Following a discussion at work who would you vote for as top keeper. I say it's Shilton but have had arguments for Banks and Ray Clemence as well as Hart. Views
Stop him nurse, I'll burst my sides..!. Shall I say David Seaman, or would we then hyperventilate from laughing so hard..? Gordon Banks.
Banks or Shilton. Banks tends to get the vote because of that "What a save - Gordon Banks" from Pele at the 1970 World Cup, but Shilton takes the longevity award.
the IFFHS (the guys who do all the football stats) have Banks ranked at no2 behind Lev Yashin. Thats good enough for me
No it isn't just that. I'm old enough [there's got to be an advantage somewhere] where I can remember seeing him play for Stoke City, or on MOTD, or indeed ever present for England, and he was always brilliant. He didn't need to make fantastic saves, most of the time, because his positioning and judgement was the very best. Thing was, he could do the miracle saves as well, if called upon. Stoke would still get beaten though because they were crap.
Certainly Banks. Shilton tended to make the flashier saves. Banks made things look easy. He was the goalkeeping equivalent of Tiss.
I saw Yashin in 66, but probably past his best. Banks was the master of positioning, Shilton was just so commanding. Clemence was often not seen for what he was because he played behind such a brilliant defence at Liverpool and, of course, there was THAT goal at Hampden. But he was a great shot stopper, and very quick off his line to smother attacks. It was just such a pity for both Shilts and Clemence that they were contemporaries. Best ever? Has to be Gordon but it's a close call.
Has anyone ever seen the video of Ferenc Puskas in an Arsenal shirt taking shots at Banks and not missing? Banks was an amazing keeper and one the best strikers of all time made him look average when he absolutely wasnt!
Imagine how many caps Shilts would have won with no Ray Clemence around! 180+? I think had he got all those too, most people would choose him as the best. So I will say Shilts.