The England jersey Gordon Banks wore during his ‘save of the century’ against Brazil’s Pele is going up for auction.
The goalkeeper’s blue shirt – from the 1970 World Cup game in Mexico – is expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000.
England lost 1-0 to eventual winners Brazil, but the match is remembered for Banks’s acrobatic display, in which he blocked a downward header from Pele.
The striker had been so certain he was about to score, he shouted ‘Gol’ as he aimed for the net, but Banks managed to perfectly judge the bounce of the ball and scoop it over the bar with his right hand.
His quick reflexes left the crowd in disbelief, with BBC commentator David Coleman simply saying: ‘What a save. Gordon Banks. He picked that out of the net.’
The Sheffield-born goalkeeper, who died in February 2019 aged 81, was known for his modesty, and later described the save as ‘lucky’.
‘They won’t remember me for winning the World Cup. It will be for that save,’ he said.
Such was his reliability, the phrase ‘safe as the Banks Of England’ was coined.
England lost 1-0 to eventual winners Brazil , but the match is remembered for Banks’s acrobatic display, in which he blocked a downward header from Pele
Banks managed to perfectly judge the bounce of the ball and scoop it over the bar with his right hand
The shirt could go for more than the one worn by Pele in the 1970 final against Italy, which fetched a record £157,750 when it was auctioned at Christie’s in 2002.
Banks’s medal from England’s victory at the 1966 World Cup is also up for grabs, valued at up to £250,000.
The goalkeeper’s blue shirt is expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000
The jersey and medal are being offered by separate anonymous sellers.
David Convery, of Budds auctioneers, called Banks’s shirt ‘iconic’. He told The Sun: ‘He wore blue in that one match.
‘Gordon wore yellow in the others but Brazil were in yellow, of course.’
Another shirt – worn by goalkeeper Peter Shilton in England’s 1986 Maradona Hand of God World Cup defeat to Argentina – will also go under the hammer, and is valued at £200,000 to £300,000.
The items go on sale in person and online from 11am on June 10 through Budds, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
