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Jimmy Greaves

James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves (born 20 February, 1940) was an English football player, and more recently a television pundit.

Jimmy was a phenomenal striker, scoring on his debut for Chelsea in 1957. He reached 200 League goals in 1960 at the age of 23 years 290 days (the same age as Dixie Dean when he scored his 200th). He joined the Italian side AC Milan briefly in 1961, but had played only 12 games when Bill Nicholson signed him for Tottenham Hotspur for £99,999. The unusual fee was designed to relieve Jimmy of the pressure of being the first £100,000 player.

He played at Spurs from 1961 to 1970, scoring a club record of over 200 goals, and finishing as top League goalscorer six seasons. He played 57 times for the England national football team, scoring 44 goals, five less than Bobby Charlton but at a much higher rate. In the 1962 World Cup finals match against Brazil in Chile, a stray dog ran on to the pitch and evaded all of the players attempts to catch it until Greaves got down on all fours to beckon the animal. The dog then urinated all over Greaves' England shirt. The Brazilian striker Garrincha thought the incident was so funny that he took the dog home as a pet. Despite his obvious skill, he was dropped from the England team during the 1966 World Cup, and his replacement Geoff Hurst took the glory by scoring in the final.

In 1970, Jimmy joined West Ham United, and again scored on his debut, as he had for virtually every team he played for. He retired at the age of 31, having played 516 Football League games and netted 357 goals.

After retirement, Jimmy became a television presenter, striking up a memorable partnership with Ian St. John - together known as "Saint and Greavsie".



Last updated: 11-08-2004 04:04:34