 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nathaniel Lofthouse | ||
| Date of birth | (1925-08-27)27 August 1925 | ||
| Place of birth | Bolton, England | ||
| Date of death | 15 January 2011(2011-01-15) (aged 85) | ||
| Place of death | Bolton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.76 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1939–1946 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1946–1960 | Bolton Wanderers | 452 | (255) |
| International career | |||
| 1950–1958[2] | England | 33 | (30) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1968–1971 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| 1985 | Bolton Wanderers (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nathaniel LofthouseOBE (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professionalfootballer who played as aforward forBolton Wanderers forhis entire career. He won 33caps forEngland between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with one of the highest goals-per-game ratios of any England player.
Born inBolton,Lancashire, in 1925, Lofthouse joined the town's main club on 4 September 1939 and made his debut in a wartime 5–1 win againstBury on 22 March 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 againstChelsea on 31 August 1946, when he scored twice in a 4–3 defeat. Lofthouse would go on to play 33 games forEngland, but his debut on 22 November 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 againstYugoslavia atHighbury on his debut.
On 25 May 1952, Lofthouse earned the title 'Lion ofVienna' after scoring his second goal in England's 3–2 victory overAustria.[3] In doing so he was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind, and finally brought down by the goalkeeper. 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.
In1952–53, he was namedFWA Footballer of the Year. He scored a goal – but was on the losing side – in the famous1953 FA Cup Final (aka 'TheMatthews Final'), having previously scored in each round. That season he topped the First Division goalscoring charts with 30 goals. He featured in the1954 World Cup side. Lofthouse scored twice againstBelgium in a match that ended 4–4. Injured for the next match, in the quarter final game againstUruguay he equalized in the 16th minute, after receiving the ball in the 18-yard box.[which?]
On 3 May 1958, almost five years to the day after losing the 1953 final, Lofthouse captained Bolton in the1958 FA Cup Final againstManchester United.[3] There was a national wave of sympathy for United, who three months earlier had suffered grievously in theMunich air disaster. Bolton won the game 2–0 with Lofthouse scoring both goals, the second of which was highly controversial and remains a talking point to this day.[3] Lofthouse went into a challenge with the United keeperHarry Gregg and barged him into the net to score.[3] Shoulder charging the goalkeeper was a legitimate tactic at the time, but Lofthouse later admitted that his challenge was a foul.[3]
On 26 November 1958, Lofthouse made his final England appearance, againstWales, 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 was not until 17 December of that year, when he suffered a knee injury againstBirmingham City. Lofthouse stands eighth in thelist of English football's top division all time goalscorers.[4]
After retiring from playing football, Lofthouse became the assistant trainer atBurnden Park on 10 July 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 18 December. 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.
Lofthouse was the recipient of various honours after retiring from the game. On 2 December 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. On 1 January 1994, he was appointed anOBE and on 18 January 1997, Bolton decided to name their East Stand at their newReebok Stadium after him. On 24 August 2013, a statue was dedicated.[5]
On 7 April 1993, he appeared as a special guest on the TV guest showThis Is Your Life, in which the on-screen guests includedTom Finney andHarry Gregg, while others includingBobby Charlton,Gary Lineker andIan Rush appeared on screen to pay tribute to Lofthouse as they were unable to appear alongside Lofthouse due to other commitments.[6]
Tributes were paid to Lofthouse as he celebrated his 80th birthday, including a party at the Reebok.[7] A campaign, backed byGordon Taylor, the chief executive of theProfessional Footballers' Association and former Bolton player, was started, aiming to get Lofthouse knighted.[8] Nat Lofthouse was an Inaugural Inductee into theEnglish Football Hall of Fame in 2002.[9]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(January 2011) |
When he was a child, he attended Castle Hill School, in his hometown of Bolton. As he was already a Bolton Wanderers player having joined them in 1939, Lofthouse wasconscripted in 1943 and worked inMosley Common colliery as aBevin Boy duringWorld War II.[10] He married Alma Foster in 1947 and they remained married until her death in 1985.[11] They had two children, a son, Jeff, and a daughter, Vivien.[12]
Lofthouse died on 15 January 2011, aged 85, in a nursing home in Bolton.[13] He had suffered withdementia.[14]On 24 January 2011 in Bolton Wanderers first home game since his death againstChelsea, a pre-match period of a minute's silence, thunderous applause, black-and-white footage of Lofthouse in action and the laying of floral tributes byKevin Davies andJohn Terry took place before the start of the match.[15]Lofthouse was buried on 26 January 2011 as thousands turned out to say goodbye atBolton Parish Church. His funeral service was attended by more than 500 invited guests and members of the public. Eulogies were offered by Bolton chairmanPhil Gartside and Professional Footballers' Association chief executiveGordon Taylor, a boyhood Bolton fan and former Wanderers player.Former Bolton captainKevin Davies and then managerOwen Coyle were among thepallbearers.[16]
Soon after Lofthouse's death a swell of support for a statue to be built in his memory started. A year to the day after his death,Bolton Wanderers chairmanPhil Gartside announced plans for one to be built and for the statue to be situated outside theReebok Stadium. The plan was for the statue to be funded by public donations, with help from the club.[17] It was unveiled on 24 August 2013, three days before what would have been Lofthouse's 88th birthday. 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 againstQueens Park Rangers.
In April 1998, train operatorVirgin CrossCountry named locomotive47807Lion of Vienna in Lofthouse's honour atBolton station.[18]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Charity Shield | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 1946-47 | First Division | 40 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 40 | 17 |
| 1947-48 | First Division | 34 | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 34 | 18 | |
| 1948-49 | First Division | 22 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 22 | 7 | |
| 1949-50 | First Division | 35 | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 35 | 10 | |
| 1950-51 | First Division | 38 | 21 | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | 39 | 22 | |
| 1951-52 | First Division | 38 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 38 | 16 | |
| 1952-53 | First Division | 36 | 22 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 38 | 24 | |
| 1953-54 | First Division | 32 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 32 | 17 | |
| 1954-55 | First Division | 31 | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 31 | 15 | |
| 1955-56 | First Division | 36 | 32 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 38 | 33 | |
| 1956-57 | First Division | 36 | 28 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 37 | 28 | |
| 1957-58 | First Division | 31 | 17 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 35 | 20 | |
| 1958-59 | First Division | 37 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 43 | 34 | |
| 1959-60 | First Division | 6 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 3 | |
| Career Total | 452 | 255 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 466 | 264 | ||||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 November 1950 | Highbury Stadium, London, England |  Yugoslavia | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 2–0 | |||||
| 3 | 14 November 1951 | Villa Park, Birmingham, England |  Northern Ireland | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1952 British Home Championship |
| 4 | 2–0 | |||||
| 5 | 28 November 1951 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  Austria | 2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 6 | 25 May 1952 | Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria | Austria | 1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 7 | 3–2 | |||||
| 8 | 28 May 1952 | Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland |  Switzerland | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 3–0 | |||||
| 10 | 4 October 1952 | Windsor Park,Belfast, Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1953 British Home Championship |
| 11 | 12 November 1952 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  Wales | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1953 British Home Championship |
| 12 | 5–2 | |||||
| 13 | 24 November 1952 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  Belgium | 2–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
| 14 | 5–0 | |||||
| 15 | 24 May 1953 | Estadio Nacional de Chile,Santiago, Chile |  Chile | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 16 | 8 June 1953 | Yankee Stadium, New York, United States |  United States | 2–0 | 6–3 | Friendly |
| 17 | 4–0 | |||||
| 18 | 10 October 1953 | Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales |  Wales | 3– 1 | 4–1 | 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification & 1954 British Home Championship |
| 19 | 4–1 | |||||
| 20 | 11 November 1953 | Goodison Park,Liverpool, England | Northern Ireland | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 21 | 17 June 1954 | St. Jakob Stadium,Basel, Switzerland | Belgium | 2–1 | 4–4 | 1954 FIFA World Cup group stage |
| 22 | 4–3 | |||||
| 23 | 26 June 1954 | St. Jakob Stadium, Basel, Switzerland |  Uruguay | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1954 FIFA World Cup quarter-final |
| 24 | 2 April 1955 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  Scotland | 2–0 | 7–2 | 1955 British Home Championship |
| 25 | 4–1 | |||||
| 26 | 2 October 1955 | Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark |  Denmark | 2–0 | 5–1 | Friendly |
| 27 | 3–0 | |||||
| 28 | 20 May 1956 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland |  Finland | 4–1 | 5–1 | Friendly |
| 29 | 5–1 | |||||
| 30 | 22 October 1958 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  Soviet Union | 5–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
Bolton Wanderers
Individual
