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In 1966 England achieved the otherwise impossible dream of lifting the World Cup when they beat West Germany in the final 4-2 at home. A World Cup victory is sweet at the best of times, but there is undoubtedly something special about winning it when you are the host nation as well. Today we say goodbye to the goalkeeper Gordon Banks who has passed away at the age of 81 - the fourth member of the squad to now leave us - and freetips.com looks back at his remarkable career.
Considered to be one of the greatest goalies of all time, he racked up an impressive 73 caps for England and was named FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year no fewer than six times over his illustrious career. His career began in Chesterfield, and in 1959 he moved to Leicester on a transfer that cost just £7000, a meagre amount by today's standard but certainly worth every penny to the club. A year after that World Cup final he moved to Stoke where he would remain for the rest of his career, but there is little doubt that it was his England performances that really caught the eye.
1966 was far from the end of his England greatness, and who will ever forget the amazing save after Brazil's Pele took on the goal in the World Cup of 1970? As the ball looked sure to hit the back of the net, Banks who was at the time anticipating action on the other side of the goal so had positioned himself nicely for a save there, pulled off a remarkable stop. He managed to cross the space and against all the odds managed to graze the ball with just the fingertips of his gloved hands. That touch was enough to send the ball off trajectory and miss the goal skimming just over the crossbar instead. It was an electric moment, and the crowd went wild, along with well over half the nation watching at home.
It was a further three years before he hung up his boots in 1973 after a simply stunning and infinitely memorable career. In a car accident in 1972, he lost the sight in his right eye, and everyone assumed his career was over, but he came back and relearned how to be a stunning keeper using just the left eye to judge the speed and distance of the ball as it flew at the net. Stoke won the League Cup in 1972, the first and only time for the club, but the second time for Banks as Leicester had won it previously in 1964.
In a testament to his reputation and friendly manner, tributes have been pouring in from far and wide with Peter Shilton, the former England keeper that also replaced Banks at Leicester saying: "I'm devastated - today I've lost my hero" - as sentiment that has been echoed many times by younger players who were inspired to the great game by legends such as Gordon Banks. He will doubtless be missed by many, and never forgotten.
