On the 24 August 1957, former England international footballer, Jimmy Greaves (born 1940) made his first appearance for Chelsea at the age of 17, and scored against Tottenham Hotspur in a 1–1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Born in Manor Park and raised in Hainault, Greaves was scouted while playing football as a schoolboy by Chelsea , and in 1955 was signed on as an apprentice, becoming one of ‘Drake’s Ducklings’, were named after the manager Ted Drake.
Greaves began his professional career at Chelsea in 1957, and scored 124 First Division goals in 4 seasons, before being sold to A.C. Milan for £80,000 in 1961. He was given a three-year contract on £140 a week with a £15,000 signing on fee. Jimmy was unhappy in Italy, and returned to England and joined with Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £99,999 in December 1961.
He moved to West Ham United in a player-exchange with Martin Peters in 1970, and retired the following year.
After leaving West Ham, drinking formed a large part of his life and he became an alcoholic. Seeking an answer to his alcoholism, Greaves decided to return to football at a lower level, and after a 4 year absence he returned to play non-league football at in a five-year spell for Brentwood, Chelmsford City, Barnet, and Woodford Town before finally retiring in 1980.
Greaves won his first England cap in May 1959 against Peru at the Estadio Nacional Stadium, scoring England’s only goal in a 4–1 defeat. He played in the 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cup, but was injured in the group stage of the 1966 World Cup and lost his first team place to Geoff Hurst. England won the World Cup, but Greaves was not given his medal until a change of FIFA rules in 2009.
Greaves is England’s fourth highest international goal scorer with 44 goals in 57 full England internationals between 1959 and 1967, Tottenham Hotspur’s highest ever goal scorer with 266 goals), and the highest goal scorer in the history of English top-flight football with 357 goals. With half-a-dozen hat-tricks to his credit, he has scored more for England than any other player. Greaves finished as the First Division’s top scorer in 6 seasons, and is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame.
After retiring Greaves enjoyed a successful career in broadcasting, he also made regular TV appearances.
Greaves underwent surgery after suffering a mild stroke in 2012, and experienced a severe stroke in 2015 which left him unable to speak. Although slowly recovering from the stroke, in 2016 Greaves was in a wheelchair, and was told he would not walk again.
24 August, 2019