Having started his career with Chelsea and scoring for them on his debut in 1957, he would finish as the league top scorer on two occasions while at Chelsea in 1959 and 1961.
Greaves made his England debut against Peru in 1959, scoring England's only goal in a 4-1 defeat. He would go on to score 44 goals for England in just 57 appearances. Greaves was a key player for England in their World Cup winning side of 1966 but failed to make the starting 11 for the final. Sir Alf Ramsey stuck with Geoff Hurst who had replaced Greaves in the side because of injury. Following a FA lead campaign Greaves was awarded a winners medal on June 10 2009.
Greaves left Chelsea in 1961 after scoring 124 goals for the club and joined Italian giants AC Milan. Greaves did not have the same affect at Milan as he had in England and moved back to London after a few months to join Tottenham in a record £99,000 deal.
At Tottenham Greaves scored a club record 266 goals in 379 matches for the club between 1961 and 1970. Greaves left Spurs in 1970 having won two FA Cups and a European Cup Winners Cup scoring twice in a 5-1 win over Athletico Madrid in 1963.
He joined West Ham in an exchange deal that saw Martin Peters join Spurs and scored 13 goals in 38 appearances for the club before retiring in 1971.
Greaves made a comeback with Brentwood in 1975 before briefly playing for Chelmsford City, Barnet and Woodford Town before finally hanging up his boots for good in 1980.
Jimmy Greaves Stats
| Team | Total Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 169 | 132 |
| AC Milan | 12 | 9 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 381 | 268 |
| West Ham United | 40 | 13 |
| England | 57 | 44 |
Source: DSG
