About this episode

The episode explores the theory that the CIA may have poisoned England's goalkeeper Gordon Banks during the 1970 World Cup.

Why did Gordon Banks pull out of the 1970 World Cup quarter-final against West Germany? And was the CIA to blame? Listen as David and Gordon are joined by journalist Gabriel Gatehouse who has spent the past three years investigating whether the CIA poisoned England's star goalkeeper. ------------------- Listen to Gabriel's full investigation, Foul Play: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/foul-play/id1896803199 ------------------- THE REST IS CLASSIFIED LIVE 2026 at The Rest Is Fest: Buy your tickets ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see David and Gordon live on stage at London’s Southbank Centre on 4 September: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/the-rest-is-classified-live/⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Sign-up for our free newsletter where producer Becki takes you behind the scenes of the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign⁠-up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Join the Declassified Club to go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, regular livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated…

People in this episode

Hosts: David, Gordon

Guest: Gabriel Gatehouse

Topics covered

• CIA
• World Cup
• Gordon Banks
• poisoning
• investigation
• football history

Keywords

• CIA
• Gordon Banks
• World Cup
• poison
• Gabriel Gatehouse
• football
• investigation

Sponsors

HP

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA, Goalhanger, Southbank Centre

Books & works: Foul Play

More episodes of The Rest Is Classified

• 165. Why England Didn't Win the 1970 World Cup (Ep 2) · June 10, 2026 · 56 min

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