Sad news, club legend Nat Lofthouse has passed away at the age of 85. Nat was a one club man, he made 452 appearances for the Wanderers scoring an amazing 255 goals. During this period he played in two FA Cup finals including the 1953 "Matthew's Final" and was a winner in the 1958 final against Manchester United. He was capped for England 33 times and scored 30 goals including a two goals in a game Vienna against Austria that earned him the nickname 'The Lion of Vienna'. Rest in peace Nat.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2XxFe3NdYE"]YouTube - Football Legends Nat Lofthouse part 1[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxE97EeJCgw"]YouTube - Football Legends Nat Lofthouse part 2[/ame]
Modern football is full of greedy disloyal mercenaries. Nat like a true fan from cradle to grave he remained a one club man. In a world where Knighthoods are thrown around like confetti for London business & industry leaders In my heart he will always be Sir Nat RIP.
[I was SO lucky to see Lofthouse play for both Bolton & England in my lifetime. A true contender for being regarded as one of, if not THE, top centre-forward that ever laced-up a pair of boots for England IMO. RIP & good-bye to a true LEGEND of the game. As an aside, a mate of mine on YouTube actually uploaded this interview feature on Lofthouse fr. the BBC Radio Legends of Football site. I've been posting links to obits, profiles, etc. about "Lofty" over in the Players & Legends forum & in the Football History group. I suppose that I can post them here if anyone wants to see them...]
[Certainly, glad to do it, mate: This is "The Lion's profile fr. Spartacus Football; make sure that you scroll clear down for all of the bonus text: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/BOLTONlofthouse.htm This is Lofthouse's profile fr. englandcaps.co.uk: http://www.englandcaps.co.uk/NatLofthouse.html This is the Spartacus Football profile on Bolton capt. Malcom Barras, who also played alongside "Lofty" for England as well: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/BOLTONbarras.htm This is the Spartacus Football profile on George Hunt, who Lofthouse credited as being his most important mentor in the art of playing as a centre-forward in his autobiography "Goals Galore": http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARSEhuntG.htm This is an excellent obit & profile on "Lofty" fr. The Bolton News website: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news...at_Lofthouse__Farewell_to_the_Lion_of_Vienna/ As an aside, you'll also learn the bizarre fact that Lofthouse was first selected to play for an FA XI v. an RAF XI in Oct. of '46, yet he didn't make his full England side debut until '50. Normally the representative sides were a fairly "straight shot" in to whichever NT that you would be capped by, England, Scot., Wales, etc. This is the obit & profile fr. The Mirror w/some nice tributes to Lofthouse fr. the likes of "Sir Bobby" & Don Howe w/a link to even more tributes: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...d-and-bolton-football-legend-115875-22854471/ This is the obit & profile fr. The Daily Mail w/more tributes & a "Lofty" career timeline: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-credit-football-says-Sir-Bobby-Charlton.html I've got loads more links to info on "The Lion" if you find this informative. I wanted to put a "sample" up here just to see how it goes over. Btw, I was an eyewitness to Lofthouse in action for both Bolton & Eng. on many occaisons & I was both a fan & a contributing football journalist while Lofthouse was an active player. If anyone wants to know what it was like to see "The Lion" single-handedly both bashing & tearing defences apart for both Bolton & England just lmk. I might also be able to answer questions regarding Lofthouse's career, such as why he didn't win more England caps, even though thirty-three was a very respectable career tally by the standards of his day IMO.]
This is an excellent profile & retrospective on Lofthouse's career by Paul Simpson, who also saw "Lofty" in action, w/good info about what Lofthouse was actually like on the pitch: http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/fourfo...atical-practical-genius-of-nat-lofthouse.aspx This is a tribute fr. MOTD w/good footage of Lofthouse in action: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu1Zd3hyoTw"]YouTube - Nat Lofthouse 1925-2011 RIP[/ame]
[W/this link make sure that you listen to the radio interview where "Sir Bobby" pays tribute to his England colleague Lofthouse.]
[One of the best fan tributes I've seen goes essentially, "God's/Heaven's XI must have needed a GREAT No.9."]
[You're quite welcome, mate; I'll post some more as soon as I have a chance. That natlofthouse.co.uk is a great site IMO. I'm surprised that I missed it when I was searching for new info/articles on "Lofty".]
This is an excellent obit & profile fr. The Guardian written by David Lacey where he gives a more accurate portrayal of Lofthouse as a great all-round centre-forward who had pace, could lead the forward line, could get the ball to team-mates, etc., rather than being simply a "battering ram" of a No.9 as some profiles seem to be portraying him: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/16/nat-lofthouse
[The Guardian site put that article up fairly recently IIRC. I've been meaning to post more links to info on Lofthouse, but people keep asking me questions about him because I followed his career quite closely & I actually saw him play on a number of occaisons.]
The Football Ramble inducts Lofthouse in to their programme's HoF at the end of this podcast: http://www.thefootballramble.com/index.php/podcasts/episode/lets-all-calm-down-and-listen-to-luke
Bob Ferrier reports for The Daily Mirror from 26 May of '52 on the England match that earned Lofthouse "The Lion of Vienna" nickname: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/incoming/article4147.ece/BINARY/Austria+2-3+England