Publisher's Synopsis
James 'Jimmy' Peter Greaves MBE, born on 20th February 1940, in Manor Park, east London, England, UK then brought up in Hainault, Essex was a professional footballer who played as a forward. He's England's 4th-highest international goalscorer with 44, including a record 6 hat-tricks, Tottenham Hotspur's highest scorer with 266, and the highest scorer in the history of English top-flight football with 357 goals. He finished as the 1st Division's top scorer in 6 seasons, being inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.
Jimmy began his professional career at Chelsea during 1957 then played in the following year's FA Youth Cup final. He scored 124 First Division goals in just 4 seasons before transferring to A.C. Milan for £80,000 in April 1961. His time in Italy wasn't happy, so he returned to England with Tottenham Hotspur for £99,999 in December 1961. Whilst playing for Spurs he won the FA Cup during 1961-62 then 1966-67, the Charity Shield in 1962 & 1967, plus the European Cup Winners' Cup during 1962-63, the year that Greaves came closest to winning a league title, as Tottenham were runners-up. He moved to West Ham Utd in a player-exchange in March 1970 then retired the following year. After 4-years away from the sport he returned to football at the non-league level, despite his alcoholism. During a 5-year spell he played for Brentwood, Chelmsford City, Barnet, and Woodford Town before permanently retiring from the game during 1980. Jimmy scored 13 goals in 12 England under-23 internationals followed by 44 goals during 57 full England internationals from 1959 - 1967. He played in the 1962 & 1966 FIFA World Cup finals, but was injured in the group stage of the 1966 World Cup, losing his 1st team place to Geoff Hurst, who kept Greaves out of the first team in the final. Although England lifted the World Cup, Jimmy wasn't given a winners medal until a change of FIFA rules during 2009. He was also part of the squad that came 3rd in UEFA Euro 1968, although he didn't play in the finals.
