David Fensome
The recent sad death of England’s World Cup winning goalkeeper, Gordon Banks OBE, is one of those events which transcends the usually narrow and tribal instincts of football supporters: Banks was largely an English hero as opposed to one claimed specifically by any of the clubs he served so well. Although he had no obvious connection with Arsenal, Banks never-the-less played a central role in one of those pivotal split-second dramas in the Gunners’ history: it was a moment, a game, indeed a day which signalled a sea change in the momentum of a season, and the trajectory of a team.
On 27th March, 1971, on an initially sunny afternoon, at Hillsborough, Arsenal met Stoke City in the semi-final of the FA Cup. In goal for the Potters was Banks: then considered the best ‘keeper in the world, less than a year after his iconic flying save of Pele’s header at the Mexico World Cup. Earlier in the season, in early autumn, Arsenal had been well beaten at Stoke’s Victoria Ground, 5-0. After an initially promising start to the season, it perhaps begged questions of just how serious were Arsenal’s titles aspirations. Coach Don Howe responded with days of punishment runs in the immediate wake of the Stoke defeat; Arsenal duly re-focused and promptly went on a 14 game unbeaten league run, winning 11.
By late March, Arsenal had graduated from hopefuls to genuine contenders: in the last four of the Cup; and second behind Leeds United in the league. While Arsenal met Stoke, Leeds played Chelsea in the league and as consequence would pull 8 points clear of the Gunners with a win. Four days earlier Arsenal had lost a controversial Fairs’ Cup quarter-final to FC Cologne, a rare setback in an otherwise near perfect run of results as Arsenal gathered momentum and stuck fast to Leeds’ shadow.
Arsenal were strong favourites to claim their spot at Wembley for the Cup final, but then as now Arsenal rarely did things the easy way. By half-time any dreams of Wembley were hanging by a thread: an early clearance by Peter Storey had ricocheted back past him, and the stranded Bob Wilson, to give Stoke the lead. Soon a drama was to become a crisis, as an attempted back-pass from Charlie George was intercepted by John Ritchie, who rounded Wilson to make it 2-0.
The game could have been dead and buried by early in the second half but for a mixture of poor finishing from Stoke, and a successful example of Wilson’s signature tune move of diving at the feet of an on-coming forward to bravely claim the ball.
But then Storey popped up to score arguably his most spectacular Arsenal goal, a volley from outside the penalty box, which flew through a crowded Stoke defence and, leaving Banks flat footed, ripped into the corner of the net. At 2-1 Arsenal poured forward, but it seemed it was to be another near-cup-miss for McLintock. Then as the game entered injury time, Stoke scrambled it behind for an Arsenal corner: Banks looked jittery as he argued with the referee and berated his defenders. From the resultant corner, McLintock’s perfect header might have split the net but for Mahoney, on the line, diving to his right and pushing the ball away: penalty!
In his autobiography, Peter Storey admits to breaking out into a cold sweat as the whistle went for the handball: injury time, a cup semi-final, and he merely had to put it past the best ‘keeper in the world!
For a brief moment Arsenal’s season hung in the balance, players turned away unable to watch, as Storey ran the gauntlet of the Stoke fans massed behind the goal at the Leppings Lane end. Storey ran up, Banks shifted his weight on to his right foot, and as Storey hit a low shot to the ‘keeper’s left; Banks was unable to adjust as the softest of penalties rippled the back of the net. The ball couldn’t have been more than two feet from Banks as it sailed centrally in to the goal, but Banks later admitted he sensed from Storey’s run up it was going to his right: Storey also admitted it was probably the worst struck penalty of his career.
Having saved Arsenal’s cup hopes, Storey came into the dressing room to discover Leeds had been beaten by Chelsea and now although still six points clear, Arsenal had three games in hand, and thus the title was now in his team’s hands. Of course, Arsenal were victorious in the replay, having broken Stoke’s resistance at Hillsborough they won 2-0 at a canter. After the replay, McLintock asserted that Arsenal was now going to do the ‘double’.
Titles and ‘doubles’ are not won in mere moments of action, but assuredly they can be lost. Had Storey succumbed to Banks’ reputation and presence then perhaps in losing the cup, Arsenal may well have lost the battle for the league too. It was perhaps the midfielder’s greatest moment, and the magnitude of the goalkeeper he did it against adds to its lustre.
I had the pleasure of meeting Gordon Banks once: he was courteous and modest. I asked him about ‘that save against Pele’, but I thought it polite not to ask him about Peter Storey!
RIP Gordon Banks, a gentleman and a football legend.
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