Gordon Banks set the standard for the rest of us: Pat Jennings
Northern Ireland’s most celebrated goalkeeper has paid tribute to England’s finest shot stopper George Banks after his death at the age of 81.
Pat Jennings described the World Cup-winning goalkeeper as a “model of consistency” and sided with his fellow goalkeeper on a controversial decision at Windsor Park in 1971 that saw a goal from George Best ruled out after he robbed Banks of the ball.
Jennings, 73, said: “Gordon was the one who set the standard for the rest of us to follow. He was a model of consistency. He’d not be a nine out of 10 one week and a six the next. He was a nine every game.
“All this was before there was any such thing as goalkeeping coaches. You learned through your mistakes.
“His record spoke for itself. He was a World Cup winner in 1966 and no one can forget that save he produced from Pele (1970 World Cup).”
Jennings, who is NI’s most capped player with 119 caps, added: “I’ve known Gordon for a long time. I would consider him a friend. We’d done a few (sportsmans) dinners together and lined up against each other on a few occasions.”
One of those occasions was when England came to Windsor Park on May 15, 1971. England won the game 1-0 but it will be remembered for the moment when a Best goal was disallowed after he had nicked the ball away from Banks as he threw it into the air to attempt a kick upfield.
Jennings said: “The referee was right. You can’t have players sticking their foot up to challenge a goalkeeper. It’s dangerous play. Although George pulled it off that time, you would have other times when goalkeepers would have ended up with broken legs because strikers were sticking their legs out when they were trying to kick the ball.
“The way George did it was brilliant. I think it was a couple of weeks later that George did the same thing on me for Manchester United (against Tottenham) and the referee allowed it to stand.”
Banks made 510 league appearances for Chesterfield, Leicester – with whom he won the League Cup in 1964 – and Stoke before retiring from the professional game at the age of 34 following a road accident which cost him the sight in his right eye.
It was on the international stage that he established himself as a star, making his England debut in a 2-1 defeat by Scotland at Wembley in April 1963 and going on to win 73 senior caps, most famously in the 4-2 World Cup final victory over West Germany in 1966. However, he will probably be best remembered for his performance in the 1970 World Cup when he made the logic-defying save to turn Brazil star Pele’s header over the crossbar.
In 2016 Banks revealed he was battling kidney cancer for the second time.
A statement issued by his former club Stoke on behalf of his family on Tuesday broke the news that Banks had passed away overnight.