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.

- No, no, I've ...16th Feb 2014
- Fed up with e...15th Feb 2014
- Ladies and ge...14th Feb 2014
- Why McCartney...13th Feb 2014
- Glorious love...12th Feb 2014
- The greatest ...11th Feb 2014
- Don't you hat...10th Feb 2014
- Knitting need...9th Feb 2014
- People from L...8th Feb 2014
- "Working in a...7th Feb 2014
- It's a nation...6th Feb 2014
- My mum worked...5th Feb 2014
- Yes, yes, we ...4th Feb 2014
- Whispering Bo...3rd Feb 2014
- The thing abo...2nd Feb 2014 prev next