 The Potters struggled near the foot of the First Division table in the 1967–68 and 1968–69 campaigns, before rising to ninth place in the 1969–70 season.Banks remained a reliable stopper for the club, though on 1 March 1969 he was knocked unconscious at Roker Park by Sunderland's Malcolm Moore, and his replacement David Herd conceded four goals in a 4–1 defeat.Banks also played a season for the Cleveland Stokers of the American United Soccer Association in the summer of 1968