Former England international Nat Lofthouse has died aged 85, his old club Bolton announced on their website yesterday.

Lofthouse, who scored 30 goals in his 33 appearances for England, died peacefully in his sleep at a nursing home in Bolton, northwest England, on Saturday night, the statement said.

Lofthouse, who earned the nickname ‘Lion of Vienna’ for his performance in England’s 3-2 win over Austria in 1952, made more than 450 appearances for the Trotters, scoring 285 goals for the club between 1946 and 1960, and four years ago was voted Bolton’s greatest ever player.

Lofthouse, who was footballer of the year in 1953, captained Bolton in two FA Cup finals, both of them memorable for different reasons.

His first was in 1953 which became known as the ‘Matthews final’ as Sir Stanley Matthews, ably assisted by Stanley Mortensen, inspired Blackpool to a stunning 4-3 victory.

He was to lift the trophy five years later, though, in sobering circumstances as he scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Manchester United, but a United side both in mourning and decimated as they had lost a large part of their side three months before in the Munich air disaster.

“Nat undoubtedly is a Bolton Wanderers legend. He was a one-club man and our football club meant as much to him as he did to us,” said club chairman Phil Gartside.

“We will miss him but we will celebrate his life, his legacy and great times that he brought to Bolton Wanderers.”

Lofthouse’s former England team-mate Don Howe said that he had been a brilliant motivator to those new to the international scene.

“He was not only a great player, he was a great character,” Howe told BBC.

“On the pitch – wonderful, powerful, put the ball in the box and he will do the job for you.

“Off the pitch, I was one of the young caps then, he would come up to you and say ‘hello son, how are you doing?’ He would give you a real gee up, that’s how he was.

“I was one of the young lads of the group then and wherever he was in the hotel, he would be around everybody picking people up. He spent his time geeing up some of the players.”

Manchester United and England legend Bobby Charlton added: “He was a leader, he had fantastic ability in the air, and he was strong, but he was also a talisman.

“I’m really sorry, and anybody in this part of the world will be very sorry, that he isn’t with us anymore because he was a fantastic credit to the game.”

After he hung up his boots, Lofthouse held a number of off-field positions at Bolton including chief coach, chief scout, caretaker manager and club president, a position he held right up until his death.

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