LCFC Legends Pay Tribute To Gordon Banks
Peter Shilton
Position: Goalkeeper
Time at LCFC: 1966-1974
Team-mate of Banks: 1966-1967
I used the word devastated first thing [on Tuesday morning] because I’d heard that Gordon wasn’t very well and I was due to do a dinner with him, which was postponed. He was very keen to do it with me, I was told, which was very nice but it got postponed and I assumed he wasn’t very well. [On Friday] morning, I got the news first thing and I was devastated. Of course the media starting coming on and I haven’t really had a chance to digest it.
I was 10-years-old on the old Filbert Street ground watching Gordon when he first got into the Leicester team. He was competing with a fella called Dave Mclaren. I supported Leicester so I watched him go on to become involved with the England squad. Of course, at that time, I was training down at Leicester as a kid every Tuesday and Thursday evening. I even went and watched him train one time and got the balls behind the goal. I was that keen at the age of 10. When I signed as an apprentice when I was 15, I remember the first thing I had to do after signing the forms… they took me outside and put me in a goalkeeper shirt and I had a picture taken with Gordon (above). It was quite surreal. He had one of those old tracksuits and a leather football, there’s a famous picture of us together. Although I was in the youth team, I quickly got into the reserves and, for about a year, we used to train together once a week. It’s not right for people to say Gordon trained me and noticed me and all that, it was a fella called George Dewis. He was a centre forward who became reserve trainer for Leicester. He was my mentor really, but I had a chance to look at Gordon, how hard he trained and the one thing I like about him was his positional play. I admired that about him. I took over when I was 17 because Gordon signed for Stoke and I was in the first team regularly.
At that time, Gordon was building his career up and trying to get into the England team, but the hard work he put in [was notable] in an era when goalkeepers basically did a little bit of shooting once a week. Gordon was in Tuesdays and Thursdays. When he left Leicester, he was England’s goalkeeper and obviously eventually I became his no.2 for England after the World Cup in 1970. I was an understudy to him for that period of time. I think the thing about Gordon that I remember is that he was gentleman. He was a nice fella. He could get a bit fiery at times but with a laugh. You knew Gordon was around because he had a distinctive laugh… when he started laughing, you used to know he was there. He had a sense of humour and we’d say ‘Banksy’s here!’
All the ’66 lads I’ve met have all been gentlemen and good characters. I think that was one of the things that got them through, they were a really good unit. They had that team spirit that stood them in good stead and they all stuck together after the World Cup. Gordon was typical of that, he was a good professional, he had time for people and he had a sense of humour. We used to say ‘don’t get on the wrong side of Banksy!’ All that put together is why he was one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.
The one thing I did like was that he made saves look easy. A lot of ‘keepers would fling themselves around but Gordon would read situations and get into the right position to make saves look easy sometimes. When I was a youngster I looked at Peter Bonetti because he was like a cat, he sprung everywhere. There was Yed Yashin who was a great Russian ‘keeper who used to wear all black and he looked unbeatable and had a bit of everything. If you put a bit of yourself in then you’ve not got a bad goalkeeper. With Gordon in particular, I took over from him at Leicester, which wasn’t easy. Leicester took the long-term view. They had a choice between letting me go or Gordon and eventually, for the Club, in the long-term, it was a good thing because they got a lot of money for him from Stoke and Gordon was quite happy. I like to think that Gordon had a little bit of a say in me joining Stoke when I left Leicester too.
The word ‘legend’ is used quite a lot. You hear people use it a lot and I have to smile because some people aren’t legends. People like Gordon Banks and Bobby Charlton are legends. It’s used too lightly these days and Gordon was a proper legend. Not just in our country but around the world.
When I used to go and train at Leicester as a schoolboy, George Dewis, who was training me... I used to train for an hour-and-a-half before the amateurs and the semi-professionals would come down. We used to have a little gym indoors at the old Filbert Street where they used to play badminton when the weather wasn’t good. I used to go down and George used to put some mats down and he’d just be hitting these balls. In that gym, there was a snooker room and a lot of the first team players would go in there after training and stay in there until about 4pm in the evening. I was training and all the first team lads came out, who I had been watching on Saturday. I think Davie Gibson and Richie Norman, they said 'can we have a go at him' to George Dewis and he said ‘well you won’t beat him!’ Three of them had shots and I saved all three and Gordon was there and he said ‘he looks like a decent ‘keeper, George!’ And George said ‘he’ll have your place one of these days!’ George always told me that Gordon was always impressed with me and I was only 10 or 11 at the time so it was one of those things you always remember.
Richie Norman
Position: Defender
Time at LCFC: 1959-1968
Team-mate of Banks: 1959-1967
He was a great guy. We both came to Leicester City round about the same time 60 years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. We had good careers, the pair of us, and obviously Gordon had the World Cup. He was a tremendous guy and a wonderful player.
It was tremendous for me and the Leicester City team at the time. We were renowned in the early 1960s for having a very strong defence and obviously Gordon was the cornerstone of that. He kept loads of clean sheets and made terrific saves. In training, you know the Pele save? We used to see saves like that regularly! He’s had a wonderful career and it’s been great to be a part of it. I was his roommate for nine years as well. He was a bundle of laughs because he was quite a comedian, especially on the coach! He’d get up and make the rest of the team laugh with his jokes and his general demeanour.
That was a big part of his personality, he was always stopped for autographs. Wherever we went, Gordon was always first to sign an autograph and I was always with him, so I was second! It’s a sad day and I was really upset when I heard the news. He was so friendly and he’s been coming across to Leicester and we used to go to City games and sit in the box together so I saw quite a lot of him there.
It wasn’t just Leicester, he was well-known all over the world. Wherever we went, we had some terrific games on tour going all over the world. Wherever we went, they were after him for autographs and everything.
After training and the serious stuff, we used to have a five-a-side game outside the stand at Filbert Street on a hard, dangerous surface. It was England vs. Scotland and Gordon used to fancy himself as a centre-forward and he loved playing up front! He used to say ‘you get the ball Rich and give it to me and I’ll put it in the back of the net!’ I thought he should have stuck to goalkeeping!
Davie Gibson
Position: Inside left
Time at LCFC: 1962-1970
Team-mate of Banks: 1962-1967
Whenever anyone dies, it’s of course very sad. Gordon came down to my book signing a couple of years ago, and when we move around the country now that we’re retired, you don’t keep in touch with them all the time, unless maybe it’s a special occasion. But we were always close friends.
We played together for a number of years and I’ve said this time and time again when people ask me ‘who was the best goalkeeper, Peter Shilton or Gordon Banks?’. I always answer them by saying ‘I’ll take second pick and be happy!’ Gordon was a World Cup winner and I always felt that while he saved the ball as good as anyone, he threw it out better than anyone. I have fond memories of Gordon, never mind playing with him in games.
I’ve always said that his greatest ever game for Leicester was the FA Cup Semi-Final game against Liverpool in 1963. In all honesty, Liverpool must have come off the pitch wondering how they got beat! Banksy was simply out of this world, some of the saves he made. There are other games I could mention, but you always have to go to that one. That was a special game for me, Banksy’s saves that day.
I will always speak highly of Gordon. He was outstanding. He was a World Cup winner. He’ll probably be remembered for the save against Pele, but he made hundreds more for Leicester, he really did. In his company, he was a funny guy as well. He could tell some great stories. Gordon was up there with the best of them all. When they talk about goalkeepers in 50 years’ time, he’ll still get mentioned.
Howard Riley
Position: Winger
Time at LCFC: 1955-1965
Team-mate of Banks: 1959-1965
I remember him signing in 1959, so I played with him for six or seven years. I’m very shocked by the news, but I have some great memories of him. He was a very modest and humble person, considering his standing in football. He was one of the best goalkeepers you’ll ever see. He was quite a jovial character, too. He lightened the dressing room up with some of his antics. He’d come in singing ‘sugar in the morning’ (Sugartime by Johnny Cash). On tours, he’d get on the microphone and be giving people commentary and singing along.
Everyone remembers the save that he made from Pele, but we’ve seen ones that have matched that at Leicester. The one that always stands out for me is the Liverpool game in the FA Cup Semi-Final in 1963. We beat them 1-0. I crossed one in and [Mike] Stringfellow headed it in, but after that, we were under quite a lot of pressure. I remember in the second half, I was busy back in our half. Some of the saves Gordon made were fantastic. His agility was amazing. He would get off the ground and push the ball around the post and over the bar. I’ve seen many games that he was outstanding in, but I think that was the one that I remember. He earned quite a few points for us over the time he was with us!
He had a lot of time for people. I’ve been to many functions at King Power Stadium and he’d come along with myself, Davie Gibson and Frank McLintock – the team-mates that he’d played with. He’d be answering questions and you wouldn’t think that you were in the presence of one of the best goalkeepers you’ll ever see. He was very modest.
He played for Leicester, Stoke and other clubs in England and then he went to America for some time. He totally deserves the recognition he got. People have recognised that.
I remember that quite often we’d be at Filbert Street in the afternoons practicing crossing if we could get on the pitch. I remember doing that quite regularly with one or two of the players, learning things all the time. With Gordon, I’d be crossing the ball, and the biggest thing you have to work out is making the goalkeeper make a decision, whether to stay on his line or come out. It’s the same these days. I remember putting in that extra practice with Gordon.
We often had chats about tactics and coaching. Gordon was blessed with a natural ability, but he worked hard to make himself even better. I don’t think we had coaches for goalkeepers those days, most of the time it was just training and five-a-sides, then that little bit of extra practice. He was blessed with natural ability, but he worked at it too.
Mike Stringfellow
Position: Winger
Time at LCFC: 1962-1975
Team-mate of Banks: 1962-1967
To sum it up, he was a nice bloke. He was a nice person. His position as a top goalkeeper in England didn’t go to his head. He had a nickname of ‘Sugar’, because he was always whistling a song at the time. He was a likeable chap.
It gave you a lot of confidence that you had the top goalkeeper in the country at the time. It gave you a lot of confidence. He was a top-notch goalkeeper, no doubt about that, and I remember him as a nice chap as well.
He was a top-notch goalkeeper, apart from when we played Fulham! They were his bogey side. He’d clear the lot out – I always used to get sent back for corners and he’d clear the lot out when he came for the ball. If he came for the ball, that was it! It didn’t matter what side you were on, you’d get cleared out the way.
I know that Richie Norman was a big mate of Gordon’s. Funnily enough, I was with Richie about a week ago and we mentioned Gordon. I heard this morning (Tuesday) and it was a complete surprise to me, it’s very sad news.