Celebration of a Football legend

Last updated : 13 July 2008 By Rams Mad Editor

Desmond Tu Tu, Pele and Gordon Banks
Desmond Tu Tu, Gordon Banks and Pele at the unveiling of the Gordon Banks statue at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium.
Stoke City yesterday put on a celebration for the unveiling of a bronze statue to Gordon Banks, one of the Worlds all time greatest goalkeepers.

Attending the event were Archbishop Desmond Tu Tu , Nobby Stiles, Sir Geoff Hurst and arguably the greatest player of all time Pele!

The day was not only about honouring Gordon Banks about combating racism and the enjoyment of football by all generations.

An U12 World Cup final was played on the finely manicured Britannia stadium pitch, the youngsters represented by local schools, who had fought through several rounds to play in the final, which had the sides playing in the famous yellow and blue of Brazil and the all white strip of England.

Pele and Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks and Pele award the players playing in the U12 World Cup Final their medals. Incidentally England beat Brazil 2-0.
The kits were representative of the colours worn on that fateful day in 1970 when England played Brazil in the World Cup finals, and the famous Banks save from Pele took place.

The Youngsters were thrilled to be presented with their winners and runners up medals by Gordon and Pele, Giving those 12 year olds a day they will never forget.

Caribbean and African singing, along with a wonderfully noisy and colourful Samba band, plus a more contempary band made the day go with a real swing. A colourful display of world flags was amazing to watch and the contrast with a vivid green squared pitch was a joy to behold.

The statue unveiling went well with Arch bishop Tu Tu blessing all in the crowd and asking for Stoke City to remain in the Premiership next season………..a big ask but he is one of the Worlds most respected religious leaders, so who knows!

Derby County Mad meets Football legend
A lifetime wish comes true as yours truly meets The greatest footballer of all time, PELE
My own day was made complete by bumping into Pele, my hero, in the concourse of the West Stand of Britannia Stadium and despite several body guards we still managed to get a photograph of yours truly with a Football Legend.

The statue creator, Andrew Edwards, had invited Derby County mad along, as he will be creating a Large bust to Rams legend Steve Bloomer in the next few months. This will be for a celebration of our own next year when Derby County will celebrate 125 years of the club, started in 1884. It is hoped that a year long celebration will take place with various events taking place during the 12 months.

Look out for further announcements in the match day programme, local media and announcements at Rams home games during the first half of the 2008-09 season...