Tottenham Hotspur legend Jimmy Greaves has been named the 82nd-best footballer of all time in a recent list of the top 100 players in the history of the game by FourFourTwo.
After starting his career with Chelsea, Greaves moved to AC Milan in July 1961, but soon returned to London with a switch to Spurs in December of the same year. Greaves would stay at Tottenham for eight years before moving on to West Ham (Transfermarkt).
A prolific goalscorer for Spurs, Greaves registered 266 goals in 379 appearances for the North London club. He remains the all-time top goalscorer for Spurs, although Harry Kane is now just ten goals behind his record (MyFootballFacts).
Greaves enjoyed a successful career with England too, scoring 44 goals in 57 appearances for the national side (Transfermarkt). He was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 1966, though Greaves was an unused substitute for the knockout stages of the tournament.
He sadly passed away just over a year ago, in September 2021 at the age of 81. Many of his records in the game still stand to this day.
Coming in at number 82 on the FourFourTwo ranking, the publication said: “Were it not for injury ruling him out of the World Cup final, Jimmy Greaves may have been the most famous English footballer of a generation. As it was, he just had to settle for being one of the best.
“The highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football (357 goals), Greaves was a byword for brilliance in the 18-yard area, showing composure that few others could.”
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FourFourTwo pinpoints Greaves’ two Cup Winners Cup final goals as Spurs beat Atletico Madrid to become the first British team to win the competition as the highlight of his illustrious career.
Spurs Web Opinion
It’s astounding just how prolific Jimmy Greaves actually was, with his goalscoring record for club and country standing among one of the best even today. It’s looking ever likely that Harry Kane will overtake him as Spurs’ all-time top goalscorer, but Greaves will forever be a legend of the game.
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