Football Poets

The Most Famous Save in Football History

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 I think I am fast becoming an antique
I can’t even remember what happened last week
My short-term memory is starting to fade
That’s the cost of middle age I’m afraid

¶ 2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 However in my mind I can accurately replay
Long ago events as if it were yesterday
Great goals and matches, players and teams
The passage of time enhances them it seems

¶ 3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 One such legendary incident it appears
Grows more celebrated through the passing years
It still thrills me today as it did do then
All those decades ago when I was about ten

¶ 4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 The success of ‘66 had passed me by
Too young for Nobby’s jig or to see Bobby cry
1970 was my first World Cup
I was a real fan now, I was all grown up

¶ 5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 The country had gone mad for all things Mexico
“Back Home” was forever playing on the radio
Every magazine article I would avidly read
“Get those Esso coins” with my Dad, I would plead

¶ 6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Brazil were favourites, they’d magic in their feet
With stunning skills played to a samba beat
It was the beautiful game when they had the ball
They truly were the greatest team of them all

¶ 7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Yet a side nearly bought them crashing down
Onto the rocks of their defensive renown
In only one game, were they put to the test
That’s when they played England in a superb contest

¶ 8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 They played the match in a brutal heat
On a pitch that was as hard as solid concrete
They had Rivelino, Jairzinho, Tostao and Gerson
We had Moore and Ball, Peters and Charlton

¶ 9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 The brightest star of them all was Pelé
The greatest player that ever lived they say
Between him and certain victory there would stand
The Keeper in the Royal Blue Shirt of England

¶ 10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Using startling reflexes and exceptional agility
He made the most famous save in football history
An impossible play that brought eternal fame
Gordon Banks was that goalkeepers name

¶ 11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 Ten minutes gone, Brazil are on the attack
Jairzinho on the wing, speeds past the full back
Reaching the by-line showing superb control
Crosses the ball to the far side of the goal

¶ 12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 Banks has moved to the left side to cover
the threat to the near post, only to discover
That the intended target, to England’s dismay,
is charging in at the back … Oh no … it’s Pelé!

¶ 13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 Like a golden eagle, Pelé is soaring
Shouting “GOAL” so sure is he of scoring
Seeing Banks marooned by the ball’s sweeping flight
Heads powerfully down towards the right

¶ 14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 The ball bounces just in front of the line
Surely the Keeper won’t reach it in time
Just as it seems the lead will go to Brazil
Banks executes his supreme moment of skill

¶ 15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 As the ball bounces up, Banks arrived
The width of the goal, he’d sprinted and dived
One instant he’s across the goal stranded
Next he’s diving for the ball right handed

¶ 16 Leave a comment on verse 16 0 Leaping like a salmon up a steep waterfall
Straining to get fingertips onto the ball
He managed to scoop it high into the air
As a stunned Pelé could only stand and stare

¶ 17 Leave a comment on verse 17 0 The ball clears the bar as it miraculously rose
Headfirst into the side netting Banks now goes
He has no idea where the ball has since gone
Though he knew the hand he got on it was strong

¶ 18 Leave a comment on verse 18 0 But when he heard the crowds deafening roar
He’s sure it’s for Pelé, who seemed certain to score
But Pelé’s match for once had been met
The ball was not nestling in the back of the net

¶ 19 Leave a comment on verse 19 0 Now Banks couldn’t believe what he was hearing
It was not a goal but him they were cheering
He acts nonchalant as he gets back to his feet
Having grasped glory out from the jaws of defeat

¶ 20 Leave a comment on verse 20 0 It was an exploit of beauty and sheer poetry
“What a save … Gordon Banks” screams the TV
Bobby Moore ruffles his hair and then he scolds
“You used to hold on to them, you’re getting old!”

¶ 21 Leave a comment on verse 21 0 So the legend of “The Greatest Save” had begun
“I didn’t have any idea how famous it would become”
Gordon Banks would say when asked to recall
“To start with, I didn’t realise I’d made it at all!”

¶ 22 Leave a comment on verse 22 0 Oh what a game! Remember that tackle by Moore?
Though in the end Brazil did finally score
But defeat for England meant no loss of pride
To narrowly lose to the greatest ever side

¶ 23 Leave a comment on verse 23 0 I recently came across my old sticker book
Whilst I was up in the loft having a look
Flicking the pages I was shocked to see
Not one sticker missing from Belgium to West Germany

¶ 24 Leave a comment on verse 24 0 All my heroes stared back from the page
It truly was England’s golden age
There was Moore and Charlton, Peters and Ball
And Gordon Banks, the finest keeper of them all