LEGENDS don't always have great games and Nat Lofthouse was no exception. He recalls one of his 33 appearances for England - against Italy in 1952 - when, by his own admission, he had a "stinker" in the beautiful city of Florence.

Bolton's No 1 sporting son didn't need telling either but a phone call home to his wife Alma the following morning confirmed that he was the one carrying the can for a lacklustre attacking performance . . . at least in the eyes of one newspaper.

"Send a Comet for Milburn!" screamed the Daily Express headline on Desmond Hackett's far from complimentary match report.

But the England selectors didn't send for the Newcastle centre-forward and a week later confirmed their faith in the Bolton Wanderers' No 9. The date was May 25, the venue was Vienna . . . and anyone with an appreciation of footballing history won't need telling that this was Lofty's finest hour!

A dramatic and heroic late goal - his second of the match - earned England a 3-2 triumph over the well-fancied Austrians.

That night at the customary banquet, Nat had the satisfaction of receiving a bottle of champagne, courtesy of the aforementioned Mr Hackett, whose report in the Express the next day hailed the Bolton hero as the "Lion of Vienna", coining the nickname that would become famous the world over! It's a story in tribute to a great player and respected journalist from the "old school" that illustrates the fluctuating fortunes of football and footballers. And it might well be repeated when Nat attends one of the most illustrious gatherings of the great and the good in May.

The "Evening of Legends" at the London Hilton in Park Lane on May 13 will honour the achievements of the 100 League Legends - the players recognised as being the best to have graced the professional game in this country.

Never again will so many of football's greatest ever players come together to honour the national game - the showpiece event of the Football League's Centenary Season. Many from the early days, of course, are no longer alive - the likes of the great Steve Bloomer and Billy Meredith - but the evening will see the legends of old, Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, rubbing shoulders with today's 'superstars'. Alan Shearer, Peter Schmeichel and Denis Bergkamp.

"I've had a few honours over the years," Nat says modestly, "but to think I'm listed among the greatest of all time, is wonderful. I regard it as a tribute to the town of Bolton and to Bolton Wanderers.

"I'd like to think I'd be celebrating promotion at the same time."

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