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Updated September 19th, 2021 at 19:13 IST

Jimmy Greaves passes away at 81: Football world pays tribute to Tottenham & Chelsea legend

The entire footballing world is in mourning after hearing the news of legendary England striker Jimmy Greaves passing away on Sunday morning at the age of 81.

Reported by: Prithvi Virmani
Jimmy Greaves
Image: @England/Twitter | Image:self
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The entire footballing world is in mourning after hearing the news of Jimmy Greaves passing away on Sunday morning at the age of 81. Greaves was a part of the England squad that won the World Cup in 1996, he played as a striker and represented Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United during his playing days. His goalscoring statistics are considered one of the best having scored 44 goals in 57 appearances for the Three Lions between 1959 and 1967. He was the fourth-highest goalscorer in England records and the only player to have scored six hat-tricks for them.

Soon after the news of his passing spread, the tributes started pouring in from his old clubs Tottenham, Chelsea, and West Ham. Players like Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, who grew up hearing about the legendary player, also posted tributes.

Greaves' rise in Chelsea

Greaves was signed by Chelsea as a junior in 1956. One Saturday midway through Chelsea’s first league championship-winning season, the club’s legendary London scout Jimmy Thompson had telephoned Stamford Bridge to find out the result. Manager Ted Drake informed him it was a loss, but an unforgettable one, with the Blues going down 6-5 to Manchester United.

His debut season total was 22 goals, and 37 more followed the next campaign, 1958/59, despite the Blues finishing in 14th position. The 32 scored in the league was the joint highest that season with Bobby Smith of Spurs and a new Chelsea record. He scored a remarkable 43 goals in what was to be his final season in west London. That haul, with 41 netted in the league, is to this day a club record. It included six of his total of 13 Chelsea hat-tricks, another club best. He scored five in a game on three occasions and four another three times. In total, Greaves notched 124 league goals in 157 top-flight appearances for Chelsea. He netted eight more in cup competitions giving an overall 132 goals from 169 games.

One of Spurs' greatest players ever

Throughout his wonderful playing career, Jimmy’s strike rate was phenomenal. His Spurs return was 266 goals in 379 appearances between 1961 and 1970 – 220 goals in 321 league games, 32 goals in 36 FA Cup ties, five in just eight League Cup ties, and nine in 14 European matches. The 37 league goals that he netted in the 1962/63 season remains to this day our record by any player in a single season. 

He left Spurs in March 1970, to join West Ham United, before retiring at the end of the 1970/71 season at the age of 31. In October 1972, a crowd of 45,799 gathered at White Hart Lane to pay tribute to Jimmy in his Testimonial match against Feyenoord.

(Image: @England/Twitter)

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Published September 19th, 2021 at 19:13 IST

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