Gordon Banks

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Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks 2007.jpg
Gordon Banks (2007)
Personnel
birthday December 30, 1937
place of birth Abbeydale, Sheffield ,  United Kingdom
date of death February 12, 2019
Place of death Stoke-on-Trent ,  United Kingdom
size 185 cm
position goal
Juniors
Years station
1953 Millspaugh
1953 Rawmarsh Welfare FC
1953 Millspaugh
1953-1958 Chesterfield FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1958-1959 Chesterfield FC 23 (0)
1959-1967 Leicester City 293 (0)
1967-1973 Stoke City 194 (0)
1967 → Cleveland Stokers (loan) 7 (0)
1971 → Hellenic FC (loan) 3 (0)
1977-1988 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 37 (0)
1977 →  St Patrick's Athletic  (loan) 1 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
1961 England U23 2 (0)
1963-1972 England 73 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
1979-1980 Telford United
1 Only league games are given.
As of February 12, 2019

2 As of February 12, 2019

Gordon Banks (born December 30, 1937 in Sheffield , England , † February 12, 2019 in Stoke-on-Trent ) was an English football goalkeeper who was voted the world's second best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS statistics association . His greatest success was winning the soccer World Cup in his own country in 1966 . “Banks of England” also gained greater fame four years later through a successful parade against the Brazilian world star Pelé , which was recognized by the world football organization FIFA as one of the best rescue acts in the history of the football World Cup. In the professional world he was considered the best goalkeeper in the world from 1966 to 1970.

Athletic career

Career start

Born in Sheffield , Gordon Banks took an early interest in the style of play of the goalkeepers who were active at the time and joined a local team of miners as a boy. After graduating from school, he first worked in mining and later as a bricklayer .

From then on, Banks increasingly played in youth club teams and quickly rose to the reserve teams in the adult division. He then did his military service with the telecommunications force ("Royal Corps of Signals") of the British Army of the Rhine . During his stationing in Langeleben , Lower Saxony , he played for SV Viktoria Königslutter . He visited this club regularly for the rest of his life and was an honorary member of SV Viktoria Königslutter. With the regimental team he won the "Rhine Cup". Immediately after his return to England offered him the coach of FC Chesterfield , Ted Davison , to a professional contract.

In 1956, Banks reached the final of what is probably the most important English youth competition, the FA Youth Cup, with Chesterfield FC and was defeated there after a round-trip against the famous " Busby Babes " from Manchester United with 3: 4 goals. In November 1958, Banks made his debut with the professional team in the newly formed Third Division , but moved to the end of the season - after only a total of 23 missions - for a transfer fee of 7,000 British pounds to the first division club Leicester City .

A quick ascent followed; after only four games on the substitute team, Banks made his debut in the English top division. On September 9, 1959, he replaced the injured Dave McLaren in the 1-1 draw against Blackpool FC for the first time and was also used three days later in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United . Although McLaren was able to push his rival back to the bench after his recovery, the subsequent 14 goals against in just five games ensured that Banks returned to the goalkeeping position and would remain his coach's first choice for the rest of the season.

With Leicester City, Banks reached the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in 1961 after beating Sheffield United . It was the first of a total of three finals for the club in the 1960s. The final opponent in 1961 was Tottenham Hotspur , which dominated English football at the time and had won the championship by a clear margin. Although Banks performed well in the final, the injury-related loss of right defender Len Chalmers turned out to be too much of a weakening and after two goals in the second half by Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson the Spurs won the cup and thus the first English " Double “of the 20th century.

The main goalkeeper for the England team at the time was Ron Springett . After the 1962 World Cup in Chile , however, the new national coach Alf Ramsey initiated numerous changes. In April 1963, the 25-year-old Banks came against Scotland at Wembley for the first time. Although England lost the game 2-1, Banks' performance was largely positive in the media and Ramsey was also very satisfied. Banks was in goal in 13 of the next 15 international matches, including a 1-1 draw against reigning world champions Brazil .

In 1963 Banks was back in the FA Cup final with Leicester City, this time against Manchester United. Five years after the Munich plane crash and the death of eight "Busby Babes", United tried to win its first title with the newly built team. Banks could not hold a shot from Bobby Charlton and thus enabled David Herd to score the 0-1 with margin. Banks was also unhappy at the 2-0 draw when Denis Law caught him on the wrong foot with a shot. After Leicester narrowed it to 2-1 with a Ken Keyworth header , a mistake by Banks made it 3-1. Banks grabbed a cross struck by Johnny Giles into his box but couldn't hold the ball and dropped it right in front of Hearth, which scored the third goal for Manchester.

Banks finally won his first title in 1964, when he and his team defeated Stoke City 4-3 in the final of the League Cup on a two- legged basis. The following year failed to defend the title when a 3-2 defeat in the first leg to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was only followed by a 0-0 at home on Filbert Street .

The world championship year 1966

In 1965, Banks was undisputedly the first choice for the position of the English national goalkeeper and had reached a level of performance that could be considered the "form of his life" for the next seven years or so. His strengths lay in an extraordinary agility with often spectacular parades and in the close observation of the game, which enabled him to anticipate enemy attacks and led to an almost flawless positional play.

With Banks in goal, England won the group stage as hosts with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay and two 2-0 wins over Mexico and France that left Banks largely unemployed. The strength of the defense, visible in the three games without conceding a goal, was also shown in the at times unfair quarter-final game against Argentina , which was won 1-0 by a goal from Geoff Hurst .

England led 2-0 in the semi-final against Portugal after two goals from Bobby Charlton before a Jack Charlton penalty ensured that Banks was beaten 2-1 for the first time in the tournament with Eusébio's goal .

In the final against Germany , England initially dominated the game, but Banks conceded the first goal of the game. After a weak header from Ray Wilson , Helmut Haller scored the opening goal with a right-footed shot, whereby the placed - but not particularly hard - shot was favored by a misunderstanding between Jack Charlton and Banks. Six minutes later, Hurst headed the equalizer, followed by Martin Peters' 2-1 lead in the second half .

After Banks could not excel in the second half for a long time, he came back to the center of events with a free kick from Lothar Emmerich from almost 30 meters away. The shot ricocheted off the wall, the German defender Wolfgang Weber slipped into the ball at the five-meter space and scored the equalizer to make it 2-2 shortly before the end of the game. Shortly before the end of regular time, Banks had to fend off a great chance from Siggi Held . He was unable to intervene in the subsequent margin from Uwe Seeler , but the shot missed the goal.

In extra time , Hurst scored the famous and controversial Wembley goal to 3: 2 (final score 4: 2). Banks had become the soccer world champion in his 33rd international match.

1966-1970

At Banks' Leicester City club, Peter Shilton , an up-and-coming youth goalkeeper who made his debut in the first team in May 1966 at the age of 16, caused a stir. It quickly became apparent that Shilton would be an exceptional player, but his direct competitor was Gordon Banks, who was considered the world's best goalkeeper at the time. When Shilton insisted on signing a professional contract only if he was guaranteed a regular place in the first team, the club's management surprisingly decided to give Banks the clearance for a move just a year after the world title. Banks then moved to Stoke City and moved to Madeley in Staffordshire .

In the English national team, Banks remained the first choice in the goalkeeping position. Although Ramsey occasionally used Peter Bonetti from Chelsea FC , Gordon West from Everton FC or Alex Stepney from Manchester United , he continued to trust his world goalkeeper in the important games. England reached the round of the last four teams at the EM 1968 with Banks and lost to Yugoslavia there in Florence . The following year Banks celebrated his 50th international match with a 4-1 against the Scottish selection at Wembley. Until the beginning of the World Cup in Mexico in 1970 , for which England did not have to qualify as defending champions, he was used in nine other games.

1970 World Cup in Mexico

Shortly after arriving in Mexico, Banks received word that he was to be awarded the Order of the British Empire . He played his 60th game in winning the first group game against Romania . This was followed by the duel against Brazil, accompanied by high expectations, in which Banks secured a place in football history after just ten minutes of play with a spectacular action.

Splendid parade against Pelé

In the fast-paced early stages, the Brazilian team put England under enormous pressure. The captain Carlos Alberto launched an attack by pointing to Jairzinho with a low pass to the right . The fast winger overtook English left-back Terry Cooper , hit the ball just short of the baseline and hit a high flank that descended at the far post. Banks had covered the short post - as is usual with goalkeepers in such situations - and now had to move to the opposite post with a quick kick - following the flight of the ball.

Meanwhile, Pelé was there with perfect timing, won the header duel against right-back Tommy Wright and placed the ball in the lower corner just off the post with a hard and fast header. Banks was still on the way from the other post and seemed impossible to get to the ball, especially since he had to orientate himself a little backwards during the defensive action. Pelé was already shouting “Goal!”, But Banks dived backwards to the ground and blocked the ball with his right hand as it fell. It was only when he heard the cheers of his teammate and captain Bobby Moore and saw the ball roll off the field onto an advertising board that he realized he must have steered the ball over the crossbar. Although the English team was not very popular in Mexico, mainly because of critical comments from Ramsey in the run-up to the tournament, the crowd at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara cheered Banks, who took his position again to await the corner kick. Pelé later called this action the greatest goalkeeper save he had seen in his entire career.

Nonetheless, Brazil won the game 1-0 with a goal from Jairzinho in the second half after England lost some chances to equalize, notably from Jeff Astle , whose shot missed the empty goal, and Alan Ball, who hit the crossbar. After a win in the last group game against Czechoslovakia , England moved into the quarter-finals alongside Brazil and faced the team from Germany in a new edition of the final four years ago.

Match England against Germany

The day before the game against Germany, Banks suffered an upset stomach that put his fitness to work in doubt. Despite intensive medical treatment, it initially seemed impossible that he could recover in time for the game. On the day of the game, however, he felt better and completed a fitness test with sprints and catching exercises. Ramsey decided not to take any chances in this important game and nominated substitute goalkeeper Peter Bonetti instead of Banks . Although Bonetti proved to be a good representation, the game was lost 3-2 in extra time. Later conspiracy theories , according to which Banks was deliberately incapacitated in the English team hotel by manipulating his food, were always emphatically rejected by Banks.

The last few years as "English number 1" (1970–1972)

In the first international match after the World Cup against the GDR at Wembley Stadium, Banks was not used, as Ramsey Banks' 12 years younger rival Peter Shilton helped to make his national team debut. At first this remained an isolated case; in the qualifying phase for the European Championship in 1972 , in which England were eliminated before reaching the finals against Germany, Banks completed ten of the next twelve games for England. During this time, Banks was involved in another legendary scene in the international match against Northern Ireland when he was spied on the ball by George Best during a tee shot, who won the subsequent duel against the goalkeeper and headed into the goal. Although the goal was not recognized for foul play and England won the game 1-0, Banks could not hide a certain embarrassment. In the European Championship qualifier against Malta on May 12, 1971 at Wembley, Banks was on the ball exactly four times during the 90 minutes of play, each time after a back pass from a teammate - he did not have to fend off a shot by the Maltese. The game ended 5-0 for England.

At club level, Banks managed what is probably the second most famous parade of his career when he steered a penalty kicked by national team-mate Hurst over the crossbar in the 1972 League Cup in the semi-final victory of Stoke City against West Ham United . In this competition, Banks reached his third league cup final and won after a 2-1 final win over Chelsea FC at Wembley for the second time. In the FA Cup, however, in which he had already suffered two final defeats with Leicester City, Banks failed with Stoke City in both 1971 and 1972 in the semi-finals at Arsenal .

On May 27, 1972 Banks came at 1: 0 away win against Scotland at Hampden Park on his 73rd international match and was organized by the Association of English football journalist who Football Writers' Association (FWA) as England's Footballer of the Year award. In these 73 encounters he had played 35 times to zero and allowed a total of 57 goals. Banks, 34, was at the height of his career, calmly preparing for another season with Stoke City when his athletic career came to a sudden and unexpected end.

End of career

On October 22, 1972, on the way back from physiotherapy at the team doctor's, Banks lost control of his vehicle, drove into a ditch, and passed out. When he came to in the hospital, he was told that although he had no life-threatening injury, he had lost the ability to see in his right eye. He still tried to continue his goalkeeping career, but the loss of binocular vision made it impossible for him to continue playing at the highest level. Shilton replaced Banks in the position of England goalkeeper and in 1974 at Stoke City.

From then on, Banks worked as a scout and was active in the media in the soccer field. In October 1977 he had a short comeback with the Irish club St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland , but played only one game, the 1-0 home win on October 2 at Richmond Park against Shamrock Rovers , in which he was without Conceded goal stayed. Then Banks moved to the North American professional league NASL , where he was announced as a superstar and played in 1977 and 1978 for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with his old opponent George Best in a team. In 1980 he briefly coached the amateur club Telford United.

Honors

In a poll by British television station Channel 4 , Banks was voted the best English goalkeeper of all time in an all-time national team. In 2002 he was inducted into the newly established English Football Hall of Fame .

In February 2006 the University of Keele Banks made an honorary doctorate . On May 9, 2006, he was the first "legend" to receive a bronze plaque on the newly built "Walk of Fame" in front of the city hall in Sheffield.

In 2006, the Northern Irish bestselling author Don Mullan published a novel entitled "Gordon Banks: A Hero Who Could Fly", in which he processed the influence of the English world goalkeeper on his life. At the age of 38, Mullan discovered his own dyslexia , and soon after the 1966 World Cup Finals and his fascination with Gordon Banks, he began learning to read and write in a 500-page scrapbook he had created . Mullan grew up in a republican stronghold in Derry / Londonderry, Northern Ireland , and as a schoolboy witnessed the tragic events of the infamous Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972. In his novel, Mullan describes that his admiration for the English goalkeeper ensured that he was never tempted succumbed to treading the path of violence. Gordon Banks himself presented the book in Dublin , Derry and Britannia Stadium in the summer of 2006 and described Mullan as his "biggest fan". The broadcaster "BBC Drama" secured the rights to a film adaptation for 2008.

Mullan is also working on a documentary about Gordon Banks and is actively involved in plans to erect a memorial to the former goalkeeper in front of Britannia Stadium - home of Stoke City.

Private

Banks met his future wife Ursula during his service in Germany. He served u. a. with the 101st wireless communications train of the British Army of the Rhine and was stationed near Königslutter at the time. The two married shortly after returning to England and had three children.

successes

  • Soccer world champion: 1966
  • English league cup winner: 1964, 1972
  • England's Footballer of the Year: 1972

swell

  1. ↑ Brian Glanville: Gordon Banks obituary The Guardian , published and accessed on February 12, 2019 (English)
  2. ↑ IFFHS 'Century Elections (Eng.)
  3. ↑ What is Gordon Banks doing in Königslutter? at 11freunde.de, accessed on August 3, 2014
  4. ↑ Virtual Spectator , in: The England Football Miscellany , Carlton Books, London 2008 2 , p. 109
  5. ↑ STIGonline.com - They played here too! (Engl.) ( Memento of 5 September 2007 at the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Online press release from the University of Keele: Gordon Banks to receive honorary degree at Keele (engl.)
  7. ↑ Excerpts from the commemorative publication Farewell to Langeleben: Gordon married a woman from Königslutter

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Banks, Gordon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English football goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Sheffield , England
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 2019