No1 Gordon was simply untouchable as a keeper... just ask Pele
Forget what the polls once said, there was nothing second-best about Banks
GORDON BANKS was once voted the second-best goalkeeper of the 20th century behind Lev Yashin, of the USSR.
I didn’t see enough of Yashin to make an informed comparison but I watched enough of Banks, who has died aged 81, to suggest he must have been one hell of a ‘keeper to have beaten a true England footballing legend.
Banks won 73 caps fo r E n g l a n d , including the one that mattered most — against West Germany at Wembley in 1966 — and would have surely have been the f i rs t go a l ke e p e r to have passed a century of international appearances, rather than his successor Peter Shilton, had he not the sight in his right eye after being injured in a road accident in 1972.
Such was his prowess between the ‘sticks’, though, that the Sheffield-born Banks was still considered a better goalkeeper, by American club Fort Lauderdale Strikers, who signed him five years later, than others with both eyes.
Two years before the accident that cut short his top-level career, Banks made one save which many who saw it — and many others who didn’t — still talk about as the best save of all time.
It was June 7, 1970 and England were playing Brazil in a World Cup tie in steamy Guadalajara.
England were under the cosh when Brazil wide man Jairzinho crossed the ball. Pele leapt to meet it with a perfect header and was already shouting ‘Gol!’ when Banks somehow managed to finger-tip upright.
Pele said afterwards: “I thought it was in.” Banks replied: “You and me both,” while the unflappable England captain Bobby Moore apparently quipped: “You’re getting old Banksy, you used to hold on to those.”
England went on to meet West Germany in the quarter-finals but Banks was suffering from stomach cramps and was replaced by Peter Bonetti.
England went into a 2-0 lead before eventually losing 3-2 and manager Alf Ramsey bemoaned afterwards: “Of all the players to lose, it had to be him.”
I was in the crowd at Upton Park two years later when Banks, playing for Stoke, made a save which was comparable with that one in Mexico, when he managed to dive and turn his England team-mate Geoff Hurst’s piledriver of a penalty around the post in a League Cup semi-final. Stoke won a marathon tie which went to two replays and went on to win the trophy.
the ball up and over the
Banks had no chance with either of West Germany’s goals that day but it all turned out well enough
If things had gone differently, Banks could have been playing for West Ham — instead of against them — in that match since, in 1967, he almost joined the East London club from Leicester City.
Moore had pushed for Ron Greenwood to sign the World Cup winner but the West Ham manager had already promised Kilmarnock that he intended to sign their highly-rated keeper Bobby Ferguson and would not go back on his word, a decision which affected the relationship between Moore and his manager.
I was also fortunate enough to be at Wembley on that June day in 1966 when Banks, as did t h e re s t o f u s , we n t through every emotion including despair, when West Germany’s Wolfgang Weber scored the late messy goal which sent the World Cup final into extra-time.
Banks had no chance with either of West Germany’s goals that day but it all turned out well enough, both for him — and a nation. England’s 4-2 victory remains one of the most memo-