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Gordon Banks

Gordon Banks OBE was born in Sheffield in 1937. Between 1955 and 1972 he played for Chesterfield, Leicester City and Stoke City. He was named footballer of the Year in 1972. He made seventy-three appearances for England and was a member of the team that won the World Cup in 1966. He lives in Stoke.

For ten years Gordon Banks was not only England's Number One, but was acknowledged to be the best keeper in the world. All this was all brutally cut short when returning home from training in 1972 his car crashed into a van and he lost his right eye. It shouldn't have been possible, but Banks fought back, going on to play in the American league alongside other legends like Pele and George Best. Here, Gordon Banks talks exclusively to penguin.co.uk about the current England team, his friendship with Pele and that famous save in the 1970 World Cup ...

Who would you nominate as your key player in each of the 1970 and 2002 World Cups?
My key player in the 1970 World Cup final without doubt would have to be Pele, the Brazilian player. He scored great goals and though he played in a great team, he used all his skills - and he had them all - to get the results for Brazil.

The player I would have picked from the 2002 World Cup has to be the Brazilian centre-forward Rivaldo. Though Brazil had a poor defence, he had to produce his goal-saving ability to ensure that Brazil would win their games. He has been ridiculed about his last World Cup, so he had to prove to people that they were wrong - and he did.

Do you think Brazil were a better side in 1970 or now?
The 1970 Brazilian team was for me the greatest international team ever. The team in 2002 was nothing like the one in the 1970's, at the end of the day, had there had been better teams in this year's World Cup, they would not have won it.

Have you stayed in touch with Pele?
It's a very warm friendship between us, and it's always nice to see him. I'm hoping it will last for a long time to come.

Tell us about THAT save, and are there other saves you wish people asked about?
The cross came from the right wing and Jarzino whipped it in toward Pele, who was running into a position about ten yards from goal. I ran from my near post - the one I had to cover before he crossed it - to the centre of the goal, as Pele was about to head it. He caught the ball perfectly on his forehead and pushed it down about three yards in front of my goal line. I now had to push across goal to get my hand on it, and guess how high it would bounce from the ground. When I got there, I lifted it up and over it went. People do talk about other saves and they do say there were better ones than the Pele one.

How difficult was it to continue playing after the car crash?
It was very difficult because I had lost the use of an eye and I thought my confidence would go. But I found I could do all the things I'd done before.

Do you think the modern game has been changed for the better by money, sponsorship and foreign players?
Our league is the best in the world to watch; the reason being that we now have world class players in our league, and it is now watched by a lot of countries around the world. But this means that the clubs have to pay big money for players, and at the end of the day, a lot of clubs can't afford to do this. It puts them in a lot of debt, and the sponsors help them a little but it isn't enough.

How bright is the future of the current England team? Will they win the challenge for a major tournament in 2006 - the FA's stated aim when they hired Sven Goran Erikson?
The future of the current England team is quite promising, because we have players the likes of Beckham, Scholles, Butt, Ferdinand and Cole, plus more players that are still young but have a lot of experience. What must happen is that they must play together and realize that the next World Cup must be the one to win.

Any new players to look out for?
The players England has now are still young enough, and I will be surprised if we see any new faces before the next World Cup. I'm sure there will be one or two new players to look out for but not at the moment.

Does the collapse of ITV Digital spell disaster for the Nationwide League and the development of new, young homegrown players?
No, it won't be the disaster people make out. It will be a blow, but I'm sure they will pull through with something. After all, it is our national game. We have the smaller divisions and we will always bring our own homegrown talent along - they may even restructure the leagues - as they say, it might make things more interesting.