Stoke City announces the death of the guardian of the century

LONDON (Reuters) – Former England goalkeeper Gordon Banks, crowned in 1966 at the 1966 World Cup, has died at 81, Stoke said Tuesday.

He played 73 games with England and achieved one of the most famous successes in the history of football, facing the head of Brazilian legend Pelé at the 1970 World Cup .

Stoke City posted a message from the Banks family via the social networking site Twitter: "We are very sad to announce that Gordon passed away last night."

"We are sorry for his loss, but we have many happy memories and we are very proud of him," he said.

He had also been goalkeeper at Chesterfield, Leicester City, Cleveland Stokes, Fort Lauderdale Strekers and Patrick Athletic.