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Goal.com's Top 50 English Players: Jimmy Greaves (6)
Goal.com's top 50 countdown continues at six with one of the greatest strikers that England has ever produced...
| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £19.50 | Draw £32.50 | Arsenal £36.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £20.50 | Draw £34.00 | Arsenal £36.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £20.00 | Draw £32.00 | Arsenal £35.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £19.50 | Draw £34.00 | Arsenal £40.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £19.90 | Draw £32.50 | Arsenal £34.50 |
|
Jun 17, 2009 2:21:48 PM
No.50 - John Terry
No.48 - Terry Butcher
No.47 - Gerry Hitchens
No.46 - Paul Ince
No.45 - George Camsell
No.44 - Wayne Rooney
No.43 - Jackie Milburn
No.42 - Roger Hunt
No.41 - Rio Ferdinand
No.40 - Wilf Mannion
No.39 - Frank Lampard
No.38 - John Barnes
No.37 - Nat Lofthouse
No.36 - Eddie Hapgood
No.35 - Chris Waddle
No.34 - David Platt
No.33 - Phil Neal
No.32 - Johnny Haynes
No.31 - Peter Beardsley
No.30 - Ray Clemence
No.29 - Ted Drake
No.28 - Michael Owen
No.27 - Raich Carter
No.26 - Colin Bell
No.25 – Frank Swift
No.24 - Paul Scholes
No.23 - Tony Adams
No.22 - Martin Peters
No.21 - Billy Wright
No.20 - Geoff Hurst
No.19 - Cliff Bastin No.16 - Bryan Robson
No.15 - Alan Shearer
No.14 - Paul Gascoigne
No.13 - David Beckham
No.12 - Dixie Dean
No.11 - Alan Ball
No.10 - Peter Shilton
No. 9 - Gary Lineker
No. 8 - Duncan Edwards
No. 7 - Kevin Keegan
The Top 5 follows on Monday June 22nd!
Jimmy
GREAVES
Born: 20/02/1940 - East Ham, London
England: 57 games, 44 goals
Clubs: Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United
Jimmy Greaves' innate goalscoring talent saw him break both club and country records during a career which made him the best marksman of his generation and one of the best of all time.
There is little footage of the East Ham-born striker beating keepers with drives from outside the area or with spectacular headers after meeting crosses from team-mates, but instead there is plenty showing him rounding defenders before sliding home from close range.
By his own admission, Greavsie, as he is affectionately known, did not score great goals or spend lots of time practising his positioning or finishing but his record 357 in 514 league games tells its own story.
When a coach tells players in the modern game to pass the ball into the net they will be using their own knowledge or instructions from books based on the way that the Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United star played.
Greaves' instinctive, natural gift, as he himself described it, of being able to put the ball in the net saw him finish as top scorer in the English first division on six different occasions, a record that still stands today.
So deft was the forward when passing defenders and beating goalkeepers that one newspaper described his style as the football equivalent of closing the door on a Rolls Royce.
Despite being born in the east end of London, it was at Chelsea where Greaves felt immediately at home as a youngster, and where he helped himself to five-goal hauls in three games and is widely regarded, still, as the club's best ever product.
By the age of 21, Greaves had netted 100 goals and, by the time he was sold in 1961 to AC Milan for £80,000, the youngster had netted 132 goals in 169 matches for the Blues.
While many believe the Londoner to have been something of a failure in Serie A, he did in fact manage to net nine goals in 12 games against defensive systems that stunned him and quickly made him pine for home.
The following summer, Bill Nicholson was able to use Tottenham Hotspur's status as the country's best team, having just won the league and cup double, to take Greaves back to England and he shrewdly paid £99,999 to avoid the pressure on the player of becoming the world's first £100,000 transfer.
Even double that amount though would have been deemed a bargain in
those halcyon days at White Hart Lane, as Greaves and Tottenham enjoyed a golden age that saw him continue his incredible exploits in the area with 220 goals in 321 matches.
His goals, though, did not guarantee trophies and FA Cup triumphs in 1962 and 1967 were all he had to
show domestically, but in Europe a brace from Greaves helped Tottenham to a 5-1 win over Atletico de Madrid in Rotterdam in the European Cup Winners Cup Final.
That was the first time that a English team had won a European trophy and Greaves' part in that game and during his nine years at the club have seen him named as one of the greatest in Spurs' history.
At international level, Greaves was also dominant, but while 44 goals in only 57 appearances tells its own story it was the game that he did not play in that he will be remembered for.
Four years after the 1962 finals in Chile when Greaves calmed a dog down that had run onto the pitch only to see the plucky canine spray the striker, he looked set for glory on home soil.
The first choice striker in Sir Alf Ramsey's team, he was set to play a major role as the Three Lions looked to win the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley, but instead he suffered an injury that was to make another east ender a household name.
Greaves picked up a knock in a group game against France and when he had recovered for the final his replacement, Geoff Hurst, had done enough to keep his spot and his hat-trick against West Germany saw England to victory.
A true mark of his nature was that the Tottenham star admitted that while he felt sorry for himself, he never held anything against Ramsey because he felt that the manager had done his job and won the trophy.
Alcoholism was to grip Greaves' life in his final years as a player and until 1978 when he was able to give up drinking, and a stint at West Ham United saw him play just 38 matches and score 13 goals.
A successful television career after his retirement made him a household with his wit and acerbic comments and this year he was rightly honoured with a World Cup winners medal, after he and the other squad members that did not play in the 1966 final did not receive one on the day.
For those fortunate enough to have seen Greaves in his prime are full of nothing but praise and admiration for his ability and finishing and even long after he has retired it is testament to him that he is still considered to be one of the best.
HONOURS
Tottenham Hotspur
FA Cup - 1962, 1967
UEFA Cup Winners Cup - 1963
England
World Cup - 1966
Individual
Top Scorer in the First Division: 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969
Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
DID YOU KNOW: Greavsie picked up his World Cup winners' medal on June 10 this year from 10 Doaning Street along with fellow England squad members Ron Springett, Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Armfield, Gerry Byrne, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, Ian Callaghan, Terry Paine, Jimmy Greaves, George Eastham and John Connelly.
Lucas Brown, Goal.com
The Top 5 follows on Monday June 22nd!
No.48 - Terry Butcher
No.47 - Gerry Hitchens
No.46 - Paul Ince
No.45 - George Camsell
No.44 - Wayne Rooney
No.43 - Jackie Milburn
No.42 - Roger Hunt
No.41 - Rio Ferdinand
No.40 - Wilf Mannion
No.39 - Frank Lampard
No.38 - John Barnes
No.37 - Nat Lofthouse
No.36 - Eddie Hapgood
No.35 - Chris Waddle
No.34 - David Platt
No.33 - Phil Neal
No.32 - Johnny Haynes
No.31 - Peter Beardsley
No.30 - Ray Clemence
No.29 - Ted Drake
No.28 - Michael Owen
No.27 - Raich Carter
No.26 - Colin Bell
No.25 – Frank Swift
No.24 - Paul Scholes
No.23 - Tony Adams
No.22 - Martin Peters
No.21 - Billy Wright
No.20 - Geoff Hurst
No.19 - Cliff Bastin No.16 - Bryan Robson
No.15 - Alan Shearer
No.14 - Paul Gascoigne
No.13 - David Beckham
No.12 - Dixie Dean
No.11 - Alan Ball
No.10 - Peter Shilton
No. 9 - Gary Lineker
No. 8 - Duncan Edwards
No. 7 - Kevin Keegan
The Top 5 follows on Monday June 22nd!
Jimmy
GREAVES
Born: 20/02/1940 - East Ham, London
England: 57 games, 44 goals
Clubs: Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United
Jimmy Greaves' innate goalscoring talent saw him break both club and country records during a career which made him the best marksman of his generation and one of the best of all time.
There is little footage of the East Ham-born striker beating keepers with drives from outside the area or with spectacular headers after meeting crosses from team-mates, but instead there is plenty showing him rounding defenders before sliding home from close range.
By his own admission, Greavsie, as he is affectionately known, did not score great goals or spend lots of time practising his positioning or finishing but his record 357 in 514 league games tells its own story.
When a coach tells players in the modern game to pass the ball into the net they will be using their own knowledge or instructions from books based on the way that the Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United star played.
Greaves' instinctive, natural gift, as he himself described it, of being able to put the ball in the net saw him finish as top scorer in the English first division on six different occasions, a record that still stands today.
 |
Despite being born in the east end of London, it was at Chelsea where Greaves felt immediately at home as a youngster, and where he helped himself to five-goal hauls in three games and is widely regarded, still, as the club's best ever product.
By the age of 21, Greaves had netted 100 goals and, by the time he was sold in 1961 to AC Milan for £80,000, the youngster had netted 132 goals in 169 matches for the Blues.
While many believe the Londoner to have been something of a failure in Serie A, he did in fact manage to net nine goals in 12 games against defensive systems that stunned him and quickly made him pine for home.
The following summer, Bill Nicholson was able to use Tottenham Hotspur's status as the country's best team, having just won the league and cup double, to take Greaves back to England and he shrewdly paid £99,999 to avoid the pressure on the player of becoming the world's first £100,000 transfer.
Even double that amount though would have been deemed a bargain in
 |
His goals, though, did not guarantee trophies and FA Cup triumphs in 1962 and 1967 were all he had to
That was the first time that a English team had won a European trophy and Greaves' part in that game and during his nine years at the club have seen him named as one of the greatest in Spurs' history.
At international level, Greaves was also dominant, but while 44 goals in only 57 appearances tells its own story it was the game that he did not play in that he will be remembered for.
Four years after the 1962 finals in Chile when Greaves calmed a dog down that had run onto the pitch only to see the plucky canine spray the striker, he looked set for glory on home soil.
 |
Greaves picked up a knock in a group game against France and when he had recovered for the final his replacement, Geoff Hurst, had done enough to keep his spot and his hat-trick against West Germany saw England to victory.
A true mark of his nature was that the Tottenham star admitted that while he felt sorry for himself, he never held anything against Ramsey because he felt that the manager had done his job and won the trophy.
Alcoholism was to grip Greaves' life in his final years as a player and until 1978 when he was able to give up drinking, and a stint at West Ham United saw him play just 38 matches and score 13 goals.
A successful television career after his retirement made him a household with his wit and acerbic comments and this year he was rightly honoured with a World Cup winners medal, after he and the other squad members that did not play in the 1966 final did not receive one on the day.
For those fortunate enough to have seen Greaves in his prime are full of nothing but praise and admiration for his ability and finishing and even long after he has retired it is testament to him that he is still considered to be one of the best.
HONOURS
Tottenham Hotspur
FA Cup - 1962, 1967
UEFA Cup Winners Cup - 1963
England
World Cup - 1966
Individual
Top Scorer in the First Division: 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969
Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
DID YOU KNOW: Greavsie picked up his World Cup winners' medal on June 10 this year from 10 Doaning Street along with fellow England squad members Ron Springett, Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Armfield, Gerry Byrne, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, Ian Callaghan, Terry Paine, Jimmy Greaves, George Eastham and John Connelly.
Lucas Brown, Goal.com
The Top 5 follows on Monday June 22nd!
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