Gordon Banks has paid tribute to boyhood hero Bert Williams as England’s 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper was honoured with the unveiling of a statue.
Former Wolves and Walsall keeper Williams was among the guests at a dinner on Saturday to honour Banks after a day of celebrations at Stoke City, the club where he became a hero.
Williams had become a legend himself at Molineux in a 14-year career, during which he made more than 400 appearances.
Banks revealed how watching Williams and former Manchester City keeper Bert Trautmann inspired him.
He said: “People like Bert and Bert were the best that were around at the particular time when I was 15 or 16.
“I used to stand behind the goals and watch them and I’d watch what they did.
“Bert Williams’ positioning was fabulous and he had the agility. I learned a lot from watching him.
“It was great that he could come on Saturday. I helped him promote his book about a year ago and he’s a lovely man.”
Banks is currently concerned at the lack of young English players coming through for Fabio Capello to choose from, particularly at goalkeeper level.
Yet he admitted he felt Albion and Villa target Paul Robinson had been harshly treated over his exile from the national side.
He said: “I thought Robinson was doing a good job at one stage and he was doing an excellent job.
“He made a couple of mistakes and the manager didn’t see fit to put him back in the side.
“I think we do need some youngsters coming throug, but until these foreign managers start to play English goalkeepers, we’re always going to be weak in that position.
“Unless the managers play them, they can’t get the experience. You have to be playing on a regular basis for the team.
“Then you have to be consistent. Unless you’ve got those two things the manager won’t be able to play you.
“We do need some young players because the England squad doesn’t have a lot to pick from, and that’s sad.”
2 Comments
He’s right - the potential English keepers that are available at present aren’t able to cope with the pressures of the international spotlight or simply aren’t capable of handling the step up in class. We have several ‘decent’ premiership keepers but no one likely to get in and stay there for years on end.
Bert Williams - the original ‘Cat’ - was (and still is) my Dad’s hero and it’s to the detriment to our hopes of future international honours that we don’t have a few more like he and Banksy around now. I’m only in my mid thirties but I don’t think we’ve had a world class English keeper since Shilton retired.
Our Bert, simply the best!