Former England, Tottenham and Chelsea striker Jimmy Greaves has died at the age of 81, Spurs have announced.
Greaves suffered a stroke in May 2015 which has left him wheelchair-bound and with severely impaired speech and Tottenham said he had died at home on Sunday morning.
The Premier League club said in a statement: “We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of the great Jimmy Greaves, not just Tottenham’s record goalscorer but the finest marksman this country has ever seen. Jimmy passed away at home in the early hours of this morning, aged 81.
“Throughout his wonderful playing career, Jimmy’s strike rate was phenomenal. His Spurs return was 266 goals in 379 appearances between 1961 and 1970 – 220 goals in 321 league games, 32 goals in 36 FA Cup ties, five in just eight League Cup ties and nine in 14 European matches.”
A member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, although he did not feature in the final victory over West Germany, Greaves scored 44 goals across 57 senior appearances for the Three Lions.
His career began in the junior ranks at Chelsea and he turned professional in May 1957, scoring on his Blues debut and racking up 132 goals in total for the club. He remained at Stamford Bridge until 1961, when he moved to AC Milan. After a single season in Milan he joined Spurs in 1961 to play in Bill Nicholson’s successful side.
The Tottenham statement continued: “Although we had just won the ‘Double’, there’s no question that Jimmy’s arrival in N17 made us an even better team.
“He was a natural goalscorer, always in the right place at the right time to add the finishing touch to another well-worked move, while he could also create his own goals, as he did on numerous occasions by gliding past defenders and passing the ball into the back of the net.
“He possessed immaculate ball control, great balance and such composure in front of goal that he rarely spurned an opportunity.”
Reacting to Greaves’ death on Sky Sports News, former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara said: “We are going to be able to witness that (grief) today, everyone will see it, and an amazing round of applause for him (at Tottenham v Chelsea).
“It’s not easy to build a legacy at a club, Jimmy was an icon, football legend, Spurs have been very lucky to have such a great player as part of their club.
“A truly sad day to have lost someone so great. He is definitely a legend.”
Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand tweeted: “Big loss to the footballing world.. sending my condolences to the Greaves family. “First autobiography I ever read! Inspiration.”
Greaves wound down his playing career with stints at West Ham and Barnet before starring alongside former Liverpool striker Ian St John in the popular ITV programme ‘Saint and Greavsie’ between 1985 and 1992, which saw him become a popular pundit.
West Ham tweeted: “We are saddened to learn the news of the passing of Jimmy Greaves. The club sends its deepest condolences to Jimmy’s family and friends.”
After a long campaign for his England achievements of 1966 to be recognise, Greaves finally received a World Cup winners’ medal in 2009; five years later he sold it in an auction at Sotheby’s for £44,000.
In later life, Greaves endured health problems, including a minor stroke in 1992 from which he recovered, but it was followed by a serious stroke in May 2015 which saw him unconscious for six days in intensive care and later left in a wheelchair.
Jimmy Greaves’ career in numbers
- 114 – goals scored for the youth team after signing for Chelsea in 1956.
- 17 – Greaves’ age when he made his first-team debut for Chelsea, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
- 100 – number of league goals Greaves had scored by the age of 20. He remains the youngest player to reach the landmark.
- 99, 999 – the fee in pounds paid by Tottenham to sign Greaves from AC Milan in 1961.
- 132 – goals for Chelsea in 169 games.
- 44 – goals scored for England in 57 matches. He is still fourth on the all-time list behind Wayne Rooney (53), Bobby Charlton (49) and Gary Lineker (48).
- 6 – hat-tricks scored for England still stands as a record today.
- 41 – number of goals for Chelsea in 40 league games during the 1960/61 season is still a club record at Stamford Bridge.
- 266 – goals for Tottenham in 379 appearances means Greaves remains Spurs’ record goalscorer.
England’s best strikers
Jimmy Greaves’ goals record means his name will be included in any debate about England’s greatest forwards. He scored 44 times in 57 matches for his country while his 266 goals in 379 appearances for Tottenham remains a club record, as does his 41 goals in 40 games for Chelsea during the 1960/61 season.
Here, we look at others who have a claim to being the best and their records.
Wayne Rooney
The former Everton and Manchester United striker became England’s all-time record goalscorer with a penalty in a victory against Switzerland in September 2015. He went on to score three more times to finish on 53 goals for his country, four ahead of Sir Bobby Charlton. Rooney also tops Manchester United’s list of all-time scorers, again with four more than Charlton, after leaving Old Trafford in the summer of 2017 with 253 goals to his name.
Gary Lineker
While Greaves can boast a World Cup-winners medal, no Englishman has scored more World Cup goals than Lineker. He won the Golden Boot in Mexico in 1986 with six goals, including a hat-trick against Poland, and scored four more times in 1990 as England reached the semi-finals in Italy. In all, Lineker scored 48 goals in 80 appearances for England, placing him third on the all-time list for his country. At club level, Lineker finished as Division One’s top scorer three times at Leicester, Everton and Tottenham as well as enjoying three largely successful seasons at Barcelona where he won the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Michael Owen
Sixth in the all-time list of England goalscorers, Owen found the back of the net 40 times in his 89 caps. He scored 150 Premier League goals for Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke. He was the youngest ever to reach the landmark of 100 Premier League goals aged 23 years, four months and 12 days. Owen (2001) is the last Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or since Kevin Keegan in 1979.
Nat Lofthouse
Known as the ‘Lion of Vienna,’ Lofthouse was a one-club man, playing over 400 games for Bolton. His 285 goals between 1946 and 1961 still make him Wanderers’ top goalscorer. Lofthouse got his nickname after being knocked unconscious in scoring England’s winning goal against Austria in 1952, it was one of 30 goals he scored in 33 games for his country.
Alan Shearer
Shearer shares seventh spot in England’s all-time goalscorer list with Lofthouse and Sir Tom Finney, with his 30 goals coming in 63 appearances for his country. Shearer scored 283 league goals in his career, including a record 260 in the Premier League – 52 more than Rooney who is second on that list. He scored 11 Premier League hat-tricks and a total of 422 goals in all competitions.
