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The Greatest: Jimmy Greaves

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
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Greaves would have scored more in today’s game than he did. So many things are easier and better now boots, balls, pitches, fitness. I’ve no doubt he would have been hitting messi like numbers, he wasn’t far off them even back then. If he’d have played in the WC and not been injured may well have been Sir jimmy.
 

longtimespur

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
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Wish I could have seen him play. Sad to hear he’s in such a bad way :(
Plenty of clips on youtube I should think....
I have a recording of our 5-1 beating of Manu where he ghosted past 4 or 5 players and passed the ball into the net.
What pisses me off is they show the Bobby Charlton goal from that game quite often but never seen Jimmy's goal shown on TV.
 

chinaman

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Jul 19, 2003
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Greaves would have scored more in today’s game than he did. So many things are easier and better now boots, balls, pitches, fitness. I’ve no doubt he would have been hitting messi like numbers, he wasn’t far off them even back then. If he’d have played in the WC and not been injured may well have been Sir jimmy.


He was already fit by the time of the Semi-final, but Alf Ramsey wanted the non-stop running of Hunt and Hurst, and decided to keep Greaves on the bench. The rest is history.
 

eddiev14

SC Supporter
Jan 18, 2005
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Plenty of clips on youtube I should think....
I have a recording of our 5-1 beating of Manu where he ghosted past 4 or 5 players and passed the ball into the net.
What pisses me off is they show the Bobby Charlton goal from that game quite often but never seen Jimmy's goal shown on TV.

I’ve seen clips but it’s always a different experience to watch a genuine great live at the stadium.

I lived in Madrid back in 2004 and got the opportunity, and great pleasure, to regularly watch Zidane. It all looked so effortless for him, as it seems to for all the greats.

Jimmy seemed seriously quick for his time though, especially considering the heavy boots/ball and boggy pitches.

Who did he play most like, of the modern day strikers? Have heard many say Aguero.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
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17,403
I’ve seen clips but it’s always a different experience to watch a genuine great live at the stadium.

I lived in Madrid back in 2004 and got the opportunity, and great pleasure, to regularly watch Zidane. It all looked so effortless for him, as it seems to for all the greats.

Jimmy seemed seriously quick for his time though, especially considering the heavy boots/ball and boggy pitches.

Who did he play most like, of the modern day strikers? Have heard many say Aguero.

Yeah I’m too young too have seen him live, but from what I’ve seen Aguero looks a decent comparison.
 

longtimespur

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
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I honestly can't think of anyone who I can say "He reminds me of Greavsie"
It's not very often somebody of his ilk comes along. I don't get to live matches nowadays unfortunately so I only see the TV bits of players so can't really compare anyway.
Jimmy was just a one off in my mind. We were very privileged back then and remember he wasn't in our double winning side, didn't come till the year after. We had that other goal machine from the Allen clan.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
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20,779
Not at his peak
but after leaving Spurs to go to W.Ham in 1970
his heavy drinking worsened in line with the culture at the time.
Went back to football in the lower leagues
to help overcome his alcoholism
Wiki is good on this period
of his career.
 

Spurs 1961

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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Was he an alcoholic at his peak?

I think he was really. I remember my sister who frequented the kind of clubs and bars that the celebs of the day would be in telling me about him and his drinking way before he left us. Didn't want to hear it but it made sense
 

Paolo10

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2004
6,179
7,621
Not at his peak
but after leaving Spurs to go to W.Ham in 1970
his heavy drinking worsened in line with the culture at the time.
Went back to football in the lower leagues
to help overcome his alcoholism
Wiki is good on this period
of his career.
I think he was really. I remember my sister who frequented the kind of clubs and bars that the celebs of the day would be in telling me about him and his drinking way before he left us. Didn't want to hear it but it made sense

I would have liked to have thought that moving to West Ham would have made him want a drink etc., but I did read he'd arrived in Milan drunk after his transfer and that kind of addiction is normally longer term, especially with footballers then with a drinking culture and disposable income.

On Greavsie, has the pure poacher/sniffer died? Hernandez is one I'd still give the tag to, but there seems to be less of players like Müller, Greaves and Romario about now.

Edit: Charlie Austin too.
 

buckley

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2012
2,595
6,073
To rate greaves a poacher is an insult some of his goals indeed a lot of his goals were from picking the ball up outside his own penalty area and the half way line and making dazzling runsto score many wonderful goals .Poacher pfffft
It is also worth noting that Jimmy did not take penalties if he did his goals to game ratio would have been even better than they were at the end of his career
 

chinaman

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2003
17,974
12,423
I think he was really. I remember my sister who frequented the kind of clubs and bars that the celebs of the day would be in telling me about him and his drinking way before he left us. Didn't want to hear it but it made sense

His bout of jaundice perhaps was due to his heavy drinking.
 

dannythomas

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2004
3,757
2,813
Jimmy had a packaging business for a few years out in Essex with a partner who was also a Spurs player.

Cliff Jones had a butcher's shop in Tottenham which didn't last very long. He told me that when he was slicing meat for sausages, he also sliced a tiny bit off the tip of a finger into the mix. I wonder who had that for dinner!

In both these cases, they were let down by partners which ultimately led to the end of the ventures.

Wives often had small businesses they ran from home. Joyce Medwin sold women's clothes.

Didn’t Dave Mackay sell ties ?
 

sherbornespurs

Well-Known Member
Dec 9, 2006
3,758
9,241
No apologies for bumping this thread.

Like so many old stagers on here, Greavsie was, is, and always will be my all-time Spurs hero and best ever player. I was so lucky that my peak time attending home and away matches regularly (1964/1974) as a teenager coincided with much of his glittering career in our club colours - so many wonderful memories (though unbelievably he didn't score on my 'debut', a 4-3 win against Wolves in Sept '64).

Mark the calendar, set your timer:


We won't see his like again.

** edit. They look to have the date wrong on the banner headline - the actual article says it's on Weds 18th Feb (not today Sat 8th Feb).
 
Last edited:

Roynie

Well-Known Member
Oct 2, 2007
3,116
3,882
No apologies for bumping this thread.

Like so many old stagers on here, Greavsie was, is, and always will be my all-time Spurs hero and best ever player. I was so lucky that my peak time attending home and away matches regularly (1964/1974) as a teenager coincided with much of his glittering career in our club colours - so many wonderful memories (though unbelievably he didn't score on my 'debut', a 4-3 win against Wolves in Sept '64).

Mark the calendar, set your timer:


We won't see his like again.

** edit. They look to have the date wrong on the banner headline - the actual article says it's on Weds 18th Feb (not today Sat 8th Feb).

He didn't score on my 'debut' either - April '64 at home to Ipswich, although Cliff Jones scored a hat trick in a 6 - 3 win!!
 

sammyj

Well-Known Member
Nov 23, 2013
1,693
4,559
I was at the lane when we beat mutd 5-1and Jimmy was unbelievable the reason I have followed the lillywhite for nearly sixty years started because of Jimmy ?
 

Duke of Northumberland

Well-Known Member
Apr 4, 2019
675
1,219
When I've looked at vintage video histories of the club- I started paying attention in the late 70s- he was the one player that really stands out as something special in the clubs history.
 
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