Jimmy Greaves

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Jimmy Greaves
Personal information
Full name	James Peter Greaves
Date of birth	February 20, 1940 (1940-02-20) (age 68)
Place of birth	East Ham, London, England
Playing position	Striker (retired)
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1957–1961 1961 1961–1970 1970–1971 1975–1976 1976–1977 1978–1979	Chelsea AC Milan Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Brentwood Town Chelmsford City Barnet	157 (124) 014 00(9) 321 (220) 038 0(13) 00? 0(25)
National team
1959–1967	England	057 0(44)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves (born 20 February 1940 in East Ham, London) is an English former football player, England's third highest goalscorer, and more recently a television pundit.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Chelsea, AC Milan, and Spurs 1.2 International career 1.3 West Ham and Barnet 2 Post playing career 3 Honours 4 Statistics 4.1 Club 4.2 International Goals 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Chelsea, AC Milan, and Spurs

Greaves was a phenomenal striker, scoring on his debut for Chelsea in 1957. He finished as top League goalscorer twice whilst at Chelsea in 1959 and 1961 and his 41 league goals in the 1960-61 season remains a club record. Despite this, they never won any major trophies while he was playing for them.

In 1960 he became the youngest ever player to score 100 league goals in English football at the age of 20 years 290 days (and at 23 was the same age as Dixie Dean when he scored his 200th).

He briefly joined the Italian side A.C. Milan in 1961, after reportedly turning down a huge offer from Newcastle United and scored 9 goals in 12 games but failure to settle led to a quick departure. Bill Nicholson then signed him for Tottenham Hotspur for £99,999. The unusual fee was intended to relieve Greaves of the pressure of being the first £100,000 player.

Greaves enjoyed a legendary career at Tottenham. He played at Spurs from 1961 to 1970, scoring a club record of 266 goals in 379 matches, including 220 goals in the First Division. Greaves finished as top League goalscorer in four seasons (1963, 1964, 1965 and 1969), an achievement that established Greaves as arguably the most consistent striker in English football history. His record of finishing top goalscorer in six seasons has never been matched.

With Spurs, Greaves won the FA Cup in 1962 and 1967, scoring against Burnley in the former. He also won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1963 - scoring twice in the famous 5-1 defeat of Atlético Madrid, ensuring that Spurs became the first British club to win a European trophy. Today he is considered one of the best players in the history of Tottenham Hotspur.

[edit] International career

Greaves won his first England cap in 1959, and went on to play 57 times and score 44 goals, five less than Bobby Charlton but at a much higher rate. He remains third in the all-time list of England goalscorers, behind Charlton and Gary Lineker. Greaves also holds the record for most hat-tricks for England - six in all. At the 1961 British Home Championship, Greaves achieved the remarkable feat of scoring seven goals in three games as England won the title.

In the 1962 World Cup finals match against Brazil in Chile, a stray dog ran on to the pitch and evaded all of the players' efforts to catch it until Greaves got down on all fours to beckon the animal. Though successful in catching the dog, it proceeded to urinate all over Greaves' England shirt. The Brazilian player Garrincha thought the incident was so amusing that he took the dog home as a pet.

Greaves was the first-choice striker for the England team during the 1966 World Cup but suffered a leg injury during a game against France and had to be replaced. That replacement, Geoff Hurst, scored the winner in the quarter final against Argentina and kept his place all the way to the final, famously scoring a hat-trick as England won the tournament.

One of football's most famous photographs shows the elation on the England bench as the final whistle was blown, except for Greaves, in his suit and tie, looking astonished at what had happened. Greaves has always maintained that he felt nothing but delight at England's win and celebrated as much as the other non-playing members of the squad. He also maintains that he never felt he had a divine right to be in the side once he regained his fitness. However, his reaction at the time of England's success became well-documented - he packed his bags and headed on holiday with his wife while the rest of the squad attended an official banquet.

In November 2007 it was announced that Greaves, along with the other 10 reserves from the 1966 squad, will be awarded medals by FIFA.^[1]

[edit] West Ham and Barnet

In 1970, Greaves joined West Ham United. He scored on his debut, (as he had for every team he played for, including England at full and under 21 level), with two goals against Manchester City on March 21. Two months later, on May 28, he finished sixth in the London-to-Mexico World Cup Rally with co-driver Tony Fall. He retired in 1971 having played 516 Football League games and netted 357 goals, an all-time record.

Greaves made a comeback at the age of 38, playing for Barnet F.C. in the then Southern League, playing from midfield he netted 25 goals and was their player of the season. He then went on to make several appearances for semi-professional side Woodford Town F.C. before retiring.

[edit] Post playing career

In the mid-1970s Greaves battled a well-documented alcohol problem, finally quitting drinking in February 1978. He became a popular television presenter and football pundit, striking up a memorable partnership with Ian St. John. Together they hosted a popular Saturday lunchtime football show called Saint and Greavsie from 1985 until the programme was axed in 1992.

Greaves also worked frequently for TV-am as a TV critic and was a resident team captain on ITV sports quiz Sporting Triangles as well as co-hosting the popular Saturday morning kids TV show, The Saturday Show. He briefly had his own talk show and has been a columnist for The Sun newspaper for many years. He also answered readers letters in Shoot magazine in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2002 Greaves was made an Inaugural Inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame. He released his autobiography, Greavsie, in 2003 and is in demand as an after-dinner speaker.

Married since 1958, he is now a grandfather.

[edit] Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

• FA Cup winner - 1962, 1967
• UEFA Cup Winners Cup winner - 1963

England

• World Cup winner - 1966

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Club

All-Time Club Performance

Club	Season	Domestic League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chelsea	1957-58	35	22	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	22
	1958-59	42	32	2	2	0	0	3	3	0	0	47	37
	1959-60	40	29	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	30
	1960-61	40	41	1	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	43	43
	Total	157	124	7	3	2	2	3	3	0	0	169	132
AC Milan	1961-62	14	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	9
	Total	14	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	9
Tottenham Hotspur	1961-62	22	21	7	9	0	0	2	0	0	0	31	30
	1962-63	41	37	1	0	0	0	6	5	11	21	49	44
	1963-64	41	35	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	45	36
	1964-65	41	29	4	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	45	35
	1965-66	29	15	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	16
	1966-67	38	25	8	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	47	31
	1967-68	39	23	4	3	0	0	4	3	11	01	48	29
	1968-69	42	27	4	4	6	5	0	0	0	0	52	36
	1969-70	28	8	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	33	11
	Total	321	220	36	32	8	5	14	9	2	2	381	268
West Ham United	1969-70	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	4
	1970-71	32	9	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	34	9
	Total	38	13	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	40	13
Career Totals		530	366	44	35	11	7	17	12	2	2	604	422

• ¹Charity Shield

[edit] International Goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scored
1959-05-19	Estadio Nacional, Lima	Peru	1-4	Friendly match	1
1959-10-17	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	1-1	British Home Championship	1
1960-05-11	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Yugoslavia	3-3	Friendly match	1
1960-10-08	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	5-2	British Home Championship	2
1960-10-15	Stade Municipal, Luxembourg-Ville	Luxembourg	9-0	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification	3
1960-10-26	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Spain	4-2	Friendly match	1
1960-11-23	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Wales	5-1	British Home Championship	2
1961-04-15	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Scotland	9-3	British Home Championship	3
1961-05-24	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	Italy	3-2	Friendly match	1
1961-05-27	Prater Stadium, Vienna	Austria	1-3	Friendly match	1
1962-05-20	Estadio Nacional, Lima	Peru	4-0	Friendly match	3
1962-06-02	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua	Argentina	3-1	1962 FIFA World Cup	1
1962-10-20	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	3-1	British Home Championship	1
1962-11-21	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Wales	4-0	British Home Championship	1
1963-05-29	Tehelné Pole, Bratislava	Czechoslovakia	4-2	Friendly match	2
1963-10-12	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	4-0	British Home Championship	2
1963-10-23	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Rest of the World XI	2-1	Friendly match	1
1963-11-20	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Wales	8-3	British Home Championship	4
1964-05-24	Dalymount Park, Dublin	Republic of Ireland	3-1	Friendly match	1
1964-05-30	Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	1-5	Taça das Nações	1
1964-10-03	Windsor Park, Belfast	Northern Ireland	4-3	British Home Championship	3
1964-12-09	Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam	Netherlands	1-1	Friendly match	1
1965-04-10	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Scotland	2-2	British Home Championship	1
1965-05-05	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Hungary	1-0	Friendly match	1
1966-05-04	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Yugoslavia	2-0	Friendly match	1
1966-05-04	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo	Norway	6-1	Friendly match	4
1967-05-24	Empire Stadium, Wembley	Spain	2-0	Friendly match	1

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• English Football Hall of Fame Profile

Awards
Preceded by Bobby Smith	First Division top scorer 1958–59	Succeeded by Dennis Viollet
Preceded by Dennis Viollet	First Division top scorer 1960–61	Succeeded by Ray Crawford and Derek Kevan
Preceded by Ray Crawford and Derek Kevan	First Division top scorer 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65	Succeeded by Willie Irvine
Preceded by George Best and Ron Davies	First Division top scorer 1968–69	Succeeded by Jeff Astle

v • d • e England squad - 1962 FIFA World Cup 1 Springett • 2 Armfield • 3 Wilson • 4 Robson • 5 Swan • 6 Flowers • 7 Connelly • 8 Greaves • 9 Hitchens • 10 Haynes • 11 Charlton • 12 Hodgkinson • 13 Kevan • 14 Anderson • 15 Norman • 16 Moore • 17 Douglas • 18 Hunt • 19 Peacock • 20 Eastham • 21 Howe • 22 Banks • Coach: Winterbottom

v • d • e England squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Banks • 2 Cohen • 3 Wilson • 4 Stiles • 5 J. Charlton • 6 Moore • 7 Ball • 8 Greaves • 9 B. Charlton • 10 Hurst • 11 Connelly • 12 Springett • 13 Bonetti • 14 Armfield • 15 Byrne • 16 Peters • 17 Flowers • 18 Hunter • 19 Paine • 20 Callaghan • 21 Hunt • 22 Eastham • Coach: Ramsey

v • d • e England squad - UEFA Euro 1968 Third Place 1 Banks • 2 Newton • 3 Wilson • 4 Mullery • 5 Labone • 6 Moore • 7 Ball • 8 Hunt • 9 B. Charlton • 10 Hurst • 11 Peters • 12 Stepney • 13 West • 14 Knowles • 15 J. Charlton • 16 Wright • 17 Stiles • 18 Summerbee • 19 Hunter • 20 Bell • 21 Greaves • 22 Thompson • Coach: Ramsey