RIP Gordon Banks, England’s 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper, who died yesterday. Arguably the greatest keeper this country has ever produced, he was one of those rare people for whom nobody had a bad word. Banks is best remembered for the “Save of the Century” against Brazil in 1970 (1:15 on this clip), when England had a great chance of winning the World Cup again. Then Banks was struck down by a very mysterious stomach bug. The team were allowed one beer the night before the quarter-final, and it’ll always be suspected that Banks’s drink was spiked. Too ill to play the following day against West Germany, he was replaced by Peter Bonetti. Bonetti was no Banks, England lost 3-2 and didn’t play another World Cup game for twelve years. But June 1970, Gordon Banks was indisputably England’s No.1. Not just as a goalkeeper but, with this at No.1 in the charts, as a pop star.
The original Banksy.

- The trouble w...16th Jul 2015
- Unlikely cham...15th Jul 2015
- Camden anti-g...14th Jul 2015
- My daughter w...13th Jul 2015
- Sometimes thi...11th Jul 2015
- Bumped into m...9th Jul 2015
- Everyone's a ...5th Jul 2015
- So where woul...3rd Jul 2015
- 35 degrees. ...1st Jul 2015
- To the Royal ...30th Jun 2015
- Pride pool pa...28th Jun 2015
- I don't have ...27th Jun 2015
- Fleetwood Mac...26th Jun 2015
- Happy Birthda...25th Jun 2015
- Did no one at...23rd Jun 2015 prev next