On the 22nd of October 1972 when I heard the news that my hero, someone I had saved up my pocket money to buy a poster of from Don Rogers sports shop in Swindon had been in a car crash I cried. That man was Gordon Banks. I was at an all boys school, and of course the rule at that time was ‘boys don’t cry.’ So as a result of those tears I was beaten up by a few of the older boys.
It never really bothered me if I am honest. I was devastated that my hero would never play again. Years later reading his autobiography I heard what happened that day. How he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and how his mind was distracted as he mulled over what he felt was a bad decision in the match against Liverpool the day before.
Many years later while working at 6PR I was asked to put together a series of interviews with former World Cup stars. that ran on Sports Tonight in the lead up to the World Cup Finals. One of the former stars I spoke to was Gordon Banks.
After the interview we chatted for a while and I explained how he had been my hero as a child, and that the only thing that could have been better was if we could have done the interview face-to-face. In the conversation I joked about what had happened to me all those years ago. I could not have been happier, after all it is not every day one gets to interview someone you have admired as a child.
This all happened in the days before email. So what happened next is how things used to work. About a week or so later I received a letter. the handwriting was unfamiliar. I opened the letter and inside was an autographed photo of Gordon Banks along with a hand written letter. In that letter he told me if I was ever in the UK to call him and we would have that drink together.
So happy was I with the letter I never bothered to follow up. That was until Alan Ball passed away suddenly. Alan Ball being the youngest of the players that won the world cup for England in 1966. I was heading back to England for a family celebration so wrote to Mr Banks and asked if he remembered writing that letter, and if the offer still stood.
He wrote back saying that it did, and to call and arrange a day when we could meet. So on a typical grey English day my wife and I drove up to Stoke-on-Trent to meet my childhood hero and his wife. He could not have been more hospitable and welcoming. He was in person even greater than I thought he was as a player. He was humble, and hesitant to talk about his achievements, he was more interested in making the game entertaining again and cutting out all the diving.
We talked about his grandchildren and so many other normal things. It was two hours of my life I will never forget. After all how often do you get the chance to sit and have a drink with your hero?
We did correspond after that and I was fortunate to interview him again when they unveiled a statue of him at Stoke City’s Britannia ground. It was the first statue of a goalkeeper in the Western World.
Banks had a remarkable record for England. He was capped 73 times and kept 35 clean sheets. While he was in goal England only lost nine matches. People are still debating whether England would have lost to Germany in 1970 in Mexico if he had been playing!
His story was one of a player rising from humble beginnings and reaching the pinnacle through sheer hard work, and wanting to be the best. Like many a player it had its setbacks, like when Leicester City decided that they would rather invest in their teenage goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, than Banks. Their loss was Stoke City’s gain.
Banks was different as Sir Bobby Charlton once told how Banks was one of the few goalkeepers that never wanted to play out of goal at training. He would stay in goal, and his aim there was to keep another clean sheet.
I have just heard the news that Gordon Banks has passed away and once again I admit I shed a tear. The world has lost a great footballer, a true hero, and a gentleman. With his passing so too does a part of my childhood. May he rest in peace, but rest assured in my lifetime he will never be forgotten.
How very true!
Courtesy of the Guardians “The Fiver”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I am glad he saved my header – because that act was the start of a friendship between us that I will always treasure. Whenever we met, it was always like we had never been apart. Rest in peace, my friend. Yes, you were a goalkeeper with magic. But you were also so much more. You were a fine human being” – Pelé leads the tributes to Gordon Banks, who has died aged 81.