‘Gordon Banks’ save from Pele inspired me to become a goalkeeper. I only became a defender because the players in front of me were so shabby’ Stuart Pearce on his admiration for the England legend

Stuart Pearce was famously something of late starter when it came to his football career.

While he would go on to win 78 caps for England and be a key player in the World Cup 90 and Euro 96 sides that reached the last-four in both tournaments, he began his career training and then working as an electrician during a five-year stint at non-league side Wealdstone.

Pearce’s big break would come in 1983, when Coventry City boss Bobby Gould spotted something in the non-league left-back and snapped him up in a £30,000 deal.

Pearce on his admiration for Gordon Banks

Pearce’s determination and combative nature – two traits that served him well during his career – had impressed Gould, but it could all have been different if Pearce had followed his initial dream and followed in the footsteps of his early hero Gordon Banks.

“My first memory of watching football on TV was the 1970 World Cup,” Pearce recalls to FourFourTwo.

“I was eight, and Gordon’s save from Pele is still the best I’ve ever seen. I still look back at that save and think, ‘How did he keep that out?’

“Gordon inspired me to become a goalkeeper – I won my first medal in that position, and only became an outfield player out of frustration. As a kid, the players in front of me were so shabby, I thought, ‘I’ve got to go up top!’

“Then we might score six but still concede eight, and I got frustrated with that too, which is why I became a defender.”

Banks – who was ranked at No.3 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest-ever goalkeepers – remains an English football legend to this day, having made almost 700 career appearances and starred for the Three Lions in their 1966 World Cup win.

His save from Pele in the 1970 World Cup that Pearce references was his signature moment, and brought about a hilarious exchange before the resulting corner was taken:

“I thought that was a goal,” said Pele, with Banks replying: “You and me both,” before England skipper Bobby Moore added: “You’re getting old, Banksy, you used to hold on to them.”

Pearce was speaking in association with next-gen Fantasy Football mobile game CLUB, available for both Android and iOS

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.