Stoke City F.C. Jimmy McIlroy were all players signed in the latter stages of their careers. Matthews was awarded a knighthood for services to football in the 1965 New Year's Honours list. This was followed by his final appearance for the club against Fulham in February 1965, shortly after his 50th birthday. Gordon Banks, England's 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper, joined in 1967 for £52,000 from Leicester. Regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world, Banks proved to be a shrewd signing for Waddington as he helped the club maintain stability in the First Division. During the close season of 1967, Stoke City played
Earl Shilton Earl Shilton Earl Shilton is a small town in Leicestershire, England, about from Hinckley and about from Leicester. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 10,047. The village of Earl Shilton would evolve on Shilton Hill in what would be south Leicestershire. Below the hill ran an ancient trackway known as the Salt Road, connecting east and west Leicestershire. A tribe known as the Corieltauvi constructed this ancient road, running along the southern edge of the Great Leicester Forest, a vast tract of impenetrable woodland which entirely covered west Leicestershire and stretched up into Nottingham and Derbyshire. The Salt Road