UK Edition
- Legendary keeper's final interview with The Telegraph
- Obit | World Cup 1966 winner was England's linchpin
- Banks pulled off 'greatest save in history' to deny Pele
- Tributes pour in for the 'heroic' legend of football
Gordon Banks, England's 1966 World Cup winning goalkeeper, has died aged 81.
A statement released by his family via one of his former clubs Stoke City said: "It is with great sadness that we announce that Gordon passed away peacefully overnight.
"We are devastated to lose him but we have so many happy memories and could not have been more proud of him."
His successors Peter Shilton and David Seaman were among the first to pay tribute to the fellow goalkeeper, talking of their devastation at losing a "hero" and a "legend".
Widely regarded as England's best-ever goalkeeper, Banks played in the World Cup final at Wembley in 1966 and lifted the trophy as part of the side that beat West Germany.
Four years later at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Banks pulled off one of the greatest saves in football history, denying Brazilian superstar Pele by miraculously tipping a low header over the crossbar.
He missed the quarter final against West Germany through illness, and England were subsequently knocked out.
Banks racked up 628 appearances during a 15-year career in the Football League and won 73 caps for his country.
His career started at Chesterfield in 1958, where he stayed for a season and played 23 games before moving on to Leicester City.
This is where he stayed for eight years, accumulating 293 appearances. A year after winning the World Cup, in 1967, Banks secured a move to his hometown club Stoke City where he played 194 games.
Banks played his last game for England in 1972 - and in October of that year, a car crash led to him losing the sight in his right eye. Despite his visual impairment, he still continued to play.
After loan moves to Cleveland Stokers and Hellenic, he made the trip across the Atlantic for a successful one-year stint in the US with Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
His final competitive appearance came in Ireland in 1977 when he played one game for Dublin club St Patrick's Athletic on loan.
Banks revealed in 2015 he was fighting kidney cancer for a second time, having lost a kidney to the disease 10 years earlier.
He is survived by his wife Ursula, whom he met during his national service in Germany in 1955, and their three children, Robert, Wendy and Julia.
England manager Gareth Southgate said: "I am deeply saddened to hear of Gordon's passing. An all-time great for England, I was privileged enough to be in his company on a number of occasions.
"It was particularly special to be with him at a Football Writers' tribute dinner last year and wish him well on his 80th birthday.
"Gordon spoke to the room about that incredible save from Pele against Brazil back in 1970 and moments like that from his remarkable World Cup-winning career will continue to linger long in the memory.
"On behalf of everyone connected with England, I send my condolences to his wife Ursula, his family and friends."
Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick against West Germany in the 1966 final, said: "Very sad to hear the news that Gordon has died.
"One of the very greatest. Thinking especially of Ursula, Julia, Wendy and Robert. Sad for football, Stoke City and for England fans. Will be very sadly missed."
Another one of his 1966 teammates Sir Bobby Charlton said: "Lady Norma and I are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Gordon Banks. Gordon was a fantastic goalkeeper, without doubt one of the best England has ever had.
"I was proud to call him a team-mate. Obviously we shared that great day in 1966 but it was more than that. Even though I was on the pitch and have seen it many times since, I still don’t know how he saved that header from Pele.
"Gordon will be deeply missed and our thoughts are with his family at this very sad time."
Gordon Banks' last interview with The Telegraph
During the build-up to the 2018 World Cup, which saw Gareth Southgate's Three Lions defy the odds to reach the semi-final, England's legendary goalkeeper talked to Chris Bascombe.
In a candid interview, the dewy-eyed nostalgia of 1966 could not disguise Banks' enduring sense of marginalisation at the hands of the Football Association.
That save to deny Pele
Gordon Banks' most famous save came during the 1970 World Cup in Mexico when England faced Brazil.
The pool-stage game, played at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, was 0-0 when the Brazilians slipped the ball down the right flank.
A chipped cross found Pele - arguably the world's most deadly finisher at the time - and when his bullet header hurtled towards the bottom-right corner of Banks' goal it looked for all the money in the world like the South Americans had taken the lead.
Pele even peeled away to start celebrating. But Banks had other ideas.
Flinging himself to his right, he managed to ark his back and throw out a right hand to miraculously flick the ball over the bar.
Pele later said: "From the moment I headed it, I was sure it had gone in. I had already began to jump to celebrate the goal. Then I looked back and I couldn't believe it hadn't gone in.
"I have scored more than a thousand goals in my life and the thing people always talk to me about is the one I didn't score."
Recalling the incident himself, Banks said: "When we had training sessions (in Mexico), I noticed that when the ball was dropping in front of me, it was kicking up, not staying low like it did in England."
"I stopped back to do some extra shooting training to help me get used to it, and that helped me make the save. Pele was around the penalty spot when the guy crossed it from the wing, and I knew he was going to get up to it, because he could jump really high.
"I knew that I had to come off the line to narrow the angle, then once Pele had punched it with his head down to my right-hand side, I knew I had to get over there very quickly.
"The ball was going in and as I dived I had to anticipate how high it was going to come up from the hard surface. As I reached across, I got it right, the ball hit the top of my hand and went off... but honestly, I thought it was a goal.
"I hit the floor and turned around, I saw the ball bounce behind the goal - and I thought to myself, 'oh, Banksy, you lucky t---'."
Brazil went on to win the tournament, but the save became the competition's iconic moment.
Banks' extraordinary retirement from English football
Gordon Banks was still at Stoke when his career in English football was cut short in 1972.
That season, he had persuaded fellow World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst to head north from West Ham, and The Potters looked set for a stellar season in the top flight.
Then aged 33, he had driven to Stoke's then home stadium the Victoria Ground to see the medical team about a minor injury he was nursing.
Everything went according to plan, and he drove back home for a Sunday lunch in his Ford Consul.
He was overtaking a sluggish car on a single-carriageway when disaster struck. He recalled being on the wrong wide of the road when a car suddenly appeared.
The next thing Banks remembers is being in his hospital bed. Surgeons had already operated on his right eyewhich had been perforated by fragments of glass.
His injuries were so bad, he required 200 stitches to his face and a further 100 internal micro-stitches in his right eye.
He told the Stoke Sentinel: "One day I leaned over to pick up a cup of tea on my bedside table and was shocked to grasp thin air. That’s when the reality of my situation hit home.
"I remember thinking if I can’t even get the angle right to pick up a cup of tea, how will I ever judge the flight and speed of a football again?"
He did go on to play for another four years, including a successful season in the US where he rekindled his rivalry with Pele who was also playing in America.
But Banks never played for England again, nor in the top flight of English football.
Tributes pour in for England's greatest keeper
The other stars of 1966 no longer with us
Bobby Moore (1941 - 1993)
England's talismanic captain was the first of the squad to die back on February 24, 1993. He died at the age of 51. He had bowel and liver cancer
His 108 caps for England puts him fifth on the all-time appearances list, behind only Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Peter Shilton.
Moore's statue stands proud outside the new Wembley to signify England's greatest achievement, and the central defender's 647 games for West Ham is beaten only by Billy Bonds (799) and Frank Lampard Snr (670).
He also notched up 124 Fulham appearances before a stint in the US. Moore died within walking distance of Craven Cottage, Fulham's home ground.
Alan Ball (1945 - 2007)
Midfielder Alan Ball was the youngest of the 1966 World Cup squad. He was just 21 when he lifted the most coveted price in football.
He finished with 72 caps for England and more than 800 league appearances for Everton, Blackpool and Arsenal.
After going into coaching, he twice took charge of Portsmouth as well as their south coast rivals Southampton and Manchester City.
Ball died of a heart attack on April 25, 2007, aged 61.
Ray Wilson (1934 - 2018)
Perhaps the lowest-profile member of Sir Alf Ramsey's squad, left back Ray Wilson died aged 83 on May 16, 2018.
He started his career at Huddersfield Town, but his apprenticeship was interrupted by two years’ National Service with the Royal Corps of Signals, some of it in Egypt.
Wilson racked up 406 league appearances for teams in the north - Huddersfield, Bradford City, Everton and Oldham Athletic - and 63 caps for England.
A coaching stint at Bradford made him realise management wasn't for him, and he turned his back on football to join the family business as an undertaker, where he would regularly be recognised at the graveside by mourners.
He retired to his smallholding in 1995, and in 2002 sold his World Cup winner’s medal at auction for £80,000 to provide for his pension.
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