Very sad news. One of the best goalkeepers of all time. https://twitter.com/i/status/1095265419294842880
Never heard a bad word regarding him, should have been knighted!. R.I.P. Sir Gordon You will be remembered for being a true Gent and a Footballing hero!
Could be just played three games for Hellenic in 1971, a minor indiscretion if that cost him a knighthood!
As Pele said “I scored 1000 goals but what many talk about is the goal I didn’t score - the save by Gordon Banks” Quarter final World Cup 1970. RIP Mr Banks, old school gent and at one point World Number 1 goalkeeper.
During one's primary school days, Gordon Banks was a permanent & reassuring presence. Like your parents but better at catching crosses. An overused term but he is an England legend.
For England, he should be an immortal. He may well have been England’s greatest player. I can’t think of another one who held such international respect for so long.
I remember Mexico '70 very faintly. My brother eating toast and grainy colour tv. I do remember THAT save and the loss to W Germany. A sad day and another of the '66 squad slips away. RIP.
Were World Cup coins at the same time as the splendid History of Flight series? Louis Blériot had the aura of a Penny Black.
Oh I don't remember the flight ones but I still have Brian Labone somewhere I think or possibly Alan Mullery,who I expect is in the fridge,next to the gin!
Must have the Esso 1970 collection. All at a time when petrol prices were about to quadruple. https://collectablesandmemorabilia.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/collectors-edition-coin-sets/
An all time great. A gentleman and a World Cup winner for England. More than just that one save he will always be the greatest may he rest in peace.
I personally think the honours system is a nonsense anyway. What counts is what a person has achieved in their respective field and the accolades of their fellows in that particular field. And when you look at the responses of those people then you can see he was a great player and person. He is one of the few people to have a won a World Cup medal and that is what counts. The fact that he was not knighted should not be here or there. What should be noted is the fact he had to sell his medal to make ends meet. It is such a shame that we have gone from one extreme where players were not adequately recompensed to the other where they are vastly overpaid for what they do. I am sure Stoke will or indeed Leicester will eventually build a statue of him. In those times fans were more respectful of opposition players and after his retirement led by Bill Shankley Banks received a huge ovation from the Kop after his career ending car accident. Banks would have ended up with Liverpool after the World Cup with Peter Shilton emerging at Leicester (and with whom he was a major part of their 1969 FA Cup winning side) but for the price tag. £50000. Banks lfet he merited the sum but Liverpool board members baulked at the fee. Strange really considering the lack of any real quality keepers in England at the time. Mulhearn at a then very strong Manchester City and the disaster zone that was Gary Sprake at Leeds. The Banks of England getting a raucous ovation from the Kop after his retirement in 1973: The two greatest England keepers in training together at Stokes old Victoria Ground:
