“One of the frustrations of being an older football fan is the difficulty in quantifying just why the stars of my younger years were quite so good. Without the recorded footage and stats it’s hard to describe how John White and Dave Mackay were world-class.
It’s easier with Jimmy Greaves because his goalscoring record is indisputable. 266 goals for Spurs in 361 appearances, 447 career goals in total in 666 appearances, and 44 in 57 games for England.
Here’s how his scoring rate per match compares with some of the others:
Career totals
Lewandowski .90
Messi .86
Ronaldo .75
Greaves .67
Kane .65
Lukaku .49
Rooney .44
International Totals
Greaves .77
Lukaku .67
Kane .64
Ronaldo .61
Lewandowski .57
Messi .51
Rooney .44
Impressive I think, especially as his career was effectively far shorter than the others.
Of course, the stats can’t tell the full story. Greaves’ poise in front of goal, like all great sports stars he always seemed to have more time to pick his spot, often stroking the ball in rather than belting it. In a one on one with the keeper, there was only one winner.
He was very quick over the first few yards and that combined with excellent ball control and a top striker’s knack of being in the right place at the right time made him deadly. Top defenders were made to look like drunk pub players. In some matches.
Especially alongside Gilzean it seemed he could score almost at will. Spurs might go a goal down and Jimmy would seemingly wake up and within the blink of an eye, we were winning. You may think I am exaggerating, but that’s how it was.
I particularly remember when, during a game in the late 60s, Greavsie bent down in the penalty area. It seems he was doing up his laces while several yards behind him Alan Mullery decided to take a shot at goal. The ball hit Jimmy on the bum and deflected in. If that isn’t the sign of a natural goalscorer, I don’t know what is!
He oozed star quality. The good-looking cheeky cockney who scored on every debut was a superstar before the term existed.
I had the good fortune to meet Jimmy when in 1972 the great and generous Morris Keston took me to Spurs to meet my idols. Even I was a young schoolboy from North London I could feel the stardust he emanated. Even in that team of greats, there was something particularly special about Jimmy Greaves.
Farewell Greavsie.
Thanks for all the goals, and thanks for sprinkling your magical stardust on us
Korse it woz, Doh!
He was my hero and the best player I have ever seen.
It was good to see that clip, though. Hadn’t seen it before. Milan treated him in bizarre fashion and wouldn’t release him for an England game against Portugal; their vice president saying that not only had he not performed like the crack scorer he was supposed to be but that he had been even worse than the worst player “of our division”. He apparently scored nine goals in ten league games, though, a prodigious feat in Italian football at that time.
AC Milan, actually!
I was on a school outing to that match ( I’m from Solihull but was at school in Hertfordshire) and my near neighbour and great mate, David Dillenberg (at that time living in Hendon) was also present that afternoon to witness Jimmy’s wonderful goal (it was to prove his last great moment in a Spurs shirt) about a quarter of a century before we first met.
I watched my first game in 1962 and Greaves was my hero. He was the only player in football that Bill Shankley considered should be man marked by Liverpool. One minute he was there loitering, then suddenly he was gone, like a will of the wisp as he left a defender for dead with his phenomenal acceleration before merely stroking the ball into the net. A free spirit , amusing and engaging with a sardonic sense of humour, he was unappreciated by the establishment, I hope his genius as a player will be fully appreciated finally.
The striker every Skool boy wanted to be
Always remembered in our hearts. A true great. Thank you Jimmy and God rest.
Sad day My hero. So exciting just whenever he got the ball. Remember a goal against Newcastle he ran from the halfway line stopped to let a defender blunder past him, sat the goalkeeper down and tapped the ball into the net. Genius on a pack of fags a day.
He’s the Peter Pan of Pop.
sad news..a truly great player,it was his burst of speed in the first few yards to get past a player that was one of his biggest assets ,no step overs,or fancy feints,generally he just pushed the ball past the defender or defenders and sped past them..no silly hand jive nonsense after he scored either . was never quite the same again after his bout of hepatitis in 1965,but still too good for most. the only player i ever saw who regularly got the better of him was chelseas ron harris. doubt we will see the likes of him again ..
Nicely done ODM. Just watched a short film on Jimmy’s career on the Beeb website. Made me smile to see a clip of the great man himself carrying his furniture to a truck while sorting his move to Real Madrid.
Back when top players and fans lived on the same planet.
Great stats ,great player.
Nice tribute ODM. Bit before my time all of it, although Mr Keston is regularly mentioned in The Glory Game as a good egg with a total passion for the club. It was written about the era you speak about.
Began supporting the Spurs virtually the day Jimmy signed. Saw dozens of his games and always wanted my entrance fee back if he wasn’t playing. Remember the jig with Bobby Moore – it followed one of Jim’s rare moments of tackling back to dispossess the England captain. Happy days but one of great sadness today. Ever the showman he chose today to pass – with all his teams playing in London.
looks like Nuno is playing all his cards…..but the bench looks like its from league 1 ….
Well said ODM….could do with him today, and what a match he would of loved to of played in….
i dont believe the bit about you being a young schoolboy in 1972, you look much older haha