A PERSONAL RECOLLECTION BY POPULAR AFTER-DINNER COMEDIAN BOB ‘THE CAT’ BEVAN

Double act: Gordon Banks with Bob ‘the Cat’ Bevan

Respect: Stoke keeper Jack Butland wore a plain green jersey to honour Gordon Banks

IT’S almost 40 years since I met my goalkeeping hero. I had been plucked from the obscurity of old boys’ football club dinners to speak at the 1980 Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year Dinner at London’s Café Royal at fairly short notice.
Despite being a football anorak, I had little idea of what to expect that evening ...