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A Great Keeper Gordon Banks Remembered

Zeuss

Manager
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
2,700
I recall saying to a friend in my primary school football team after a Saturday morning game:(17/1/59):
Blues are at home this afternoon .Do you want to come with us? Who they playing? Chesterfield. Na, Southend’ll win easily.
We lost 2-5 and their keeper-Gordon Banks-player rather well.
He was the first of an outstanding string of excellent Chesterfield keepers including Alan Stevenson,Bob Wilson and John Osborne,but best remembered as one of only 3 world class players in the 1966 World Cup winning team—a 4th Jimmy Greaves wasn’t selected,nor was Peter Thompson.
 
RIP Gordon, and I can acknowldge what he did, but i have absolutely no memory of him playing rather than what I saw on the grainy old footage, and I'm almost 50!
 
I am proud to recall watching the great man in his very early days at RH for Chesterfield when they thrashed us 5-2. RIP Gordon.
 
RIP Gordon, and I can acknowldge what he did, but i have absolutely no memory of him playing rather than what I saw on the grainy old footage, and I'm almost 50!
I'm a little bit older than that and I can remember him live, through from the 1966 World Cup through to his retirement. The man was pure class and a true world class legend.
 
I recall saying to a friend in my primary school football team after a Saturday morning game:(17/1/59):
Blues are at home this afternoon .Do you want to come with us? Who they playing? Chesterfield. Na, Southend’ll win easily.
We lost 2-5 and their keeper-Gordon Banks-player rather well.
He was the first of an outstanding string of excellent Chesterfield keepers including Alan Stevenson,Bob Wilson and John Osborne,but best remembered as one of only 3 world class players in the 1966 World Cup winning team—a 4th Jimmy Greaves wasn’t selected,nor was Peter Thompson.

He played remarkably few times for Chesterfield (23 league, 3 cup) and that would have been Chesterfield's first visit to Roots Hall in the League after the North/South divide was scrapped.
By the time they returned the following season he'd moved on to Leicester.
Anyone know if he played in the match at Saltergate earlier in the season (we lost 4-0)?
 
I recall saying to a friend in my primary school football team after a Saturday morning game:(17/1/59):
Blues are at home this afternoon .Do you want to come with us? Who they playing? Chesterfield. Na, Southend’ll win easily.
We lost 2-5 and their keeper-Gordon Banks-player rather well.
He was the first of an outstanding string of excellent Chesterfield keepers including Alan Stevenson, Bob Wilson and John Osborne,but best remembered as one of only 3 world class players in the 1966 World Cup winning team—a 4th Jimmy Greaves wasn’t selected,nor was Peter Thompson.


Bob Primrose Wilson ? Chesterfield ? Are you sure ?
 
He played remarkably few times for Chesterfield (23 league, 3 cup) and that would have been Chesterfield's first visit to Roots Hall in the League after the North/South divide was scrapped.
By the time they returned the following season he'd moved on to Leicester.
Anyone know if he played in the match at Saltergate earlier in the season (we lost 4-0)?

He didn't; he was playing against Barnsley reserves that day. So that 2-5 was his only competitive game against Southend ? Missed it by a year and a half !!!
 
I remember seeing Gorden Banks saving Geoff Hursts penalty at West Ham in 71 .
 
Chesterfield goalkeeper ☑️.....yes! He was born there!

I'm sorry you can't have that.

It's like saying Ted Dexter was an Italian cricketer or Colin Cowdrey was one of many fine Indian cricketers. John McEnroe a German tennis player or George Orwell an Indian author and as for Bud Houghton ......

Wilson had no connection with Chesterfield FC whatsoever.
 
Yeah I was there that night. In the replay Bobby Moore saved a penalty too

Wow, me too. Half of Southend must have been there.

Moore's penalty save was in the second replay (none of this straight to penalties nonsense in those days) and the two legged tie took four matches spanning 49 days to complete.
 
I'm sorry you can't have that.

It's like saying Ted Dexter was an Italian cricketer or Colin Cowdrey was one of many fine Indian cricketers. John McEnroe a German tennis player or George Orwell an Indian author and as for Bud Houghton ......

Wilson had no connection with Chesterfield FC whatsoever.
Never said he did.
 
R.I.P Gordon Banks ,undoubtedly in my mind Englands greatest ever Goalkeeper, condolensces to all his family
 
R.I.P Gordon Banks ,undoubtedly in my mind Englands greatest ever Goalkeeper, condolensces to all his family


Totally agree, in an era when today's players would not step out on a pitch, that was more like the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme, and keepers took a hit knowing the ref would not blow up for an old fashion shoulder charge

How he was not knighted in today's world of freebies by the Royals is amazing
In the transfer market now, how much would he be worth, and lets remember, he stayed at Leicester and Stoke, when surely better offers would have come along to join one of the "elite" clubs,

Happy memories with my dad as a youngster in the Old W ham chicken run seeing him play, and I remember going to Wembley 1972 with my brother to see Stoke beat Chelsea in the League cup final when George Eastham scored the winner, I only went because my dad was so confident W Ham would beat Stoke in the semi he bought him and my brother final tickets before only to see W Ham lose and he didnot want to go :Hilarious:

Thankfully Dad saw the light and started to come to Roots Hall with me !!

So in fact I think Gordon Banks converted a West Ham supporter into a Shrimper so another reason why he was a great man
 
I met Gordon at the opening of Stones top of Thames drive in 1972? Mike Beesley managed the shop for the Lloyd Brothers (Of tennis fame). We queued down the road to meet the World Cup winner. I got him to autograph a photograph of him fly through the air in vain, as he conceded against an Alan Gilzean header. He said it was a great goal and begrudgingly signed it laughing. I also told him i wore his replica kit, that I was bought after Mexico 1970. Orange top light ball shorts and socks. We would have got to the final if he had not got food poisoning. RIP big man!
 
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