A wild conspiracy theory has resurfaced ahead of this summer's World Cup, alleging that the CIA poisoned England goalkeeper Gordon Banks before a crucial match in 1970.
The 1970 World Cup and Gordon Banks
Back in 1970, the England national team travelled to Mexico to defend the World Cup they had won four years earlier. Much of the squad consisted of players who had lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy on home soil in 1966. Among them was Gordon Banks, widely considered one of the finest goalkeepers on the planet. During the 1970 tournament, he was in fine form and pulled off what has since been dubbed the 'save of the century' against eventual champions Brazil.
However, the legendary stopper was sidelined for England's quarter-final defeat to West Germany, whom they had beaten in the 1966 final. Peter Bonetti took his place in goal as the Three Lions blew a two-goal lead to lose after extra time.
The Poisoning Allegation
Banks missed the match with what was believed to be food poisoning, but some conspiracy theorists suggested the CIA had actually poisoned him. Now, over half a century later, the Foul Play podcast has looked into those allegations. Investigative journalist Gabriel Gatehouse worked with Banks' grandson, Ed Jervis, on the three-year project.
Gatehouse told the BBC: "Roughly a day before the quarter-final, he gets ill with food poisoning. The team doctor diagnoses him with acute gastroenteritis and he rules him out of the game." Many were convinced that England would have won if Banks had played, accusing US authorities of taking extreme measures to ensure Brazil lifted the trophy.
"The rationale was that the military dictatorship in Brazil wanted a popularity boost, the Americans wanted to keep them in place and so they helped them win the World Cup. That was the allegation," added Gatehouse.
Family Suspicions
Jervis said that Banks, who died in 2019, always used to say "something dodgy went on," adding: "He'd say: 'I don't know what, but why did I get so ill?'" A conversation over dinner with a family friend convinced Jervis that the CIA might have been involved. Initially, he dismissed the idea as "nonsense," but changed his mind when he started looking into it with Gatehouse.
"Obviously, I'm upset with the thought somebody might have targeted my grandad, but also there's part of me that's quite proud in a weird way," he said. "Because you're like: 'He was that good, they had to go after him'. As an England fan, you do look at this and say it sort of seems like the curse of English football started in 1970. We haven't really been the same since."
Investigation Findings
Over the course of their investigation, Gatehouse and Jervis spoke to former England internationals and former spies and scoured medical and CIA documents. Early in the process, they discovered that Brazil had received help from NASA in their training sessions before the World Cup. They did indeed utilise data from NASA and the US military to prepare the squad for the extreme summer heat.
Reflecting on those findings, Gatehouse said: "When I first started this, I thought, this is highly implausible. Now I'm thinking: 'Bloody hell, this could have happened.'" As things stand, the allegations remain unproven, but it won't stop Gatehouse and Jervis from pushing what they believe might be a hidden narrative.
