Jimmy Greaves
James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves ( born February 20, 1940 in East Ham ) is a former English footballer and is currently working as a football expert on the British television.
Playing career
Chelsea, AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur
Greaves was known as a scorer at a young age, when he scored a goal in his first game in 1957 for Chelsea. He finished the 1959 and 1961 as the top scorer of the season in the Premier League, with 41 goals in the season 1960/61, representing the current club record in Chelsea.
He was the youngest player of all time, who could shoot 100 goals at the age of 20 years and 290 days in 1960 ( and by 23, the same age as Dixie Dean, he scored his 200th hit). He then joined the Italian club AC Milan in 1961, and scored nine goals in twelve games. However, difficulties in adapting led to a quick end in Milan, then signed him Bill Nicholson for the Tottenham Hotspurs for 99,999 British pounds. The reason for this unusual release was that Greaves should be taken of the first " 100,000 pound player " of the pressure.
Greaves played for the Spurs 1961-1970 and scored in 379 games 266 goals ( including 220 in the First Division ), which also meant a club record. He closed the seasons 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1969 from top scorer of the league, which is equivalent to the well most consistent accuracy in English football history. His record to be top scorer of the league in six seasons, continues unabated to this day.
Greaves won with the Spurs in 1962, the FA Cup was officially introduced to the Burnley FC in the final of 1962. He also won in 1963, the European Cup Winners' Cup, scoring in the 5-1 win against Atlético Madrid two goals and thus secured Spurs became the first British club a European title.
Career in the national team
Greaves played in 1959 for the first time for the English national football team, and came in the following years to a total of 57 matches in which he scored 44 goals. He scored five goals while less than Bobby Charlton, but its ratio of goals per game was much higher. He is currently behind Charlton and Gary Lineker 's third- leading scorer of England. On November 23, 1960, he scored a 5-1 win against Wales after 2 minutes the 1000th international goal for England.
During the quarter-final match at the 1962 World Cup against Brazil in Chile, a stray dog ran onto the field and gave all the players who tried to catch him out until Greaves on all fours attracted the dog. Although he was able to catch him then, the dog urinated on the shirt of Greaves, what the Brazilian player Garrincha amused so that he took the dog as a pet.
Greaves was also during the 1966 World Cup team regular before then in the game against France injured his leg and had to be replaced for the upcoming game. The substitute Geoff Hurst scored in the quarter- final against Argentina the decisive goal and kept his place until the finale, where he scored 3 goals and England then won the tournament.
On one of the most famous photos you can see the jubilation on the English bank at the moment of the final whistle and a Jimmy Greaves with a suit and tie and a surprised facial expression in the face of events. Greaves has repeatedly stressed that he has not felt as joy at winning the World Cup and like all the other players who had not been fielded, celebrated. He also stated repeatedly clear that he saw no claim for themselves to reclaim the rightful place in the final, when he was healthy again.
In 1970, Greaves moved to West Ham United. He scored again in the first game, as for every other team in which he made his debut (including the national team and the U23 youth team ) and scored against Manchester City on March 21, two hits. Two months later, he finished in the London -to- Mexico World Cup Rally with co-driver Tony fall to sixth place. He retired at the age of 31 years after 516 league games and 357 goals from football back.
Greaves launched 38 years comeback when he scored 25 goals as a midfielder in the Southern League for Barnet FC and was voted player of the season there.
Career after active career
At the mid-1970s Greaves battled his alcohol problem and defeated the disease in 1978. He was moderator on television and gained notoriety in the afternoon football show on Saturday named Saint & Greavsie, which he presented to Ian St. John.
Greaves also worked regularly as a television critic for the breakfast television program TV -am and was also as present as a co-host in the children's program The Saturday Show, which took place on Saturday morning at the sports quiz show on ITV with the name Sporting Triangles. He had his own talk show for a short time and wrote a column for the perennial tabloid The Sun. In 2003 he published his autobiography Greavsie. He has been married since 1958 and now grandfather.
Achievements
- World Champion: 1966
- European Cup Winners Cup Winners: 1963
- FA Cup winner: 1962, 1967
- Scorer in the First Division: 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969