Jimmy Greaves – fact file

Born: February 20th, 1940, at Poplar, East London, England.

Clubs: Chelsea (1957-61) 157 League apps, 124 goals; AC Milan (1961) 14 apps, 9 goals; Tottenham H (1961-70) 321 League apps, 220 goals; West Ham (1970-71) 36 League apps, 13 goals Total 518 League apps, 366 goals.

Internationals 57 England caps, 44 goals.

Honours FA Cup winner 1962, 1967; European Cup Winners’ Cup 1963.

Career landmarks

1955 Joins Chelsea’s groundstaff aged 15.

1957 Scores on his first-team debut, against Tottenham (he performs the same feat on all senior debuts).

1959 England debut, in Peru. The side lose 4-1, with Greaves scoring England’s only goal.

1961 Joins AC Milan.

1961 Joins Tottenham for 99,999 – manager Bill Nicholson refusing to make Greaves the first 100,000 player – scoring a hat-trick on debut.

1962 Scores in Tottenham’s 3-1 FA Cup final victory over Burnley.

1963 Wins European Cup-Winners’ Cup, scoring twice as Tottenham beat Atletico Madrid 5-1.

1963-64 Leading scorer in Division One, with 35 goals.

1966 Greaves is injured after failing to score in three matches of the World Cup finals. He is replaced by Geoff Hurst.

1967 Helps Spurs to another FA Cup final win, against Chelsea.

1970 Transferred to West Ham for £54,000.

1971 Retires from professional football, aged 31.

1978 Admits to alcoholism while playing for Barnet in the Southern League