Lofty - RIP

[Lofthouse Lower]

Thank you for helping my laziness.

I was told by someone at the club that the office at Reebok is manned 24/7 so you can sign it anytime

Yeah Lofty the Lion is doing nightwatch.

[wanderers_on_tour]

Just to let you guys know there's an hour long tribute to Nat on Sky Sports 2, 10:00-11:00 p.m tonight. I don't know quite what its about but its definately going on my sky plus!

[SonsOfThunder]

A sad time indeed, he will be missed by all.

[keveh]

This was what I saw there tonight, going to leave a shirt tomorrow...

[TANGODANCER]

A quote from the man himself that adequately sums up his nature, honesty and football. Describing his father:

" He worked as coal bagger for the Co-op and only earned about £3.15s a week. "When he retired they gave him a small standard lamp- he'd worked for them for more than fifty years. They gave me the freedom of Bolton for playing football. "Doesn't seem right does it"

[keveh]

I am tempted to renew my sky sports subscription just for the show that's on tonight

[ratbert]

Just to let you all know the 'Lofty anecdotes' article will go up tonight. I'm going to use most of the comments in this thread, anyone who doesn't want their Nat story featured let me know.

And there's still time for some more!

[a1]

theres a series the bbc did which the terry dude out of the likely lads (james bolam?) narrated from about 15 years ago , i remember it being pretty awesome- nat , finney , matthews , lawton etc were all on it as talking heads.

might have been called "football diaries" as there's a series from 2004 called that , but the thing i'm remembering was from miles before... the titles had that picture lowry painted all stop motion / ken burns animated . the thing from 2004 mightve been the sequel.

it pretty much cronicled the history of football in england up till at least the 80s.

[ratbert]

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/bolton/memories-of-nat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As promised, our memories of Nat.

[keveh]

Great article

[clapton is god]

theres a series the bbc did which the terry dude out of the likely lads (james bolam?) narrated from about 15 years ago , i remember it being pretty awesome- nat , finney , matthews , lawton etc were all on it as talking heads.

might have been called "football diaries" as there's a series from 2004 called that , but the thing i'm remembering was from miles before... the titles had that picture lowry painted all stop motion / ken burns animated . the thing from 2004 mightve been the sequel.

it pretty much cronicled the history of football in england up till at least the 80s.

It was called 'Jumpers For Goalposts'. I remember it well and have tried to get hold of it many times since but always failed. Burnden was on it several times.

[a1]

It was called 'Jumpers for Goalposts'. I remember it well and have tried to get hold of it many times since but always failed. Burnden was on it several times.

is that right ? seems a bit fast show , but i'll take your word for it.

i just remember the titles being that burnden lowry painting , zooming in on the pigeon with the scoreline taped to its leg, james bolams voice, and that it seemed like it were on for about 10 weeks.

wants upping to youtube / iplayer / dvd / wherever .

[bw@bw]

One of the best reads every weekend is ex England Rugby coach Brian Ashton in the Independent on Saturday - so much good stuff about getting the best out of players.
At the bottom of this week's article is this.....




My great privilege to have run with the Lion of Vienna

It was with great sorrow that I read of the death of Nat Lofthouse, our celebrated "Lion of Vienna" and a great England centre-forward. He was the epitome of the one-club man, his club being Bolton Wanderers, and I remember him as one of the real gentlemen of sport.

Not that he was too gentle with me when, as a 20-year-old working in Bolton, I was invited by a colleague at Fylde, the England centre Malcolm Phillips, to sharpen my fitness with some Tuesday night sprint training at Burnden Park. Our coach and fellow competitor turned out to be Nat, who was 40 at the time but still in top condition, as I found to my cost.

At our first session, which consisted entirely of 50-yard interval sprints, he asked me if I wanted a five-yard start. Being a brash little upstart, I turned the offer down. He promptly beat me by eight yards and never asked again. Indeed, I went on to lose every sprint for a year. It was a painful lesson, but I consider myself privileged to have known Nat, however briefly.

[Lofthouse Lower]

Well worth a read - http://therepublikofmancunia.com/nat-lo ... %E2%80%8F/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lofthouse Lower]

Commemorative programmes available tonight too http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1 ... 68,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bruno3]

Slightly off topic but.....
I've just re-read Nat's autobiography "Goals Galore" and was surprised to see him refer to his fellow professional footballers as "soccermen". This word appears many times. I thought soccer was an american invention so why would Nat be using it back in 1954 ( I was 3 at the time so that's my excuse for not knowing).
By the way, if you get the chance to read it you'll be amazed at the difference between his approach to the game and that of the vast majority of present -day "stars".

[TANGODANCER]

Apparently "soccer" is an abreviation of "Association" and the term originated in England. We did hear , maybe used, the term at school, but "footy" was the common description amongst kids even back then.

[Bruno3]

Yes, we used to call it footy - or, more appropriately in primary school days, "kick 'n' rush"

[TANGODANCER]

Yes, we used to call it footy - or, more appropriately in primary school days, "kick 'n' rush"

Aye, there was a lot more of that on Moss Bank, Hulton Lane and like venues than the
"beautiful" game. Short passes along the ground through mud just didn't cut it.

[Bruno3]

Yes, we used to call it footy - or, more appropriately in primary school days, "kick 'n' rush"

Aye, there was a lot more of that on Moss Bank, Hulton Lane and like venues than the
"beautiful" game. Short passes along the ground through mud just didn't cut it.

Or through the broken bottles on Spa Road