Gordon Banks will be forever associated with a summer's day at Wembley in 1966 when he earned himself a place in history as a World Cup winner with England.

Others may recall what has been widely acclaimed as the best save ever when he acrobatically stopped Pele’s header in another World Cup encounter with Brazil in Mexico.

But what is less well-known is his connections to Sheffield.

He may not have played for United or Wednesday but there is little doubt that the city played its part in nurturing what may have been the world’s finest ever goalkeeper.

Pictured (Behind) John Clarke, Sheffield Home of Football, trustee and company secretary, preparing the template whilst (left to right) Steve Wood, Sheffield Home of Football, trustee and specialist in football history, Suzy Pitchley and Mark Jameson, owners of Jameson's Tea Rooms hold this special blue plaque before it's fixed into it's permanent location on the side of their business. Picture: James Hardisty.

placeholder image — Pictured (Behind) John Clarke, Sheffield Home of Football, trustee and company secretary, preparing the template whilst (left to right) Steve Wood, Sheffield Home of Football, trustee and specialist in football history, Suzy Pitchley and Mark Jameson, owners of Jameson's Tea Rooms hold this special blue plaque before it's fixed into it's permanent location on the side of their business. Picture: James Hardisty.

He was born in the city and reputedly played for a company team, Millspaugh, before joining Rawmarsh Welfare and Chesterfield, for whom he played in the 1958-59 season.

He made his name at Leicester City and later Stoke City and won 73 England caps.

So, a blue plaque honouring his birthplace has been installed in the city. It marks where Arthur Road was, just off Abbeydale Road.

Many documents relate to him growing up in Tinsley but the Sheffield Home of Football charity is confident that the story really began in Arthur Road.

English goalkeeper Gordon Banks of Leicester City FC in training, UK, 1966. (Photo by Hoare/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

His family – some still in Sheffield, others who travelled from Stoke – joined Lord Blunkett, Sheffield Lord Mayor Safiya Saeed, former Sheffield United footballer Tony Currie and others at the ceremony.

Banks’ son Rob and daughters Julia and Wendy were there, together with nephew Nick Banks of the band Pulp.

Andy Kershaw of the Sheffield Home of Football said this was the 11th plaque installed in the city to highlight the city’s football heritage but possibly the most significant.

"It was fabulous to have so many of Gordon’s family and friends there,” he said. “It was a touching tribute and I am delighted it all came together.”

He said many people assume Banks was born in Tinsley but research by Michael and Helen Firth of Heron Publications had found he was born in Arthur Road, a road which no longer exists.

Bob Wilson, former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper and BBC presenter, sent his best wishes.

Mr Wilson, 84, who was born in Chesterfield, said he remembered watching Banks play for his home town club at Saltergate in his early days.

“I always say my hero was Bert Trautmann (a German who played an FA Cup final with a broken neck in the 1956 FA Cup final) but Gordon was my second hero. I used to watch him from behind the goal.

“"If I couldn’t afford the ticket price to get in, my then girlfriend – later my wife, now sadly my late wife – lived just behind the ground and I could watch matches from the attic room window.

“Gordon was an inspiration. I was only a few years younger but I used to watch him and learn. He was such a genuinely nice guy who could handle the fame, which not everyone can.”