why was nat lofthouse called the lion of vienna

We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. He made his debut in wartime football and in 1943 he became a Bevin boy, one of 48,000 men who were sent to work in the coal mines rather than the armed services in World War II. 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. The performance certainly cemented Nats place as Englands number nine and six goals for the Football League against the Irish League further underlined it. Despite Ocwirks efforts, Lofthouse was able to slip past him. He was born with Bolton in his blood, and he played his football, lived his life in a way that reflected that. All Rights Reserved. It was taken from 40 yards and swerved like a mad thing past the astonished Robertson in the Chelsea goal.. Sir Tom Finney and Nat Lofthouse together at the National Football Museum Hall Of Fame awards in 2002. 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 the 1930s, Austria had been among the great Central European football nations. Thanks to his size, a healthy 12 stone (168 pounds) by age 15, he was played up front in a center forward position and it was there that Nat thrived. Even at that time, Bolton was an unfashionable club that hadn't exactly been lighting up the league for 10 years, and Nat felt this was slowing down his career. 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. If anything, this inspired a more violent second half, with both sides desperate for a meaningful win. He slid the ball past the keeper but was knocked cold in the challenge as he did. Prisoner Of A Dubious Peace. Please enter the following information to sign up. The Lion of Vienna sleeps. In 1956, he finished as the First Divisions top scorer with 33 goals. He wasn't part of an illustrious academy early on, like those you see in the modern game. Former Bolton Wanderers and England striker Nat Lofthouse, one of the greats of a golden post-war generation, died in his sleep at the age of 85, the club announced on Sunday. Whilst there was no official league football in 1945-46 (Wanderers finished 3rd in the Football League North) the FA Cup was restarted. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with one of the highest goals-per-game ratios of any England player. On 2 December 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. Even his nickname, the Lion of Vienna, is something you wouldn't dream of bestowing upon the modern player. In 1957, he assumed captaincy of the club. He was the club's top scorer in 11 out of the 13 seasons between 1946-47 and 1958-59, with his highest tally in a season resting at 35 goals, attained in that final season of 1958-59. His devotion to Alma was matched only by his love of Bolton, and true to form, that Saturday Nat got married in the morning then played football in the afternoon at Burnden Park. In the next two seasons he continued scoring regularly with the 1955-56 campaign particularly notable. Lofthouse was one of the inaugural inductees to the National Football Museum Hall Of Fame in 2002, attending the event to collect his award alongside other greats of the game, including his friend and former England team-mate Sir Tom Finney. Pushing the tubs made me fitter than I had ever been before. The 285 goals he scored between 1946 and 1961 still make him Boltons top goalscorer. Everyone left with a scar or bruise.. Stanley Mathewshad his last chance to earn a winners medal. Thousands of England fans attended the game at the Praterstadion in Viennas Soviet Zone, as evidenced by the Path film of the game. [7] A campaign, backed by Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association and former Bolton player, was started, aiming to get Lofthouse knighted. In the following days Weekly Dispatch, John Robertson wrote; Lofthouses first goal left me open-mouthed. By Henry Winter 16 January 2011 8:10pm With no club having shown an interest and his days of regular organised football coming to an end, it appeared that any chance he had of making it as a professional was over, before one of his final days at school where he was to be commended at the annual prize-giving ceremony. They overcame Southport (Lofthouse got a hat-trick), Accrington Stanley (where he scored twice), Blackpool (where he hit five over the two legs), Newcastle (three more for Lofthouse) and Wolves, where he shockingly failed to score, before beating Manchester United 3-2 on aggregate in the final. The Lion of Vienna's impact to Bolton Wanderers was just as important off the pitch as it was on. 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. [3] There was a national wave of sympathy for United, who three months earlier had suffered grievously in the Munich air disaster. 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. Throughout the opening 20 minutes, Austria dominated, but England responded. The military nature of this event was further underscored by the presence of so many British soldiers in uniform. What made Lofthouses feats all the more remarkable was the manner in which he shrugged them off. According to Bolton Wanderers, the statue proposal has received a phenomenal reception and is well on target for the scheduled due date. 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. We were introduced and I stood there tongue-tied, Nat would later recall. Known as the Lion of Vienna, he scored 255 goals for . His mother stayed at home and cared for the four boys. 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 poor performance of England against Italy almost certainly played a role in the games outcome against Austria. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Former Bolton captain Kevin Davies and then manager Owen Coyle were among the pallbearers.[16]. This evening, the Prater Stadium in the Soviet sector was crowded by cheering, khaki-clad British soldiers waving Union Jacks. He holds this record to this day. Inducted: 2002, National Football Museum In 1952-53, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year. Nat responds: "That's alright, Harry. Cathedral Gardens Urbis Building Returning on the bus after the game he was shocked to find Tommy Lawton waiting for him. Lofthouse wasn't very good in goal though, conceding seven goals in his first outing. Between 1950 and 1958, he played 33 times for the England national football team. The plan was for the statue to be funded by public donations, with help from the club. 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. Lofthouse was at his imperious best, plundering goals at a rate that even the sportswriters who had grown up watching the likes of Dixie Dean and others agreed was exceptional. 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. After the game for Castle Hill, Nat asked the school side's manager for more games. The only identity was Nat Lofthouse. by ReadTheLeague | May 24, 2021 | The Big Feature. . That season he topped the First Division goalscoring charts with 30 goals. On the domestic front Lofthouse enjoyed an outstanding 1952-53 season. There was then a Cup Winners Cup played between the winners of the North and South tournaments. Nat charged forward with the ball, in typical Lofthouse fashion receiving an elbow in the face and a tackle from behind. Indeed, many of the stereotypes we now associate with players from the sepia-tinged era of the 1950s have their roots in Lofthouses own story. But the Wanderers policy was that if you played for them you couldnt run a pub. In the second half, the Wanderers looked the better team, as the thrown-together nature of Manchester United began to show. The United lost emotion on the whole game at the end. After gaining eight corners to Englands none, the Austrians dominated for most of the game. Bolton as a team were struggling to reassert themselves with their pre-war team dismantled and Foweraker retiring, and that process was made considerably more difficult by the shadow both psychological and financial cast by the Burnden Disaster, a crush that killed 33, in 1946. A few years later, on Sept. 4, 1939, the day after World War II broke out in Europe, as nearly all of the Bolton first team went off to war, Lofthouse went to Burnden Park, put pen to paper and signed for Bolton Wanderers as a youth player. Quick off the mark, an ability to shoot with either foot, with strength and agility in the air an innate ability to be in the right place at the right time. In 1978, he became the club's executive manager. The players were taken off the pitch but, amazingly returned half an hour later to play out a goalless draw with bodies laid out along the touchline covered by coats. But he continued banging in goals with either foot or his head for his club and the selectors eventually decided they couldnt ignore him. I wasn't cut out to be a manager.". 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. Lofthouse is rightly remembered as the archetypal one-club man, but to call him that is to do him a disservice. 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. Football was also a significant sport for the two nations. An England international, Nat Lofthouse played his entire club career for his hometown club, Bolton Wanderers, scoring 255 goals in 452 league appearances. During World War II, nearly 48,000 men served in the coal mines, the majority of which were chosen at random during the conscription process, with that number including volunteers. It was impossible for Bolton fans to feel this way for long however, he was the club's top scorer that first season after the war, with 21 goals in all competitions. NAT LOFTHOUSE is a name that rings through the annals of English football history like few others. 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. It was a friendly against the old Yugoslavia, with Nat scoring both England goals in a 2-all draw. They could not receive service medals and were not guaranteed a return to their old jobs, unlike those serving in the armed forces. In his 14 years at Bolton between . Eulogies were offered by Bolton chairman Phil Gartside and Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor, a boyhood Bolton fan and former Wanderers player. Nat Lofthouse was Bolton in a way that the modern day equivalent of Kevin Davies, however loved by the fans, could never be. [3] Shoulder charging the goalkeeper was a legitimate tactic at the time, but Lofthouse later admitted that his challenge was a foul. It happened a lot in our day as it were, of course. There have been many claims that Lofthouse and Tommy Lawton went to the same school but in fact Lawton went to nearby Folds Road. HE was nicknamed the Lion of Vienna. 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. 16 January 2011 #1. Before becoming Bolton's chief scout, he became an administrative manager at Burnden. Viennas Soviet Zone is home to the Praterstadion, where the match was played. Still more fans entered and the crush resulted in the death of 33 people. Lofthouse wasn't just a career Bolton man, he was a lifetime Bolton man. ], 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. The phrase Lion of Vienna will be forever associated with Lofthouse. 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. Drawing 2-2 and with the Austrians pressing for a famous win, an England counter-attack saw Lofthouse put through on goal. Even when things were not in his favor, Lofthouse was not one to complain or pity himself. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'historyofsoccer_info-leader-2','ezslot_15',169,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-leader-2-0');In 452 Football League appearances for Bolton, he scored 255 goals. Lofthouse stood unmarked on the right side of the penalty area when Sewell crossed the ball. The key to his appeal, beyond his fantastic abilities on the pitch, was his humility. To open the scoring, he swiveled on his right foot and hit a volley with his left foot. The former Bolton Wanderers and England centre forward . Read |Dixie Dean: footballs first great number nine. It was originally scheduled to take place three days later on his birthday but the date was moved forward to coincide with Bolton's home fixture against Queens Park Rangers. 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. Lofthouse was the recipient of various honours after retiring from the game. In a rare show of off-field bullishness, Lofthouse later remembered that he made it his sole purpose to make one particular writer eat his words even if he choked. And, by today's standards, Nat Lofthouse would make his modern day equivalents look like little kittens. A year ago today, Bolton Wanderers announced plans to immortalize the Lion of Vienna with a statue in front of the Reebok Stadium. One of those matches would turn out to be the definitive 90 minutes of his England career, at what was then called Praterstadion in Vienna on the 25th of May, 1952. He was born on March 24, 1919, in Blyth, Northumberland, England. His father was a coal-bagger for the community's co-operative before becoming the head horse keeper for Bolton Corporation. 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. On the morning of Saturday 6 December 1947 he married Alma Foster and in the afternoon scored twice as Wanderers beat Wolves 3-2. Having failed to find the net in his past two internationals, a run which had scuppered more than a few promising youngsters England careers, Boltons star was aware of a concerted campaign in the press to have him replaced by Newcastles brilliant Jackie Milburn. That game launched one of the best periods of his career, which previously Lofthouse had been decidedly unsatisfied with, receiving little praise for his international efforts, and little respect from anyone barring Bolton fans. 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. From an early age, Nat was a Bolton Wanderers supporter. For Nat, the expectations were even greater. RIP Nat Lofthouse. All the while, he kept scoring for his country as well as for his club, finishing on an incredible 30 goals in 33 caps and taking the record as the national teams all-time top goalscorer jointly with Finney. The Mayor of Bolton, Alderman Entwhistle who was also a director of the club approached the youngster and asked him to sign and, along with the manager they managed to stop the local lad from leaving town although as he had already been a regular spectator at Burnden Park. Lofthouse scored all seven goals for Bolton. Pic courtesy of Mirrorpix. 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. 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. He grew up without much in the way of material comforts; his first sight of Bolton Wanderers came after shinning up a drain pipe at the clubs Burnden Park home rather than paying the threepence for schoolboy admission. 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. 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. Nat was the youngest of four boys. Boltons top-flight status stabilised as Lofthouse began to find his feet, and in 1950/51 he enjoyed a true breakthrough season, netting 17 times and being granted his first opportunity to prove his mettle on the international stage. With him passed away a piece of Bolton Wanderers Football Club that will never return. 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. In his autobiography Goals Galore Lofthouse was fulsome in his praise of Hunt, whose nickname was The Chesterfield Tough. Andy is a UK-born, football fanatic who follows the trials and tribulations of Aston Villa and his local non-league side, Stafford Rangers. For the game with Saskatoon the local team only had nine players so Lofthouse and Tim Ward of Derby County switched sides but couldnt prevent their team losing 19-1. His very style of football embodied Bolton, an appreciation for power alongside skill which is still part of the club today. As a result, Nat Lofthouse was nicknamed the Lion of Vienna. 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. 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. The title came from a prestigious match against Austria in 1952. Matilda is a Texan in Paris and Mark is a Georgian (the country) in New York. He was capped 33 times for the England national football team between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals and giving himself one of the greatest. In 195253, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year. 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. Read |Duncan Edwards: the original, greatest boy wonder. He hung up his boots in 1961 having scored 285 goals for Wanderers. Lofthouse scored twice against Belgium in a match that ended 44. My legs became stronger and when I played football I felt I was shooting with greater power.". The ball came in and fell to Tom Finney, Lofthouses long-time England cohort and close personal friend, who expertly set his centre-forward away. Additionally, he and Tom Finney had the England scoring record together until Jimmy Greaves came along. He won that. Nat Lofthouse scored a brace in Boltons 2-0 win. Needless to say, the whole country and a good portion of the 100,000 fans packed into Wembley that day were behind the battered and bruised Manchester side. Lofthouses story wasnt as black and white as many modern accounts would have readers believe. Bolton Wanderers Beat Manchester United at Wembley: Bolton players chair their Captain and hero Nat Lofthouse with the cup, at the end of the match. The Lion Of Vienna. 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. This time he only managed to score a brace, the fourth and fifth goals in a 5-1 victory at Burnden Park. Lofthouse had made his Wanderers debut back in 1941 aged 15, scoring. It was something that Lofthouse would later describe as "the worst moment of his life." However, partially due to this, Nat Lofthouse did not always experience the utter adoration of the fans. The club remained close to him after that, and he served as its general manager, scout, and president as of October 1986. He hit the ground before the ball went over the line, knocked out cold for one of the most famous goals of his career. Seven minutes before the end, the climax occurred. Our vision is to provide everyone in the world with a free and open-access education about the history of soccer with our online content compilation. In 2003, Nat Lofthouse retired from Bolton Wanderers for a second time. Out on the pitch at Burnden Park I learned more from George in an hour than I could from most people in a year. His most memorable performance, which won him the nickname the "Lion of Vienna", was for England against Austria in May 1952. The tour began with a 1-1 draw between England and Italy in Florence. A one-club man, he played over 400 games for Bolton Wanderers and earned 33 caps for England (as well as his famous nickname). You just say Nat. It was there that the conversation that would change his life forever took place. Why was Nat Lofthouse called Lion of Vienna? Two players were so injured they were never able to take to the football pitch again, and the final player, goalkeeper Ray Wood, was still recovering from injuries sustained. . Lofthouse returned to Burnden Park full-time in 1968 spending a mostly nondescript three-year spell as manager. [15] However, the lead was short-lived. 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. 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. 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. Nat Lofthouse had endured well against a battering from the Italian defenders, despite these suggestions of poor performance. Any hopes of the Three Lions traditional end-of-season tour being a relatively sedate one had been dashed in their opening game, a frustrating 1-1 draw in Florence in which Englands Italian opponents had resorted to the, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Nat Lofthouse: the Lion of Vienna and the gent of Bolton, Remembering the disaster of 1991/92, Bayern Munichs worst season in modern history, Rio, 1989: Chilean skullduggery, hidden razor blades and Brazilian flares, Brighton and Crystal Palace: the rise of a rivalry separated by 39 miles, The madness of Liverpools first foray into European competition, The tale of Queens Park: the early innovators who became last of the amateurs, Bobby Robson, Ipswich Town and a brutal quest for the 1981 treble. 16 January 2011 #1. When the goalkeeper tried to give Lofthouse the money for his pint, Lofthouse refused. The Reds came close several times, including a shot that went off the post, but it was Bolton's day, and in the 50th minute Nat Lofthouse sealed that with his infamous second goal. Although he was too young for military service Nat did his bit for the war effort, being one of three members of the 35-strong Bolton playing staff to work as a Bevin Boy and coal miner (the other 32 all joined the armed forces mostly signing up for the 53rd Bolton Field Regiment almost immediately after war broke out signed). Be in no doubt, the greatest number 9 and Bolton's finest son is of course Sir Nat Lofthouse. Please tick if you would like to receive information in this way. On 25 May 1952, Lofthouse earned the title 'Lion of Vienna' after scoring his second goal in England's 3-2 victory over Austria. Half a century after Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), they were finally recognized as contributors to the war effort by Queen Elizabeth II. His lifelong dedication to the club was not work, but a manifestation of who he was. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with one of the highest goals-per-game ratios of any England player. In the spring, he was awarded the Football Writers Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year title, a clear indication that he had achieved the status of a model professional. Instead, Lofthouse would famously climb the walls at Burnden Park in order to get into the ground for free. 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. In 1943, Nat Lofthouse was called upon to serve as a Bevin Boy at the Mosley Common coal mine. On Jan. 15, 2011, Nat Lofthouse passed away quietly in his sleep in a Bolton nursing home at the age of 85. England conceded 24 free kicks, while Austria conceded 19. He then played in the 2-2 draw with Wales in November 1958 but, at 33 years old, and even though he had scored 29 times in 37 games for his club that proved to be his final cap and he ended his international career with an outstanding record of 30 goals in 33 starts. Find him, you got a winner. 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. He had been clattered by a defender as he shot and was carried from the field. 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. His last appearance for Bolton came on Nov. 17, 1960, a draw against Birmingham, after missing all of the 1959-60 season due to an ankle injury sustained in a pre-season tour of South Africa. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The OBE was awarded to him in 1994. Musil had to commit fully before I struck the ball. Discover Nat Lofthouse's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. A) 20 B) 30 C) 40 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. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. As a result of the United States defeat in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, the national team lost its confidence when playing outside their comfort zone of the Home International Championships. And that, basically, was all I wanted to do. [8] Nat Lofthouse was an Inaugural Inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. Lofthouse Lofthouse was dubbed the "Lion of Vienna" after scoring the second goal in England's 3-2 triumph over Austria on May 25, 1952. We had to do something quickly and we had no identity at that time. His most memorable performance,. After Jackie Sewell restored the lead, Nat Lofthouse headed against the crossbar. The 1958-59 campaign provided a final high point in Lofthouses international career. The stands were filled with British troops, who had remained stationed throughout Austria in the aftermath of the war. In spite of his prolific scoring, it took England selectors a few seasons to notice the boy from Bolton, Lofthouse's first England cap came in November of 1950 at the late age of 25.
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