Jimmy Greaves – An Obituary
Jimmy Greaves passed away yesterday at the age of 81. Two of his former clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea gave a minute’s applause in his memory before yesterday’s game.
Greaves was one of the greatest English strikers of all-time, with a hugely impressive goal tally of 422 goals in 602 games over the course of his career.
During his fourteen-year career, Greaves played for Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. He scored on his debut for each of these clubs and also on his international debut.
Greaves played at a time when the pitches were boggy mudbaths for most of the season. He seemed to glide across the heavy pitches with ease, just as Lionel Messi does today, and would make scoring goals seem the easiest job in the world.
He made his debut for Chelsea at the age of 17 and scored on his debut, in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Over the course of the next three seasons, Greaves scored 89 first team goals.
In the 1960/61 season, Greaves had a purple patch in front of goal, scoring three hat tricks, four goals against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest and five against West Bromwich Albion.
His goalscoring grabbed the attention of AC Milan and they paid £80,000 to take Greaves over to Italy. He only stayed in Italy for six months before returning to London to join Tottenham Hotspur in December 1961.
Spurs manager Bill Nicholson successfully negotiated a deal with Milan to sign Greaves for £99,999 so he would avoid becoming the first British player to command a six-figure fee. It was to prove to be money well spent as Greaves scored a hat trick on his debut.
During his time at White Hart Lane, Tottenham won the FA Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup. Greaves scored 220 goals in 321 games and was held in the highest regard by Spurs fans.
In March 1970, Greaves moved from North to East London, joining West Ham United in a part-exchange deal that saw Martin Peters go to White Hart Lane. Another goalscoring debut followed, with Greaves bagging a double in a 5-1 win at Manchester City.
Fourteen months later, Jimmy Greaves played his last professional football match, in a 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town. Alcoholism and a lack of motivation had caused the former England superstar to end his career at the age of 31. He left the game with 422 goals in the top tier and international football to his name.
He would later play in the non league pyramid for Brentwood, Chelmsford City, Barnet and finally Woodford Town.
At an international level, Greaves had a sensational return, scoring 44 goals in 57 games. Only three players have scored more (Gary Lineker, Bobby Charlton and Wayne Rooney) but they all played in more games.
In a cruel twist, Greaves’ international career is best remembered for a game that he didn’t play in. He was injured in the third and final group game at the 1966 World Cup and was replaced in the by Geoff Hurst for the Quarter Final against Argentina. The West Ham striker then scored England’s winner and kept his place in the squad.
Once England had beaten Portugal in the semi final, it was widely expected that Greaves would take his place back for the final against West Germany. Manager Alf Ramsey decided to keep Hurst in the line up and Greaves watched on from the sidelines. The enduring image of Greaves sat on the touchline with the rest of the squad in a suit is a poignant one. He cuts a lonely figure, out of the limelight whilst the rest and management are celebrating England’s victory.
In 1985, Greaves joined Ian St John to host football on ITV. The pair struck up a great partnership together on screen. St John was the straight man, hosting the show and Greaves would give his opinion and add a few gags for good measure.
The bigwigs at ITV sensed an opportunity and gave the two their own show on a Saturday morning called Saint & Greavsie. It ran for seven years until Sky came and won the television rights in the summer of 1992 for the new Premier League.
With Sky taking the top-flight football, ITV bid for the Football League coverage. They broadcast a game on a Sunday afternoon and St John and Greaves hosted the coverage before leaving the limelight.
The two of them reunited on television during Euro 2004, when they were invited on the Fantasy League Show by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. Despite not appearing together on screen for the best part of a decade, you could still see the spark between the old pros!
In later years, Jimmy Greaves suffered from two strokes. His sidekick Ian St John passed away on 1st March and his obituary is here. It is quite fitting in a way that Greavsie passed away in the same year as the former Liverpool striker. A whole new generation of fans who were too young to remember them in their prime got to enjoy their company from their front room. It’s a funny old game!
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