PELE: I THOUGHT THAT I’D SCORED BANKSY: YOU, AND ME BOTH PAL
‘Mexico wondersave wasn’t even his best!’
TRAMPOLINE bounce, accelerating off a concrete like surface baked under the burning Mexican sun, gave Pele’s header added value.
It was a certain goal – until Gordon Banks defied Isaac Newton’s law of gravity, Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and every conceivable rule of physics to keep it out.
Pele (above) patted the England goalkeeper on the back and told him: “I thought that was a goal.” Banks grinned at the Brazilian deity and admitted: “You and me both, pal.”
And England captain Bobby Moore, who broke into applause on the goal-line after the save that stopped the world, joked: “You’re getting old, Banksy – you used to hold on to them.”
National treasure Banks, the goalkeeper who made you believe a man could fly, has died at 81. Years later, at a fundrais- ing dinner for the Parachute Regiment’s injured war veterans, Banks told me his happy landing on calcified cement to make the greatest save of all time was “like falling down in the middle of the road”.
Never mind Dirty Diego and his ‘Hand of God’ nonsense. For me, it will always remain a privilege to have shaken the Hand of Gord responsible for that astonishing intervention.
And the most iconic yellow jersey in sport will not be worn by the Tour de France winner or the latest Brazilian maestro. It is the
No.1 shirt worn by Banks on that golden afternoon in 1966 when England ruled the world.
Three Lions teammate, Sir Geoff Hurst, says the Pele header may not even have been his greatest save – and Banks himself was inclined to agree. In the dying seconds of West Ham’s 1972 League Cup semi-final against Stoke, the Hammers had a chance to reach Wembley on aggregate from the penalty spot.
“I went for power, caught it right on the button and I thought it was unstoppable,” said Hurst. “But this green blur appeared from nowhere and pushed it over the bar (below). Absolutely incredible.”
Stoke went on to win after two replays – despite Moore saving a penalty himself as an emergency keeper – and lifted the trophy at Wembley. Seven months later, a legend’s career was cut short by a car crash which cost Banks the sight in his right eye. But his incomparable feats should provide a beacon of hope to any aspiring keeper – because he came from a poor background and left school at 15 to become a coal bagger in Sheffield’s earthiest suburbs.
His goalkeeping career was not without its bumps in the road – he conceded 12 goals on his debut for Rawmarsh Welfare in the Yorkshire League, and he was soon dropped. He also switched jobs to mix cement as an apprentice bricklayer.
After being posted to Germany with the Royal Signals on National Service, where he met his wife Ursula, Banks’ promise as a keeper began to bear fruit.
In the 1956 FA Youth Cup final defeat with Chesterfield he found himself facing Manchester United’s Busby Babes, including Bobby Charlton. Banks’ eight seasons at Leicester finished when he was dropped in favour of a promising understudy called Peter Shilton. He ended up at Stoke after Liverpool’s board refused to sanction boss Bill Shankly’s proposed £50,000 outlay on a goalkeeper who had won the World Cup 12 months earlier. But England’s defence of the Jules Rimet trophy ended in heartbreak and intrigue. Banks did not believe he was deliberately poisoned before the quarter-final defeat by West Germany where England lost a two-goal lead and deputy, Peter Bonetti (above), had a torrid game.
But in later years, he began to question why he was the only player who fell ill when Sir Alf Ramsey’s squad ate exactly the same food for dinner. “For me, the saddest part was that we were good enough to win it
again,” he said.
“I thought the 1970 team was as good as 1966... but now we’ll never know.”
In his post-football career, Banks sold his World Cup winner’s medal, raising £124,750 to help his children get on the property ladder.
His nephew, Nick, was drummer with award-winning rock band Pulp, and Gordon was a long-serving member of the Pools Panel who deliberated when matches fell victim to bad weather.
But for the generation who saw that save in Mexico 49 years ago, neither crosses on a coupon nor a jury of wise men is required to pick out the most miraculous save of all – and the greatest English goalkeeper in a lifetime.