Owning the public house was not the most rewarding career choice to the man who only wanted to see his boyhood club do well. In 1978, he became the club's executive manager. Born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1925, Lofthouse joined the town's main club on 4 September 1939 and made his debut in a wartime 51 win against Bury on 22 March 1941 when he scored two goals. Nat's time in that role also didn't go to plan and the legend was relieved of his duties in 1972. Manchester 32 goals in 36 games for his club and four in five international matches seemed to cement his place as the countrys leading marksman. In September 1952, Nat Lofthouse scored six goals in an interleague game against the Irish League. As always, football matches were symbolic.. Throughout the opening 20 minutes, Austria dominated, but England responded. 6) Centre forward Nat Lofthouse earned the title Lion of Vienna when he scored his second goal in England's 3-2 victory over Austria in 1952. Hurt scoring the winner against Ireland, Lofthouse missed the November 1953 match against Hungary at Wembley where the home team were hammered 6-3 and also suffered a wrist injury causing him to withdrew from the squad that went on a short tour in 1954 which included a 7-1 humbling at the hands of the same Hungarian team in Budapest. The total number of free kicks might seem insignificant today, but for soccer in the 1950s was significant. Back in the England line up for the World Cup, he scored three times including one in the 4-2 quarter final defeat at the hands of Uruguay. In front of 65,500 fans at the Prater Stadium, including hordes of British soldiers, Lofthouse gave England the lead when he smacked home a half-volley from 12 yards after being set up by Jackie Sewell. He ran a pub for a while, whilst still coaching at his one and only club but the lure of football proved too great. Not long after his retirement from football, Nat took control of the Castle Pub on Tonge Moor Road in Bolton. Before becoming Bolton's chief scout, he became an administrative manager at Burnden. After that, Musil crashed into me, and we both fell to the ground. That is, a sane person that wasn't scared of facing the Lion of Vienna on the pitch. Three months earlier, United had been involved in the Munich air disaster. However, partially due to this, Nat Lofthouse did not always experience the utter adoration of the fans. In the following Sundays game with Austria, England was widely considered as an underdog. Lofthouse was in. My legs became stronger and when I played football I felt I was shooting with greater power.". Bolton finished in the top half of the table for 6 of those 13 seasons. On this occasion, he relieved himself of day-to-day duties at the club but remained on board as an ambassador for the Trotters, attending matches and club events for years to come. Lion of Vienna Suite Nat Lofthouse East Stand, sponsored by Eventura Providing a match day experience that is perfect for family, friends and fellow Bolton Wanderers fans, the Lion of Vienna Suite offers a relaxed atmosphere with its own pay bar and LED TV screens. In 2003, Nat Lofthouse retired from Bolton Wanderers for a second time. Lofthouse saw his chance and took it, barging both Gregg and the ball into the back of the net. In 1968, he spent a brief time as caretaker manager of the club and took over the job full-time on 18 December. 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. Nat responds: "That's alright, Harry. [8] Nat Lofthouse was an Inaugural Inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. During the game, Nat was told to play in net, and being the kind of child that relished the opportunity to get on the field, didn't complain. A one-club man, he played over 400 games for Bolton Wanderers and earned 33 caps for England (as well as his famous nickname). [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. Between 1950 and 1958, he played 33 times for the England national football team. He scored 22 goals in 36 games for a Wanderers team that finished 14th. 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. A) 20 B) 30 C) 40 Harry says to Nat: "that's very nice of you." Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Ridding had been prominent in Nat Lofthouse's successful rise and had led the Trotters to the 1953 and 1958 FA Cup finals, famously winning the second one. M4 3BG, 2023 National Football Museum. Of all those conscripted into service between the ages of 18 and 25, around 10% went to work in the mines. The Lion of Vienna With the war over, the legendary Nat Lofthouse was finally able to start his career officially. Instead, Lofthouse would famously climb the walls at Burnden Park in order to get into the ground for free. It was taken from 40 yards and swerved like a mad thing past the astonished Robertson in the Chelsea goal.. The team was struggling, the club was struggling. Never again will you say that England has lost the will to fight. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. [13] He had suffered with dementia. In 195253, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year. As it transpired, Nats first day reporting to Burnden Park in 1939 was also Britains first full day at war with Germany. Lofthouse was witness to a Bolton Wanderers golden age of top flight success throughout the 1930s and although the Trotters won three FA Cups in Nat's life time, he was too young to witness the 1926 and 1929 wins over Manchester City and Portsmouth. Several players in the match played below their level, with Nat Lofthouse one of those.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofsoccer_info-banner-1','ezslot_10',184,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-banner-1-0'); In the Daily Telegraph, Frank Coles wrote, One of the question marks is against Lofthouse. Once again, Nat Lofthouse made his intent known early on, scoring his first goal 3 minutes in, bounding onto the ball inside the 6-yard box and poking it in. Instead, Lofthouse honed his skills on the empty lots and wasteland that were more than common around the northwest during the day. Disappointing loss aside, Lofthouse scored the first goal of the match just 75 seconds in, meaning he scored in every round of the competition that season. Six of their colleagues had died in the crash, including United's only goal scorer from that final, Tommy Taylor. The Lion of Vienna, Fifty Years a Legend (Edinburgh, 1989); Billy Wright, The Worlds My Football Pitch (London, 1953); Percy M Young, Bolton Wanderers (London, 1961); England Beat Austria, Path Film; Dave Russell, Deeply Honoured: The Rise and Significance of the British Sporting Award. Alchetron Bolton won the game 20 with Lofthouse scoring both goals, the second of which was highly controversial and remains a talking point to this day. As a result, Nat Lofthouse became known as the Lion of Vienna by the Daily Express newspaper. Nat Lofthouse scored his last goal for the Three Lions on Oct. 22, 1958 in a 5-1 win over the USSR. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. England travelled to to meet an Austria side that at the time were considered among the best in Europe and who had the better of the 2-2 draw at Wembley six months before. [3] There was a national wave of sympathy for United, who three months earlier had suffered grievously in the Munich air disaster. As far as the future was concerned, these results were not isolated, and these signs were already in evidence. Bolton's new number 9, Eoin Doyle, whilst playing for League Two side Swindon last season. Elliotts pass to Baily was impressive. The United lost emotion on the whole game at the end. 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. As he regretted later, I never saw the ball enter the Austrian net for the goal of my life.. The wording of the epithet is indicative both of the era and the man himself. The OBE was awarded to him in 1994. Matilda is a Texan in Paris and Mark is a Georgian (the country) in New York. He was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind and brought down by the goalkeeper. That's the thing more than anything else. We were introduced and I stood there tongue-tied, Nat would later recall. There are many stories about footballers of the day who started developing at a later age simply because they were not able to afford even basic footwear and it was a gift of shoes by a family member or friend that really allowed them to get going. Bolton born and bred, Lofthouse was signed by Bolton Wanderers as a 14 year old apprentice in 1939. He hung up his boots in 1961 having scored 285 goals for Wanderers. He looked like a boxer at the end of a tough 15 rounds when he left the field. Read |Duncan Edwards: the original, greatest boy wonder. His most memorable performance, which won him the nickname the "Lion of Vienna", was for England against Austria in May 1952. Bolton were then beaten in the semi-final by Derby County. Nat Lofthouse began playing football as a very young boy. One false start for his school team aside he was drafted in as a last-minute replacement in goal and conceded seven he began exhibiting a prodigious knack for goalscoring early on. The Bolton Wanderers reached the final again five years later. 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. In the first match of that campaign they travelled to London to play Chelsea matching him up against hero Tommy Lawton. 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. The poor performance of England against Italy almost certainly played a role in the games outcome against Austria. Its difficult to discuss Nat Lofthouse without resorting to clichs. Caps:33 (30 goals) 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 . And in an ironic twist, for all his on-field exploits, all his goals, all his charging, bulldozing, irresistible runs forward, arguably his greatest contribution to the club came long after hed retired and after his ill-fated spells as manager, when his tireless fundraising helped rescue Bolton from financial oblivion. 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. In the next two seasons he continued scoring regularly with the 1955-56 campaign particularly notable. The military nature of this event was further underscored by the presence of so many British soldiers in uniform. Over the next few years, Lofthouse set about exhausting the superlatives available with his goalscoring. He netted in every round of the FA Cup in 1953, including the final, only to be thwarted by the wizardry of Stanley Matthews and a hat-trick from Stan Mortensen in one of the most famous finals of all time. The phrase Lion of Vienna will be forever associated with Lofthouse. Lofthouse was a constant at the head of the Wanderers goalscoring charts and his exploits, which included four goals in a win for an FA XI over the Army were finally rewarded by the international selectors in 1950 when, after scoring the only goal in the B teams win over the Netherlands at St James Park he went on the FA tour of Canada and North America. Merrick plucked a corner cross from the air, who threw a long, swerving ball down the middle of the field. 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. In fact, there's a very funny joke from Lofthouse's time behind the bar: Harry Gregg (the Manchester United goalkeeper that Nat famously clattered over the goal line for Bolton's second goal in the 1958 FA Cup final) was driving through Bolton and decided to stop at the Castle Pub for a drink. Please enter the following information to sign up. 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. United played well in the first half, but their attacks were continually stopped by the Bolton defense "like waves breaking against a rock," as one commentator noted. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Like many aspiring youngsters one of Nats early jobs at the club was cleaning the boots of the senior pros and he always paid special attention to those of star forward Ray Westwood, one of the players he had cheered from the sideline when a star-struck spectator. final", "England List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches", 'The Cup Comes Home' - 1958 newsreel of Nat Lofthouse in Bolton, Lancashire, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nat_Lofthouse&oldid=1150190569, *Club domestic league appearances and goals, This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 20:03. 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. Thousands more stood outside in the streets with speakers erected so that the public could hear the service. 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. Lofthouse wasn't just a career Bolton man, he was a lifetime Bolton man. Once Lofthouse arrived Hunt moved to right-half and was later transferred to Sheffield Wednesday. Harry Gregg, a survivor of the crash who would go on to be one of United's best goalkeepers ever, could only manage to deflect the shot. On 22 March 1941, he made his debut for Bolton, scoring two goals in a 5-1 victory over Bury. I could hear the hounds setting off after me but I knew it was basically down to me and [Austrian goalkeeper Josef] Musil. The sickening collision between striker and keeper left Lofthouse knocked out cold. When the goalkeeper tried to give Lofthouse the money for his pint, Lofthouse refused. In his 14 years at Bolton between . 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. On 24 August 2013, a statue was dedicated. [10] He married Alma Foster in 1947 and they remained married until her death in 1985. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The only identity was Nat Lofthouse. For the recognition of club and country, a statue stands outside Bolton's stadium. In the 11th minute, Melchior hit Eckersley with a shot that struck his arm. However, theres little doubt that financial pragmatism aside, his heart was always in Bolton and with Wanderers. 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. He was probably the last of the old fashioned centre forwards, leading the line with toughness, taking plenty of knocks and giving them out too. Instead of scarring him, the experience seemed to instill a sense of purpose when it came to scoring goals which was reflected throughout his career. The main target was Nat Lofthouse, who was struck in the neck, while Elliott and Sewell required treatment from England trainer Jimmy Trotter.
Irs Child Tax Credit 2022 Monthly Payment,
Instacart Meet Cute Actress,
Articles W