STOKE-ON-TRENT (REUTERS) - Crowds of mourning fans joined luminaries of English football for a final farewell on Monday (March 4) to Gordon Banks, a steelworker's son who became one of the world's greatest goalkeepers and will be remembered for his miraculous save against Pele.
Teammates from England's 1966 World Cup win and members of former clubs Stoke and Leicester came to join a cortege from the Stoke stadium to the funeral for Banks, who died aged 81 last month.
"He was so humble, honest to God, he didn't really understand what he had achieved in life and why people made such a fuss of him," friend Terry Conroy, who starred with Banks and scored in Stoke's 1972 League Cup win, told Reuters.
Banks was best known for the stunning one-handed save from a Pele bullet header that bounced awkwardly in front of him during England's group-stage game against Brazil at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
"With the luck of the gods, the angle at which I'd managed to lift that ball was perfect, and it ballooned in the air and over the bar," the genial Banks said in one of the many recountings begged by fans and the media.
Footage shows Banks chuckling afterwards, as England's Bobby Moore jokingly chides him for not catching the ball.
His achievements went far further than stopping Pele.
Â
Â
Â
Banks won 73 international caps, played nearly 500 times for Leicester and Stoke and won two League Cups, before a car crash blinded him in one eye.
He remained in Stoke, a former mining and pottery city, where he would watch games, attend charity events and take a weekly walk round Trentham Gardens.
"He donated his tie to a charity event I was involved in and we raised £200 (S$358.44). Such a gentleman," reminisced Phillip Steele, 76, next to a statue of Banks at the hilltop stadium decked in flags, scarves and flowers.
Favourite saves
Some 2,000 fans were at the stadium to watch proceedings on a big screen. Others lined the route of the funeral procession, which was to stop outside the old Victoria Ground where Banks plied his trade before ending at Stoke Minster for a religious service.
Goalkeepers Jack Butland, Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel were to be pall-bearers. Fellow World Cup winners Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst were also expected.
In a largely working-class city obsessed with football, Banks was viewed as a reminder of simpler days before the Premier League's mega-millions.
Everyone had their favourite save.
"Mine was a penalty he stopped against Geoff Hurst at Stoke's 1972 League Cup semi-final at West Ham," Conroy said. "If he hadn't saved that, we wouldn't have been in the final and won our first trophy in more than 100 years."
Banks used to pick out a 1963 FA Cup semi-final when Leicester scored with their only shot on goal while he single-handedly thwarted chance after chance for Liverpool.
Born in the northern city of Sheffield, Banks worked as a coal packer and apprentice bricklayer as a teenager before an inauspicious start at Chesterfield's reserves: he let in 122 goals in the 1954-55 season. After military service, he got a first-team contract at Chesterfield - for £7 a week.
Anecdotes from Banks' life tell of a different era to that of today's cosseted players. Before kick-off at the 1966 World Cup semi-final, he ran out of the gum he used to chew to generate spit for his hands - so the England trainer popped out of Wembley and down the road to buy some from a news kiosk just in time to stave off Banks' panic.
Football: Pep Guardiola's biggest challenge is to find successors to ageing quartet. As Manchester City have dropped only 14 and 16 points respectively in the last two seasons, there is not much
How Pep Guardiola's Man City starting XI has changed since
Huddersfield manager Jan Siewert has backed Philip Billing after the club's Danish midfielder was subjected to "brainless" racist abuse on social media.
Huddersfield condemn racist abuse of Billing -football- my.t
May 01, 2019 · Jan Vertonghen will not play for Tottenham at Bournemouth on Saturday as the club continue to monitor him in the wake of the head injury he suffered in Tuesday night's Champions League defeat
Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen to visit neurologist over head
AFC Wimbledon delivered an FA Cup fourth-round shock as the League One strugglers humbled Premier League West Ham United 4-2 in a gripping tie in south-west London on Saturday. Wimbledon, bottom
AFC Wimbledon Humble West Ham United in FA Cup Shock
Champions League final 2019: Liverpool's Roberto Firmino passed fit by Jurgen Klopp to face Tottenham. The Brazilian has been struggling with a groin problem, but is now in the clear to start at
Roberto Firmino passed fit for Champions League final, Jurgen
sportsalert.org/2019/05/31/roberto-firmino-passed-fit-for-champions-league-final-jurgen-klopp-confirms/
Liverpool have been given a huge boost ahead of their Champions League final against Tottenham - with Roberto Firmino returning to fitness. The Brazilian has missed the last three matches, including the semi-final victory over Barcelona, with a thigh problem.
Klopp confirms Firmino fitness for Champions League final
Jan 06, 2019 · The magic of the FA Cup is alive and well in this corner of south Wales. Newport County, 74 places below Leicester City on the league ladder, served up a giantkilling that will be talked about for
6 Things We Learned From a Pulsating Fourth Round in the FA
Lucas Moura, from PSG cast-off to Tottenham idol Rejected by Paris Saint-Germain after the world-record signing of Neymar, Lucas Moura propelled Tottenham to heights the French giants could
Lucas Moura: From PSG cast off to Tottenham idol
Hopes fade for football star Emiliano Sala as rescuers search English Channel Emiliano Sala was flying from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff for his club debut when the plane lost radar contact off the English Channel island of Guernsey late on Monday.
Search for missing Cardiff City's Emiliano Sala resumes in
Tottenham Hotspur Crystal Palace Watford captain Troy Deeney set to miss Tottenham clash with one eye on Arsenal We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users
Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur betting preview: Free
The Spurs need to pick up a free agent guard who can score. Jamal Crawford is a possibility, although I'd like to see someone younger and more athletic, but having him around to mentor Dejounte
Hugo Lloris says that Spurs need to believe they can win the
Football: Di Maria and Mbappe among the goals as PSG win big again, Neymar to get treatment in Brazil "He's going to become one of the best players in the history of football and I'm trying to
Di Maria brace seals 3-1 win for PSG over Marseille
Third S'porean to score in Europe. Ikhsan became only the third Singaporean player to score in professional European football. The first was his father Fandi Ahmad, who had 11 league goals for Dutch side FC Groningen from 1983 to 1985. The second was V. Sundram Moorthy, who netted three goals during a stint with Swiss side FC Basel in 1989.
watch champions league live streaming zee5
watch soccer am live stream
www.watch premier league live stream.com
watch coppa america live streaming barcelona
watch coppa america live streaming in india
watch champions league semi final draw live stream
watch soccer live streaming qatar vs philippines
super soccer tv live streaming indonesia
watch indian premier league live streaming
watch soccer online free streaming live liverpool
watch champions league live streaming manchester united
watch soccer online free streaming live no registration
watch live soccer streaming on iphone
watch coppa america live streaming jamaica
watch coppa america live streaming sctv
watch soccer live stream hunter
how to watch premier league live streaming
watch soccer online free streaming live world cup
watch live soccer streaming free android
watch champions league live streaming xfinity
watch soccer online free streaming live bbc
watch soccer saturday live stream
watch champions league live streaming jamaica
free watch champions league live streaming
watch coppa america live streaming live free
watch coppa america live streaming zee5
watch soccer live streaming zimbabwe
watch champions league final online free live streaming
watch champions league live streaming ptv sports
watch coppa america live streaming free
watch soccer online free streaming live canada
watch arsenal southampton premier league live stream
watch coppa america live streaming crictime
watch premier league live streaming video
cpl 2018 live streaming watch caribbean premier league t20 2018
watch soccer online free streaming live batman
watch coppa america live streaming hd
watch soccer live streaming reddit
watch coppa america live streaming live
watch indian premier league live stream online
watch champions league live streaming crictime
watch sky sports premier league live stream
watch champions league simulcast live stream
watch sky sports premier league online free streaming live
watch champions league live streaming espn
watch champions league live streaming xbox one
watch english premier league live streaming free
watch coppa america live streaming bein sport
watch soccer online free streaming live
watch champions league live streaming pc
watch bangladesh premier league live streaming online free
watch uefa champions league live streaming free online youtube
watch soccer live streaming qatar
watch live streaming soccer manchester united
watch soccer games online free streaming live
watch champions league live streaming mobile
watch champions league live streaming eng
live tv soccer live stream - live3s.com
watch coppa america live streaming sub eng
watch coppa america live streaming putlockers
watch premier league live streaming vf
watch live soccer streaming on android
watch uefa champions league live streaming free online india
where to watch champions league live streaming
watch champions league online free live streaming hd
watch premier league live streaming xbox one
watch premier league live streaming online
watch champions league live streaming vf
watch champions league live streaming live
watch premier league live streaming zee tv
watch soccer live streaming xbox one
watch soccer live - live football streaming
where to watch premier league live streaming
watch coppa america live streaming english
watch iceland soccer live stream
watch everton vs tottenham live soccer streaming
watch soccer world cup live streaming
watch premier league live streaming live
watch premier league darts live stream
watch soccer games live stream free
apps to watch live streaming soccer
soccer tv live net stream
watch champions league live streaming now
#Fcb #footballfans #nikesoccer #ucl #lfc #coyg #mancity #bestshishacafedubai #soccermemes #GarageCafeDxb #gooners #hoffenhiem #MyDubai #vandijk #battuteepiche #chocolate #league1 #JUVENTUS #livesports #thomasmeunier #elcasico #mancityvsliverpool #soccer #Barca #salah #frasirap #premierleague #kopisusu #barcelona #juventus #americanfootball #trollfootball #portsmouthfc #noelgallagher #boxing #coffeebreak #sunderlandafc #liverpool #mane #championship #arsenal #4Series #messi #Sunday #footballdubai #valcea #vip #championsleague #knuckleball #realmadridcf #football #24x7 #girlsniteout #footballmemes #leicestercity #cristianoronaldo #bayernmunich #manchestercity #serieatim #klopp #tokyo #Bar #roadtrip #neymar #streamingbolaid #paulmcartney #arsenalfantv #realmadrid #realmadrid #transfernews #visubal #manchestercity #arsenalnews #liverpool #oasis
No comments:
Post a Comment