“The Lion of Vienna”
The great Nat Lofthouse (and he WAS great — a fabulous 30 goals in 33 games for England) got his nickname from an Austria v England match in 1962.
The game was tied at 2 – 2 when Lofthouse received the ball and slid it past the goalkeeper. But Nat was knocked out cold in the challenge. As he said later, “I never saw the ball going into the net in the goal of my life.”
The citation for his 2002 induction into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame described him as having “a powerful shot in either foot, and a strong header.” There you have it — he was two-footed, possessing the very skill I’ve long campaigned for, studied, written a book about, and teach.
Nat was a one-club man for his entire career, playing over 400 games for Bolton Wanderers. He signed for them as a 14 year old apprentice in 1939. During the War, when he worked down the mines, he used to take the 4:30 a.m. tram to the coalmine, work for 8 hours, and then be collected by the team bus, which took him to the football ground to play for the club! Between 1946 and 1961 he scored 285 goals for them.
In the 1958 FA Cup Final he scored his club’s two goals, in the process charging ball and goalkeeper Harry Gregg over the line. Shoulder charging the goalkeeper was allowed in those days, and that particular goal was a source of heated controversy. Nat afterwards admitted that he had committed a foul.
Like most people who were genuinely great, Nat Lofthouse was also genuinely modest and humble. He remained a down-to-earth man. I had the good fortune to meet him twice, each time at Bolton’s grounds. We developed a warm friendship, and he became an enthusiastic supporter of my museum project.
He donated an inter-league medal from an Irish League/English League match, and a Bolton showcase featuring items from the club and its players.
At our second meeting he treated me to lunch, and we had a fascinating and wide ranging conversation not only about my project, but also about football in general, and the state of the game. As we bade each other goodbye, he said he’d be sending me an official letter of support for my museum project.
And he was as good as his word. It duly arrived, and I still have it, one of my more treasured possessions, a tangible reminder of a warm and humble man, one of football’s enduring greats. Rest in peace Nat.
