future finals. The match is commemorated by the White Horse Bridge at the new Wembley Stadium which opened in 2007.
In scoring in the final, after just two minutes, Lofthouse scored in every round of the FA Cup that season. He was named English footballer of the year for 1953 and it remains one of the best seasons by any centre-forward in the history of English football.
He had better luck in the FA Cup five years later, as Bolton won the trophy in 1958, Lofthouse scoring twice as Bolton beat Manchester United at Wembley. The game was not without controversy however.
Bolton captain Nat Lofthouse collects the FA Cup at Wembley in 1958 after his team beat local rivals Manchester United 2-0 in the Final, with Lofthouse scoring both goals. It was just three months after seven Manchester United players were killed in the Munich air disaster, and it remains the last time Bolton Wanderers have won the FA Cup.
The Munich Air crash had happened three months earlier and United were still in mourning. The nation’s football fans naturally had much sympathy for United.
Lofthouse gave a physical performance and, for his second goal, actually barged the United goalkeeper Harry Gregg over the line with a shoulder charge (which wouldn't be allowed nowadays).
The tactic was legitimate at the time but remains one of the most controversial goals in the history of the FA Cup final.
Lofthouse did not win as many caps as his prolific club form might have suggested but in his 33 games for England, he scored a remarkable 30 goals.
The Lion of Vienna: Nat Lofthouse had one of the greatest goals-per-game ratios of any player to represent England at the highest level Photo: REX
He earned the nickname “The Lion of Vienna’ for his heroic performance against Austria in 1952, scoring a famous goal while the Austrian defence tried to stop him with three separate fouls.
Lofthouse won his final cap on 26 November 1958, against Wales, at the age of 33. He retired from club football in 1960.
Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium
Lofthouse became a coach at Bolton soon after he quit playing and, after a brief spell as a caretaker manager, took the manager’s job in 1968.
He continued to work at the club in various capacities, including working as the chief scout. He had a second spell as caretaker in 1985 and a year later was named club president.
He was a freeman of the city of Bolton and received an OBE for his services to football. In 1997 Bolton named the East stand of the Reebok stadium after the top scorer in their history. His name is inextricably linked with the football club.
telegraph.co.uk
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