On Jan. 15, 2011, Nat Lofthouse passed away quietly in his sleep in a Bolton nursing home at the age of 85. A vote of the Football Writers Association members, which functions like a jury, selected the professional player who best exemplified footballers precepts and examples as the player of the year. Of all those conscripted into service between the ages of 18 and 25, around 10% went to work in the mines. A one-club man, he played over 400 games for Bolton Wanderers and earned 33 caps for England (as well as his famous nickname). In July 1961, Lofthouse accepted a boot cleaner and assistant trainer position at Burnden Park. It made me fitter than ever I had been before. Matilda is a Texan in Paris and Mark is a Georgian (the country) in New York. For England, the Austria game provided two firsts. Six of their colleagues had died in the crash, including United's only goal scorer from that final, Tommy Taylor. The day for Bevin Boys was a long and tough one. Austria equalised just two minutes after Nat Lofthouses opening goal in the 25th minute, and while England once again gained the advantage shortly after, the teams went into halftime level at 2-2. ], On 3 May 1958, almost five years to the day after losing the 1953 final, Lofthouse captained Bolton in the 1958 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. His efforts did see him awarded the title of FWA Footballer of the Year, an accolade that went nicely with the moniker, his most famous, that hed earned the year before. The England camp was tense as dawn broke in Vienna, Austria, on the morning of 25 May 1952. Nat's time in that role also didn't go to plan and the legend was relieved of his duties in 1972. Next in line was a trial for Lancashire schools. I wasn't cut out to be a manager.". As much as he was a one-club man, Bolton Wanderers will forever remain a one-man club. Lofthouse was chosen to represent Bolton schools against Bury. Despite the double strike many, including leading football writer John Thompson remained unconvinced. This was touched on to Lofthouse on the halfway line by Finney. My body became firmer and harder, I learned to take hard knocks without feeling them. Despite this disappointment the player ended the season on a high when he was named Footballer of the Year. Before halftime, the English defense opened up, allowing Dienst to fire past Merrick and level the scores.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofsoccer_info-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_13',167,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-large-mobile-banner-1-0'); As the game progressed, it became more fraught. Despite that flirtation with a move to Spurs (they came back in for him a second time in 1954 but were again rebuffed) and an audacious attempt by Fiorentina to take him to Italy, Lofthouse remained a one-club man. After a 2-0 away win at the Victoria Ground where Ray Westwood bagged both goals the second leg was played seven days later and tragedy struck. Football Legends - Nat Lofthouse - BBC Archive Even his nickname, the Lion of Vienna, is something you wouldn't dream of bestowing upon the modern player. Thompson would later write: I came away with the impression that Lofthouse was game and persistent, a fine footballer, but not quite an England leader. He did win the medal. Friendly internationals then held an importance that has now all but vanished, and Lofthouse's winning goal, in a 3-2 victory against a powerful team, was lauded to the . Returning on the bus after the game he was shocked to find Tommy Lawton waiting for him. The Austrians went on the offensive to boot every English player on the pitch. He scored 22 goals in 36 games for a Wanderers team that finished 14th. That is, a sane person that wasn't scared of facing the Lion of Vienna on the pitch. 16 January 2011 #1. In 195253, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year. Bolton Wanderers and England legend Nat Lofthouse ( 'The Lion of Vienna' ) dies aged 85Nat Lofthouse epitomised the kind of English centre forward that has . Owning the public house was not the most rewarding career choice to the man who only wanted to see his boyhood club do well. The two co-founded the Lion of Vienna Suite community and write about Bolton Wanderers because someone has to. Lofthouse wasn't just a career Bolton man, he was a lifetime Bolton man. It was a typical Bolton team, and they won in a typical Bolton fashion: the measured combination of a bit of skill with a healthy helping of muscle. Still more fans entered and the crush resulted in the death of 33 people. Promised a new bike if he scored a hat-trick in the match he actually went four better, getting all the goals in a 7-1 win, establishing himself as one to watch. Lofthouse received a 10 signing-on fee and put pen to paper for Bolton on 4 September 1939 the day after Britain had declared war on Germany causing the abandonment of the Football League season. Nathaniel Lofthouse OBE (27 August 1925 - 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. [5], On 7 April 1993, he appeared as a special guest on the TV guest show This Is Your Life, in which the on-screen guests included Tom Finney and Harry Gregg, while others including Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Ian Rush appeared on screen to pay tribute to Lofthouse as they were unable to appear alongside Lofthouse due to other commitments. Seven minutes before the end, the climax occurred. This was the first time the team played behind the Iron Curtain, and it was also the first peacetime match in Continental Europe with a significant away following.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofsoccer_info-box-4','ezslot_8',183,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-box-4-0'); As many as 1,400 tickets were assigned to British troops, although many more were obtained through the black market. However, given his family's financial stance and the need to care for four boys, the young Lofthouse could not afford to pay for entry into Burnden Park to watch his beloved Whites. Harry sees Nat manning the bar and the two talk for a while with Gregg finally ordering a pint. There Lofthouse got the only goal of the first match. The 285 goals he scored between 1946 and 1961 still make him Boltons top goalscorer. People like Tom Finney and myself, people like that. Too young for military service, Nat was determined to work hard on and off the field. But he continued banging in goals with either foot or his head for his club and the selectors eventually decided they couldnt ignore him. Upon coming home, he was the recipient of a stern scolding from his mother for ruining his brand new shoes. All Rights Reserved. He ran a pub for a while, whilst still coaching at his one and only club but the lure of football proved too great. Why was Nat Lofthouse called Lion of Vienna? Tensions between the two countries were still high politically, and this showed in the stands and on the pitch. As it transpired, Nats first day reporting to Burnden Park in 1939 was also Britains first full day at war with Germany. He wasn't part of an illustrious academy early on, like those you see in the modern game. His father, Robert, was a coal bagger and head horse keeper for the Bolton Corporation but once his footballing skills come to the fore it was quickly apparent that there was no way Nat would be following in Dads footsteps full time. Instead, Lofthouse honed his skills on the empty lots and wasteland that were more than common around the northwest during the day. There were England Soccer players dotted among them, their red shirts feeling like poppies in a field of corn as they were carried high in triumph to their dressing-room on the shoulders of the Dorsets, the Warwicks, the Signalmen, and the Gunners. He had even handed a transfer request in several times, unsurprisingly rejected by the club in the days before there were agents to campaign on his behalf. Curse of the number nine - Lion Of Vienna Suite Nostalgia Quiz: The Lion of Vienna and the rest of the Bolton Wanderers But he came back before the final whistle as Nat's valiant display earned him the nickname, 'Lion of Vienna'. Over the next few years, Lofthouse set about exhausting the superlatives available with his goalscoring. Whilst there was no official league football in 1945-46 (Wanderers finished 3rd in the Football League North) the FA Cup was restarted. Lofthouse returned to the National line-up for the October 1951 home international draw with Wales and then got both goals in the 2-0 win over Ireland in November followed by another in a 2-2 draw with Austria where he headed home an Alf Ramsey free kick after 76 minutes to level the scores. This was a one-off and Bolton came from behind to get the better of Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge with goals from Hunt and Lol Hamlett. [3] In doing so he was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind, and finally brought down by the goalkeeper. Towards the end of the 1956-57 season there was some doubt over whether Lofthouse would remain at Bolton and it was all because of a pub. Lofthouse, battered and semi-conscious, was taken from the field but returned as a passenger minutes later, still proving fit enough to shoot an effort 30 yards into the goal. The wording of the epithet is indicative both of the era and the man himself. The number 9 shirt is traditionally for the club's top goal scorer, a shirt that has been cursed at Bolton for years. Lofthouse, chased by the Austrian defence, carried the ball into the area and placed it past goalie Musil for the winner. During his playing career, Nat Lofthouse was deservedly celebrated for his numerous on-pitch achievements. After gaining eight corners to Englands none, the Austrians dominated for most of the game. In that game, Blackpool came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3, largely thanks to the heroics of Matthews, although he was no doubt helped by the fact that the Wanderers were effectively down to 10 men throughout much of the second half as Eric Bell was playing through a torn hamstring. Phillips, a 78-year-old Minden resident, was Lofthouse's cousin (their mothers Lily and Jane were sisters) and said the man dubbed the "Lion of Vienna" would be shocked at all the fuss. Lofthouse stood unmarked on the right side of the penalty area when Sewell crossed the ball. From an early age, Nat was a Bolton Wanderers supporter. Entwistle, like Lofthouse, was an avid Wanderers fan and was named to the club's board in 1937. Compared to the broadsheets, tabloid match reports treat the occasion as a related event to the war. I hit it when he was right on top of me. Many would travel more than a mile down into the earth for around eight hours per day of very hard, physical work. The same was true of his debut, which arrived in 1940, aged just 15.
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