RIP Nat Lofhouse

The former England striker and Bolton Wanderers legend Nat Lofthouse OBE died in his sleep this weekend at a care home in Bolton. It is difficult to put into words just what Nat meant to Bolton.

Nat was born in Bolton in 1925 and he made his debut for Bolton Wanderers on March 22nd, 1941. Nat went on to play 660 games for Bolton in which he scored 441 goals. His most famous goal for Bolton was his controversial second in the 1958 cup final victory against Manchester United. After his retirement in 1960 Nat maintained his involvement with the club and over the years had spells as chief coach and manager before he was eventually given the title of lifetime club President.

Nat won 33 caps for England scoring 30 goals. His most famous goal for England was in 1952 when they were playing Austria in Vienna. Nat scored 2 goals in England’s dramatic 3–2 victory. In the process of scoring the second goal Nat was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind, and finally brought down by the goalkeeper. His bravery earned him the nickname of ‘The Lion of Vienna’.

In the early 1980’s Bolton Wanderers were languishing in the lower divisions and on the verge of Bankruptcy. At one stage they were literally days away from locking the gates for good at Burnden Park. The management at Bolton decided to launch the ‘Burnden Lifeline’ as a way of raising funds. Nat Lofthouse, described by Bolton’s former commercial director Alf Davies as the clubs only credible personality, was appointed president of the Lifeline. His picture was on all the advertising and the leaflets etc and he worked tirelessly to save his beloved club. Without him the Burnden Lifeline would never have got going and it is unlikely the club would have survived.

I can still picture Nat at the last ever game at Burnden Park when he was standing on the pitch for the last time with tears streaming down his face. I also remember the reports about how proud he was when the news broke that one of the stands at the Reebok stadium was to be named after him.

I met Nat a few times over the years and he was always the friendliest and humblest of characters. He was a real old school working class bloke who wore his heart on his sleeve.

God bless you Nat Lofthouse, we will never forget you.