SOCCER: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 yesterday.
Dubbed the “Lion of Vienna”, for a pain-defying, 1952 performance for England when he was knocked unconscious after scoring the winning goal in a 3-2 defeat of Austria, Lofthouse was a one-club man.
He spent his entire playing career at the northern England club where he made more than 500 appearances in the league, scoring 255 league goals between 1946-60.
He also found the net 30 times in domestic cup competition and scored both goals in Wanderers’ 2-0 defeat of a mourning Manchester United, their side depleted by the Munich air disaster, in the 1958 FA Cup final at Wembley.
One of those goals was surrounded by controversy as he went into a challenge with the United goalkeeper and barged him into the net to score.
Dozens of subdued fans braved pouring rain to head to the Reebok stadium yesterday to write messages of condolence on pieces of paper that were laid out on a table with flowers near the main entrance.
