Manchester United stars looking to bowl PSG over stretch their legs ahead of Champions League clash as they walk on Lancashire’s cricket pitch

• Manchester United stay at the hotel at Lancashire’s Old Trafford cricket ground
• The proximity to their stadium lowers the chances of being caught in traffic
• United meet PSG in the Champions League last-16 at Old Trafford on Tuesday  

By

Jack Bezants for MailOnline

Published:
07:23 EST, 12 February 2019

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Updated:
07:54 EST, 12 February 2019

Manchester United‘s change of pre-match hotel has solved issues over their punctuality at Old Trafford and also provides Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men with a chance to stretch their legs.

The United squad now stay at the hotel at the Old Trafford cricket ground – home for County Championship side Lancashire – after traffic issues blighted their arrival ahead of big games earlier this season, notably Champions League group matches with Valencia and Juventus.

And they made the most of their surroundings on Tuesday by going for a stroll on Lancashire’s pitch as they get set to meet French champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 of the Champions League.

Paul Pogba and Michael Carrick pictured as Manchester United take a stroll on Tuesday 

United are staying at a hotel nearer to Old Trafford to avoid any issues with matchday traffic

United had to delay kick-off against Valencia in October and left it late against Juventus 

United used to stay at the Lowry Hotel on the eve of matches but have now switched to avoid being caught in traffic caused by roadworks in the city. 

Their group match with Valencia in October was delayed by five minutes after traffic caused United to arrive at Old Trafford 44 minutes before the scheduled 8pm kick-off.

And against Juventus, United arrived 50 minutes before kick-off while Jose Mourinho left the stationary team-bus early to walk to the stadium alone.

Solskjaer has not lost since replacing Mourinho as manager in December and United enter the match with an increasing sense of momentum. 

Speaking on Monday, Solskjaer said he was relishing a European fixture at Old Trafford and wanted to ensure his players enjoy the game.

United play French giants PSG on Tuesday with a growing sense of momentum at the club

United have not lost since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho as manager 

United’s unbeaten run has seen them move into the top four of the Premier League 

‘My last one (European night) was when we beat Roma 7-1 (in 2007),’ he said. ‘That was a typical Old Trafford night. We’d lost 2-1 away from home but the manager was happy. He said, “We’ll be alright, we’ll win at home”, he was so confident in our ability.

‘I want my players to go into this game with confidence and embrace it.’

United were just seen going for a stroll and chatting amongst themselves as they prepare for Tuesday’s match.

In cricket, there is seemingly a jinx on players injuring themselves by playing football as a warm-up but there were no late accidents for Solskjaer to worry about. 

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It was a clash of the titans in the Mexican heat. Guadalajara, 1970, Carlos Alberto with an inviting pass in behind the English rear-guard, latched onto by Jairzinho who hung it in the air for Pele to rise and finish the script. But something, or someone, changed the ending.

What stood in the way of Pele’s powerful downward header was the greatest save of all time, a moment that came to define the career of a gentle and humorous man from Sheffield.

Gordon Banks has died aged 81 but he will last long in the memory as England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper and the man who pulled off that famous save.

England’s greatest goalkeeper, Gordon Banks, has died at the age of 81

Banks will forever be known for this truly remarkable save against Pele in 1970

The pair laugh while holding a framed photo of that famous moment almost 50 years ago

Banksy, as he was affectionately known, is widely considered as one of the best goalkeepers the game has ever produced. He was named Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year in 1972 and FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year an incredible six times.

The English Football Hall of Fame inductee was also named as one of the greatest living footballers in 2004, from possibly the greatest the man whose goal-bound header he foiled.

Pele even unveiled a statue of Banks in his honour outside of Stoke’s stadium in 2008, 38 years after their worlds collided in Guadalajara.

The great shot stopper was born into humble beginnings in 1937. He was raised in Sheffield’s working-class area of Tinsley.

His physical strength grew alongside his work ethic as he hauled coal, dug trenches and laid bricks to earn his keep aged 15. He said in a BBC interview: ‘I didn’t realise at the time it was building the muscles in my arms and legs. It helped me in a roundabout way.’

It was while playing for local amateur side Millspaugh that he was offered a trial by Chesterfield in March 1953. This move was his first step in a journey to the zenith of football.

Banks served his country between the sticks and on the front line. He completed his national service in Germany where he met his wife Ursula in 1955. She was working in a shop selling shirts and Gordon was one of her customers.

Banks had three children with Ursula, Robert (born July 1958), Wendy (1963), and Julia (1969). He separated from Ursula during his stint in America with Fort Lauderdale Strikers, but the couple reunited when Banks returned to England to be appointed as a coach at Port Vale.

Banks, who was born in Tinsley, Sheffield, learned his trade between the sticks at Leicester

Banks made his debut for the England national team in 1963 – this is a photo of him that year

Banks had an unsuccessful sojourn into management, feeling that Port Vale players didn’t take his advice on board. He also applied for vacant positions at Lincoln City and Rotherham United, but was rejected. He instead accepted the role as manager of Alliance Premier League club Telford United – but after leaving the club temporarily to have surgery, he was sacked on his return.

He was offered the position of raffle-ticket seller on his return, and accepted the post in the belief that it would entitle him to the money owed to him in the terms of his management contract. He eventually had to settle for 50 percent of his contract and later stated: ‘It broke my heart… I did not want to stay in the game.’

Banks’s time between the sticks was much more successful. He made 628 appearances during a 15-year career in the Football League and was named by FIFA as the second-best goalkeeper ever after the great Lev Yashin.

Banks truly established himself after Leicester paid Chesterfield £7000 for his services, a large sum in 1959. It was here that Banks started his upward trajectory, becoming a club legend and soon forcing his way into the national setup. 

In April 1967, it came as a huge shock to Leicester fans when manager Matt Gillies sold Banks to Stoke to make way for the young Peter Shilton.

The legendary England goalkeeper played a crucial part in the country’s success in 1966

He holds the Jules Rimet trophy aloft with captain Bobby Moore after beating West Germany

Banks met his wife Urusla while on National Service in Germany back in 1955

But this was just another chapter in Banks’s glittering career – the statue outside the stadium stands as evidence to the impact he made at the club.

With Banks between the sticks, Stoke punched above their weight and made a name for themselves in cup competitions, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup twice. 

Banks never managed to get his large hands on the famous trophy, but found solace in the League Cup which he won in March 1972 after a vital penalty save which saw his side through to the final.

At the end of that season, he was named FWA Player of the Year, the first goalkeeper to do so in 16 years.

In 1972, a car crash threatened to derail Banks’s career when it left him blind in one eye. He was 35 but still England’s No 1. His injuries left him needing 200 stitches, together with around 100 micro stitches inside the socket of his right eye.

Banks (L) prepares for the Football Writers’ Awards in 1972 and wins the award (R)

In 1972, at just 35, a car crash derailed Banks’s career when it left him blind in one eye

Not to be stopped, however, he continued to play in America five years after the accident. In the US he was dubbed the ‘Great One-Eyed Goalie’ and was named the North American Soccer League’s best in his position, despite being in his forties.

It was the day before the game in which he thwarted Pele’s header that Banks received the fruits of his labour, being honoured with an OBE.

Throughout his career and his life outside of football he has received much adulation, nowhere more so than in his home city of Sheffield. He was immortalised as a legend, being the first to be honoured on the city’s Walk of Fame.

Fortune faded for the great man later in his life, losing substantial money in a failed hospitality business venture. He was, however, helped out by Leicester, who offered him a belated testimonial match. Banks sold his coveted World Cup-winners’ medal and final cap at Christie’s in 2001 for over £150,000 and reportedly split the money between his three children.

His fiercest opponent came in the form of kidney cancer, from which he had been suffering since 2015.

Aged 81, he reached the end of a journey that rose from the ashes of the coal trade to the glamour of being the best in the world, with fame and adoration every step of the way.

Legends never truly die and Banks will always be remembered as the man who nearly stopped that great Brazilian side of 1970, and who stopped Pele.

Banks is presented with a commemorative shirt to mark 150 years of Stoke City

The England football icon runs with the Olympic torch before the 2012 London games

A statue of Banks holding the World Cup is on show outside Stoke’s bet365 Stadium