Gordon Banks Gordon Banks He joined Chesterfield in March 1953, and played for their youth team in the 1956 FA Youth Cup final. He made his first team debut in November 1958, and was sold to Leicester City for £7,000 in July 1959. He played in four cup finals for the club, as they were beaten in the 1961 and 1963 FA Cup finals, before winning the League Cup in 1964 and finishing as finalists in 1965. During this time he established himself as England's number one goalkeeper, and played every game of the nation's 1966 World Cup victory. Despite this success,
Gordon Banks missed the first nine games of the 1965–66 season after breaking his wrist when diving at the feet of Northampton Town's Joe Kiernan in a pre-season friendly. Leicester finished the season in seventh spot, and exited both cup competitions at the hands of Manchester City. Despite being a World Cup winner in the previous summer, Banks was dropped towards the end of the 1966–67 season in favour of highly promising teenage reserve Peter Shilton. Manager Matt Gillies was blunt, telling Banks "we [Gillies and the club's directors] think your best days are behind you, and you should move on". Teammate