RingSide Report

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Ringside Report Remembers England’s Golden Goalkeeper Gordon Banks (1937-2019)

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By Tyler “The Miracle Man” White

Growing up as a young boy, I was a goalkeeper back in my footballing days, it was usually the way of the fat kid… Stuck in between the sticks and being used as a means to try and fill up the goal!

Well, all jokes aside, I actually turned out to be quite a good goalkeeper and it wasn’t long before I began exploring the history of goalkeepers and I will always remember stumbling across 1966 World Cup winner and the nations hero – Gordon Banks.

Banks had a career spanning almost 630 games in the football league and he also won 73 caps for his country, as well as being named the FIFA Goalkeeper of the year on six occasions too…

Gordon Banks played every single game for England in their World Cup winning campaign of 1966, not conceding a single goal within the group stages.

It wasn’t until the semi-final that Banks actually conceded for the first time, which set a record that still stands to this day, that record being that Banks went 721 minutes of regular play without conceding a single goal!

Four years after England’s World Cup glory, Banks would go on to make one of the greatest saves ever recorded as he parried a header from the legendary Pele over the crossbar from one of the most impossible and awkward angles imaginable. (If you’ve not seen that, then search YouTube for it – it’s spectacular!)

Throughout his career in England, Banks played for: Chesterfield, Leicester City and Stoke City, before a car crash in 1972, which cost him the ability to play football at a professional level, as well as the sight in his right eye.

Despite the loss of sight in his right eye, Banks eventually felt strong and confident enough to get back between the sticks and made a short comeback in 1977, playing for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the North American Soccer League.

Banks’ winning ways remained with him as he helped the team to win the title in his first season with them, whilst simultaneously being voted as goalkeeper of the season!

Banks would go on to play another 11 games in the ’78 season before hanging up the gloves for good and trying his hand at both football coaching and after-dinner speaking.

It would appear that Mr. Banks’ health had been on the decline recently, as he had been suffering from cancer of the kidneys and unfortunately it took a turn for the worse a few weeks ago…

Gordon Banks leaves behind an incredible legacy within the sport of football and he will always have a place in the hearts of the English people. Both those old enough to recall the years when he played for the nation and also for those too young to have witnessed it first hand, but to have heard all the great stories of the legend that is – Gordon Banks.

Ringside Report extends our condolences to the Banks Family in their time of grief.

Check out Tyler “The Miracle Man” White who is part of the podcast show called “British Boxing Talk” on Apple Podcasts and Spotify</

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