Nowadays, the idea of a former footballer working in television doesn’t seem to be overly surprising. In fact, if you tune in to the coverage of a football match on TNT Sports, Sky Sports, or one of the national broadcasters, it’s more of a surprise if they don’t have a former footballer as co-commentator or pundit than if they do. That wasn’t always the case, however, which is why the work of Jimmy Greaves, alongside Ian St. John, breaking the mould was so noteworthy. Not that that should take away from just how good a footballer he was, of course.
Becoming a Footballer
James Peter Greaves was born on the 20th of February 1940 in the London Borough of Newham. He was scouted by Jimmy Thompson on behalf of Chelsea, who persuaded the West London club to sign him as an apprentice in 1955. He became what was known as one of ‘Drake’s Ducklings’, with Ted Drake looking to respond to the Busy Babes of Manchester United. At youth level, he scored 51 goals in 1955-1956 before following that up with 122 goals a year later, including a goal in the FA Youth Cup final, which Chelsea went on to lose 7-6 over the two legs.
In the summer of 1957, Greaves turned professional and made his Chelsea debut on the 24th of August 1957, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. His ball control, positioning and confidence meant that he was an instant success, being part of an exciting attacking team at Stamford Bridge in the 1957-1958 campaign and ending up as the club’s top scorer. Having been rested for six weeks by Drake so as to stop the success from going to his head, Greaves marked his return to the first team by scoring four times on Christmas Day in a 7-4 win over Portsmouth.
Leaving for Italy
In the 1958-1959 season, Chelsea were inconsistent, but Greaves still ended up as the top scorer in the First Division, scoring 32 goals across 44 games. A year later and he netted 29 times in 40 games, including all five in the 5-4 win over Preston North End. In spite of this, Chelsea only narrowly avoided relegation. He was 20 years and 290 days old when he scored his 100th league goal, becoming the youngest-ever player to manage this. Chelsea needed money, so when an offer of £80,000 came in for him from AC Milan, the Chelsea Chairman felt like he had to take it.
He was given a three-year contract on £140 a week, as well as a £15,000 signing-on bonus, even though he tried to cancel the deal when he worried about leaving London. In spite of this, he scored on his debut and went on to score nine goals in 14 appearances, but never really settled in Italy. As a result, Milan signed Sino Sani to replace him and Greaves was transfer-listed, resulting in bids from both his former club Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur being put forward. They were both accepted, but Greaves decided to join Spurs for £99,999 in the December of 1961.
Becoming a Spurs Legend
Bill Nicholson’s decision to sign Greaves for the unusual fee of £99,999 was done in order to avoid him feeling any pressure from being British football’s first £100,000 player, joining the club in the wake of them becoming the first club to win the First Division and FA Cup double. Meanwhile, the club that he’d just left, AC Milan, also won the title in his absence. His first game for his new team saw him score a hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Blackpool in front of the White Hart Lane faithful. He played all seven games in Spurs’ FA Cup run, including one in the 3-1 defeat of Burnley in the final.
As if he needed to endear himself to the Tottenham faithful anymore, Greaves scored hat-tricks against Ipswich Town, Liverpool and Manchester United in the 1962-1963 season, then scored the opening goal in a 5-1 win over Atlético Madrid in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final, becoming the first British team to lift a European trophy. In the following season, he scored 35 goals in 41 games in the league, then 29 in 41 games a year later. In the 1966-1967 campaign, Spurs reached another FA Cup final, this time against Greaves’ former team, Chelsea, which Tottenham won 2-1.
Leaving for West Ham
Although Greaves continued to score goals over the following seasons, Tottenham struggled to enjoy the same level of play that they had enjoyed previously. The player himself overtook Steve Bloomer as Spurs’s all-time top goalscorer, including a record of 15 hat-tricks. His time at the club was coming to an end, so in the March of 1970, he joined West Ham United in a part-exchange deal for Martin Peters. His West Ham debut saw him score two goals, but the following January, he went on a late-night drinking session with Bobby Moore, Brian Dear and Clyde Best the night before an FA Cup match.
The legendary Jimmy Greaves was born on this day ❤️ pic.twitter.com/jQqNdZwOg0
— West Ham United (@WestHam) February 20, 2024
The Hammers lost the game to Blackpool, resulting in the players being fined by the club and dropped. Greaves had lost motivation, drinking more alcohol and entering what he would later acknowledge was the early stages of alcoholism. In all, he played 40 games for West Ham in all competitions, scoring just 13 goals. His final game for the club came in a 1-0 loss to Huddersfield Town on the first of May 1971, seeing him having scored 366 goals in the top five leagues of Europe, which was a record that remained in place until Cristiano Ronaldo overtook him in 2017.
Entering Broadcasting
Greaves put on weight in the wake of leaving West Ham, not attending a game of football for two years. He would drink as many as 20 pints of lager in the day and a bottle of vodka at night, running for election as a Conservative Party candidate in the London Borough of Havering. Seeking a way out of his alcoholism, he joined his local team Brentwood and became something of a journeyman in the lower leagues. In 1979, Greaves became a columnist for one of the country’s tabloids, also working as a pundit on Star Soccer in 1980, co-presenting The Saturday Show.
He was selected to be a pundit by ITV for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, then started working on both World of Sport and On the Ball. It was there that he struck up a good working relationship with former Liverpool player Ian St. John, with the pair working together on a Saturday lunchtime football programme called Saint and Greavsie.
“Saint & Greavsie on a Saturday morning!” 🙌
Ian St John struck a wonderful on-screen partnership with Jimmy Greaves following their playing careers.
The perfect combination of football and fun.pic.twitter.com/GRgd5EpNH7
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 2, 2021
When Sporting Triangles was on, he was a team captain opposite Andy Gray and Emlyn Hughes, cementing his place as a broadcasting legend, which came to an end after the launch of the Premier League.
Later Life & Death
Born of Irish descent, Greaves married Irene Barden in 1958, eventually going through divorce proceedings during the worst of his alcoholism. This was never finalised, however, and the pair eventually got back together and had five children. When he was a Tottenham player, he took out a loan to set up a packing business with his brother-in-law, which had an annual turnover of more than £1 million by the end of his playing career. In the February of 2012, Greaves suffered a mild stroke and needed to have surgery on an artery in his neck. He suffered a more severe stroke three years later.
The second stroke left him unable to speak and placed him in intensive care, but he was discharged a month later. Having been told that he would never walk again, Greaves used a wheelchair. In 2021, he was named as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to football.
𝗝𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗕𝗘 🎖️
Our greatest-ever goalscorer, @jimmy_greaves has received an MBE in the New Year Honours list! #THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/HqQFtOWIRd
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 30, 2020
On the 19th of September 2021, Greaves died at his home, with a minute of applause taking place in the game between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur that weekend, the two clubs that he had mainly played for during a career that saw him considered one of the best forwards ever.