Nat Lofthouse

Nathaniel Lofthouse, OBE (born August 27, 1925), better known as Nat Lofthouse, was an English footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers for his whole career.

Playing Career

Born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1925, Lofthouse joined the town's main club on September 4, 1939 and made his debut in a 5-1 win against Bury on March 22, 1941 when he scored two goals. It was then more than five years until he made his league debut for the club, but he eventually played against Chelsea on August 31, 1946, when he scored twice in a 4-3 defeat. Lofthouse would go on to play 33 games for England but his debut on November 22, 1950 made him 25 when he finally broke into the team. He perhaps justified a claim to an earlier call-up by scoring both goals in a 2-2 draw against Yugoslavia at Highbury on his debut.

On May 25, 1952, Lofthouse earned the title 'Lion of Vienna' by scoring twice in England's 3-2 victory over Austria. Back from national team duty, he then scored six goals in a game between the English Football League and the Irish League on September 24, 1952.

In 1953, he was declared English Footballer of the Year and on May 2 of that year, he scored a goal - but was on the losing side - in the famous FA Cup final of 1953 (aka 'The Matthews Final'), having previously scored in each round. That season he topped the First Division goalscoring charts with 30 goals. On May 20, 1956, Lofthouse broke Steve Bloomer's 49-year-old England goalscoring record by netting his 29th goal in a 5-1 win against Finland in Helsinki.

FA Cup Controversy

On May 3, 1958, almost 5 years to the day after losing the 1953 final, Lofthouse captained Bolton in the 1958 FA Cup Final against Manchester United, who 3 months earlier had been involved in the Munich air disaster. Against a national wave of sympathy for United, Bolton won the game 2-0 with Lofthouse scoring 2 goals, the second of which was highly controversial and remains a talking point to this day. Lofthouse went into a challenge with the United keeper Harry Gregg and barged him into the net to score as shoulder charging the goalkeeper was a legitimate tactic at the time.

End of playing career

On November 26 1958, Lofthouse 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 December 17 of that year, when he suffered a knee injury against Birmingham.

Coaching & Management

After retiring from playing football, Lofthouse became the assistant trainer at Burnden Park on July 10, 1961 and was then appointed chief coach at the club in 1967. In 1968, he spent a brief time as caretaker manager of the club and took over the job full-time on December 18. Before becoming Bolton's chief scout, he became an administrative manager at Burnden. In 1978, he became the club's executive manager. In 1985, at the age of 60, Lofthouse became caretaker manager at the club again and became president in 1986.

Honours

Lofthouse has been the recipient of various honours since retiring from the game. On December 2, 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. On January 1, 1994, he received an OBE and on January 18, 1997, Bolton decided to name their East Stand at their new Reebok Stadium after him.

Tributes were recently paid to Nat as he celebrated his 80th birthday, including a party at the Reebok Stadium. A campaign, backed by Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, has started, aiming to get Nat Lofthouse knighted (Cf. John Charles). Nat Lofthouse was an Inaugural Inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. A full profile can be seen at The English Football Hall of Fame site.

Miscellaneous

'The Lion of Vienna' is a well known Bolton pub, named in honour of Nat Lofthouse. The pub is situated on Chorley New Road, opposite Bolton School.

Lofthouse still resides in Bolton and now lives in retirement in Bromley Cross.

England squad - 1954 FIFA World Cup
1 Merrick • 2 Staniforth • 3 Byrne • 4 Wright • 5 Owen • 6 Dickinson • 7 Matthews • 8 Broadis • 9 Lofthouse • 10 Taylor • 11 Finney • 12 Burgin • 13 Green • 14 McGarry • 15 Wilshaw • 16 Quixall • 17 Mullen • 18 Chilton • 19 Armstrong • 20 Jezzard • 21 Haynes • 22 Hooper • Coach: Winterbottom

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