A single man did not give up. Following his first go at managing the club, Lofthouse took an administrative manager role at Burnden Park before being appointed as the club's chief scout. Still more fans entered and the crush resulted in the death of 33 people. Speaking During his "Nat Lofthouse: This Is Your Life" show, Lofthouse had said of his time as manager: "I think the worst thing Bolton Wanderers' directors ever did was ask me to be manager. In 1953, it all came together. "'He was everything a centre forward should be and was a great one-club man.". by ReadTheLeague | May 24, 2021 | The Big Feature. In the following days Weekly Dispatch, John Robertson wrote; Lofthouses first goal left me open-mouthed. 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. Read |Dixie Dean: footballs first great number nine. Times during and just after the war were hard for Bolton, especially after the "golden age", and Bevin Boys were commonly seen as cowards or unpatriotic men seeking to avoid the dangers of active combat. The phrase Lion of Vienna will be forever associated with Lofthouse. And so with that barge, Lofthouse won Bolton's fourth, and final to date, FA Cup, famously proud of his "110 team" that cost no more than each player's signing-on fee. The only thing worse was when I said yes.' In a football match bearing the weight of sport, politics, and differing ideologies, Lofthouse approached the pitch as though it were a battlefield, sacrificing his body (and probably a few brain cells) to win an important, poignant, and unexpected, victory for England. Nat was the youngest of four boys. This was touched on to Lofthouse on the halfway line by Finney. It was important not to strike the ball too soon. Lofthouse was at his imperious best, plundering goals at a rate that even the sportswriters who had grown up watching the likes of, The England camp was tense as dawn broke in Vienna, Austria, on the morning of 25 May 1952. 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. But he came back before the final whistle as Nat's valiant display earned him the nickname, 'Lion of Vienna'. Retiring from playing in 1960, he was made a President of Bolton Wanderers in 1986, a post he held until his death in 2011. 16 January 2011 #1. In early 1947 he asked for a transfer with Tottenham Hotspur said to be seriously interested in his services but the Bolton board turned the request down and he quickly got back to business finishing the season as the clubs top scorer with 18 goals, a feat he repeated in the following campaign. Even earning the maximum wage, financial security for his family wasnt secured beyond his playing days, and he tried his hand at both working as a paint salesman and running a pub. Nat charged forward with the ball, in typical Lofthouse fashion receiving an elbow in the face and a tackle from behind. Back from national team duty, he then scored six goals in a game for the Football League against the Irish League on 24 September 1952. Even when things were not in his favor, Lofthouse was not one to complain or pity himself. 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. It made me fitter than ever I had been before. Wanderers gave the then 15-year-old his debut on 14 March 1941 in a wartime match with Bury again providing the opposition. The former Bolton Wanderers and England centre forward . Harry Johnston (1951) and Syd Owen (1959), among others and more apparent candidates, Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney, won this award for their model-professional status, loyalty to club and country, and scrupulously fair approach to the game. Long after his star had ascended, he could still be found riding the bus from his nearby home to Burnden Park, delighting in surprising fans who were discussing his performances on the pitch unbeknownst of his presence. Despite this disappointment the player ended the season on a high when he was named Footballer of the Year. Not once after that did Nat protest or fight Bolton's decision. His goals-per-game ratio was among the highest among all England players between 1950 and 1958, during which he won 33 caps for England. After a brief stint as the caretaker, Nat Lofthouse was named the full-time manager of Bolton Wanderers and stayed in the post until 1970. Known as the 'Lion of Vienna, Nat Lofthouse was the epitome of the down-to-earth football star of the 1940s and 1950s. 32 goals in 36 games for his club and four in five international matches seemed to cement his place as the countrys leading marksman. We were introduced and I stood there tongue-tied, Nat would later recall. George Hunt, who was a very fine centre forward himself, [He won 3 England caps scoring once and netted 169 times in 294 games in a war-interrupted playing career] and he possesses the rare ability to pass on to youngsters his own deep knowledge of the game. Lofthouse wasn't very good in goal though, conceding seven goals in his first outing. He perhaps justified a claim to an earlier call-up by scoring both goals in a 22 draw against Yugoslavia at Highbury on his debut. Owning the public house was not the most rewarding career choice to the man who only wanted to see his boyhood club do well. [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. In the 16 international matches played since November 1949, 10 have been won, and only two have been lost.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'historyofsoccer_info-medrectangle-4','ezslot_5',182,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-medrectangle-4-0'); From Englands perspective, it was necessary to note that Austria had defeated Scotland twice during this run and achieved a 2-2 draw at Wembley. It was then more than five years until he made his league debut for the club, but he eventually played against Chelsea on 31 August 1946, when he scored twice in a 43 defeat. In addition to their colorful rosettes, red, white, and blue rattles, and chants of England, they instilled a carnival atmosphere around the stadium, evoking the atmosphere associated with an FA Cup match. In his autobiography Goals Galore Lofthouse was fulsome in his praise of Hunt, whose nickname was The Chesterfield Tough. Accepting his award from a local councilman, he was unaware that the man in front of him sat on the board of Bolton Wanderers, until he asked if Lofthouse would like to play for them. 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. Injured for the next match, in the quarter final game against Uruguay he equalized in the 16th minute, after receiving the ball in the 18-yard box.[which? A runner-up medal and the Footballer of the Year award came to him in 1953, and a winners medal and the FA Cup in 1958. A) 20 B) 30 C) 40 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. His most memorable performance, which won him the nickname the "Lion of Vienna", was for England against Austria in May 1952. They did not have a particularly tough path to Wembley facing mostly Division 2 and 3 sides, although they did knockout Division 1 champions of that season Wolverhampton in the quarter finals. The Lion of Vienna sleeps. (Subs) Franz Pelikan, Stotz, Koller, Dekkerif(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'historyofsoccer_info-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_11',185,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-large-leaderboard-2-0'); Gilbert Merrick, Alf Ramsey, William Eckersley, William Wright, Jack Froggatt, James Dickinson, Tom Finney, John Sewell, Nat Lofthouse, Edward Baily, William Elliott. His most memorable performance,. [15] Contents show The 1952 tour England toured Europe briefly in summer 1952 and played matches against politically sensitive opponents Italy and Austria. 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. Bolton's new number 9, Eoin Doyle, whilst playing for League Two side Swindon last season. But after Taylors tragic death at Munich he was included in the 40-man squad for the 1958 World Cup but failed to make the final 22. While it was perhaps not the greatest result, he clearly impressed, and after missing a few matches in between, Lofthouse played every game for England between October 1951 and November 1953, a total of 18 matches. Elliotts pass to Baily was impressive. On the domestic front Lofthouse enjoyed an outstanding 1952-53 season. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. ". Although he failed to score in the Cup Winners Cup match there is no doubt that, with 13 goals, he was the star of the show. 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. He said: I would have an hour or two off to receive coaching from George and firmly believe that these private coaching sessions played a big part in my advancement. Lofthouse was chosen to represent Bolton schools against Bury. Having played his first organised game as an emergency goalkeeper for his older brothers school team, conceding seven times and upsetting his Mum by playing in a new pair of shoes (he would later redeem himself by cleaning them as good as new), he quickly moved into attack his more natural position, due to his size, and established himself as the star centre forward for Castle Hill school. Lofthouse had made his Wanderers debut back in 1941 aged 15, scoring. Still, the Lion of Vienna's time with the Trotters was nowhere near done as just a few years later, he became the club's Executive Manager. Thousands of England fans attended it. NAT Lofthouse, one of the most famous of all Boltonians and the town's best-loved sporting son, has died at the age of 85. He was a pivotal figure in one of the true golden ages of the beautiful game, ending his career as the leading goal scorer for both his club and his country, with a reputation as one of the game's true greats. ALTHOUGH he earned a great deal of his reputation, and indeed his nickname, for one performance, Nat Lofthouse, 'The Lion of Vienna' was a tremendous servant for his country for eight years, bagging 30 goals in just 33 games, and for his club for over 30 years. On foreign soil, the English brave and plucky had triumphed over technologically superior opponents against all odds. Lofthouse saw his chance and took it, barging both Gregg and the ball into the back of the net. 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. His strength and power were again prominent when he won the single honour of his career. He did win the medal. For England he scored a phenomenal 30 goals in 33 games. Nat Lofthouse was a 'Bevin Boy', one of thousands of young men conscripted to work in Britain's mines by Ernest Bevin, the coalition government's Minister of Labour and National Service during.
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