Remembering Jimmy Greaves

The world of European and British football mourns the death of one of the greatest players that ever played in England, and briefly in Italy. Jimmy Greaves died yesterday at the age of 81 after suffering a stroke 6 years ago. He made his debut for Chelsea on August 24, 1957, and today, nearly 50 years after he retired, nobody has scored more than his 357 goals in the top flight of English football. That in itself is remarkable. Not many, apart from George Best, were as lethal with both feet. Hardly anyone standing 5ft 8in or less was as reliable with his head. And very few did all of it with such seeming lack of effort. Jimmy played for Chelsea as a young player, playing in 157 matches, scoring 125 goals between 1957 and 1961. Then after a brief spell with Milan AC where he only played 12 games and scoring 9 goals, he passed on to Tottenham Hotspurs where he would play 321 games and scoring 220 goals between 1961 and 1970. He would play with West Ham for a year, playing in 38 games and scoring 13 goals, and continued playing with other minor teams. He was also a constant presence with the England national team, winning the 1966 World Cup, even though he was injured during the final stages. He played 57 matches with England, scoring 44 goals. Greaves was a prolific goalscorer, and cited his relaxed attitude as the reason for his assured composure and confidence. He also had great acceleration and pace, as well as great positional skills, clinical finishing, and opportunism inside the penalty area; he was also an excellent dribbler.