Gordon Banks: Grandson searches spy archives over 1970 World Cup illness | OneFootball

Ed Jervis, grandson of England goalkeeper Gordon Banks, has spent three years probing claims his grandfather was poisoned at the 1970 World Cup. According to LeicesterMercury.co.uk, the trail took him to Mexico City's National Archives, the Black Palace, in November 2025.

England were reigning world champions and impressed in the group, including his save from Pelé. West Germany awaited in the quarter-final. Struck by acute gastroenteritis, Banks missed out, Peter Bonetti conceded three after 70 minutes and England lost a two-goal lead.

Banks had long suspected something untoward, though the family laughed it off. In 2023, friend Don Mullan set out a theory that the CIA poisoned him to aid Brazil. It links US backing for Brazil's 1964 coup to a hope, by 1970, that a World Cup win would shore up the regime.

Jervis teamed up with investigative journalist Gabriel Gatehouse and combed declassified files. They found a 2 February 1971 CIA memo noting a surge in the regime’s popularity and that General Medici tied himself to the World Cup win. They also found material suggesting NASA helped Pelé and team-mates adapt to altitude.

Their search spanned interviews with ex-spies and archives in three countries, exposing a web of espionage in Cold War Mexico. Along the way they brushed against files tied to the JFK assassination and Watergate, while Jervis hunted for signs Mexican agents monitored Banks.

Foul Play, a podcast by Jervis and Gatehouse on the 1970 episode, is available on Audible and elsewhere from Thursday, 28 May.

Source: LeicesterMercury.co.uk