The funeral of England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks will take place at Stoke Minster on March 4.
The date will mark the 47th anniversary of Stoke’s League Cup final victory over Chelsea, in which Banks played a decisive role.
Banks, a member of England’s victorious 1966 side, died earlier this week age the age of 81.
The funeral of legendary Stoke City and England goalkeeper Gordon Banks OBE, who passed away earlier this week aged 81, will take place on Monday, March 4 at 1.30pm at Stoke Minster.https://t.co/d81YTB6Pjs pic.twitter.com/pgeUX28Ns4 — Stoke City FC (@stokecity) February 15, 2019
A statement from Stoke read: “The funderal of legendary Stoke City and England goalkeeper Gordon Banks OBE, who passed away earlier this week aged 81, will take place on Monday, March 4 at 1.30pm at Stoke Minster.
“That day has special poignancy as it marks the 47th anniversary of City’s League Cup triumph in 1972 in which Gordon, of course, played a key role.
“It should be noted that access to the service is strictly by invitation.”
In the 1972 final, Banks produced a series of late saves to ensure his club claimed their first major trophy with a 2-1 win.
Tributes have continued pouring in for Banks, with flowers and other memorials arranged at the foot of his statue outside Stoke’s bet365 Stadium.
Pele, whom Banks denied in arguably the greatest save of all in the 1970 World Cup, described the “great sadness in my heart” and called Banks “a goalkeeper with magic”.
Among the great modern goalkeepers, long-time Italy star Gianluigi Buffon described how he was inspired to take up the position after seeing Banks make what he described as “the perfect save”.
