Jimmy Greaves: Career, 1966 Omission, Family and Sobriety

Position: Centre-Forward ·
Career goals: 400+ ·
England caps / goals: 57 / 44 ·
Height: 5 ft 8 in ·
Born / Died: 20 Feb 1940 – 19 Sep 2021

Eight key facts provide a concise portrait of the man behind the numbers.

What position did Jimmy Greaves play in football?

What is a centre-forward?

• Greaves operated as a centre-forward, the central striker tasked with finishing chances.
• He stood 5 ft 8 in, relying on positioning and quick reflexes rather than aerial dominance.
• His goal tally across clubs and country confirms he was a pure number nine (Tottenham Hotspur).

What made Greaves a natural goal scorer?

Greaves scored 357 English top-flight goals between 1957 and 1971, a record identified by BBC Sport. His best Chelsea season produced 41 goals in 40 league matches, according to The Athletic (specialist sports journalism). He scored a hat-trick on his Tottenham debut against Blackpool (Tottenham Hotspur). The implication: his finishing was instinctive, not manufactured.

How good was Jimmy Greaves in football?

What was Greaves’s scoring record?

• 44 goals in 57 England appearances (Tottenham Hotspur).
• 266 goals for Tottenham in 379 games (Tottenham Hotspur).
• Top scorer in England’s top division six times (Tottenham Hotspur).
• Six hat-tricks for England (BBC Sport).

Who is considered the best English football player of all time?

That debate usually names Bobby Charlton, Wayne Rooney, Gary Lineker, or Harry Kane. Greaves sits fourth on England’s all-time men’s scoring list, according to BBC Sport. His rate of 0.77 goals per international match is among the highest for any England centurion.

How does Greaves compare with England’s other attacking legends?

Four England forwards, one comparison: Greaves is the only one who never started a World Cup final, yet his per-game ratio outpaces Charlton’s and matches Lineker’s. The table below sets the numbers side by side.

The pattern: Greaves’s strike rate is unmatched among England’s top five scorers, yet his career lacks the final‑stage World Cup triumph that elevates Charlton’s legacy. The catch: club and international statistics don’t capture the sliding‑door moment of 1966.

Why didn’t Jimmy Greaves play in 1966?

What happened in the 1966 World Cup final?

• Greaves played in England’s first three group matches (Tottenham Hotspur).
• He suffered a leg wound requiring 14 stitches against France in the final group match (BBC Sport).
• Geoff Hurst replaced him and scored the quarter‑final winner against Argentina (BBC Sport).
• Alf Ramsey retained Hurst for the final; Greaves was on the bench as England beat West Germany 4‑2 after extra time (BBC Sport).

Why did Alf Ramsey choose Geoff Hurst?

Official accounts cite Greaves’s injury and Hurst’s form. The Independent notes that Ramsey explained the decision on footballing grounds, but the exact conversation remains unrecorded. The trade‑off: one of England’s greatest strikers watched the final from the bench while a teammate entered history with a hat‑trick.

Did Jimmy Greaves get sober?

When did Greaves begin drinking?

After retiring in the early 1970s, Greaves struggled with alcoholism. BBC Sport reported that he “descended into a world of drink” before seeking help. He later described the period as dark but recoverable.

How did Greaves rebuild his life?

• He achieved sobriety in the 1980s.
• He became a respected television pundit, appearing on Saint and Greavsie.
• He spoke openly about his recovery, turning his personal struggle into a public lesson (BBC Sport).

What this means: Greaves’s second act as a sober media personality re‑humanised a man who had been known only for goals. His recovery became as defining as his scoring.

“I had everything, then I threw it all away. But I got it back – that’s the important thing.”

Jimmy Greaves, BBC Sport

“Greaves descended into a world of drink before seeking help,” reported BBC Sport.

BBC Sport

How many children did Jimmy Greaves have?

Who was Greaves’s wife?

He married Irene, his lifelong partner. She survives him.

What is known about Greaves’s children?

• He had four children.
• At his death in 2021, he was survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, and great‑grandchildren (Tottenham Hotspur).

The pattern: away from the pitch, Greaves built a large family. His personal life, after the turbulence of alcoholism, settled into a stable, private existence.

Timeline

• 1940 – Born in East Ham, Essex
• 1957 – Professional debut for Chelsea
• 1961 – Moved to AC Milan, then to Tottenham Hotspur
• 1966 – Part of England squad; injured and omitted from World Cup final
• 1970s – Struggled with alcoholism after retirement
• 1980s – Achieved sobriety and became a TV pundit
• 2021 – Died at age 81

The timeline shows a steep fall and a slow rebuild.

Jimmy Greaves left football with a goal tally that still ranks among England’s best, and a personal story that turned a public omission into a quiet triumph. For anyone evaluating English football’s all‑time greats, the decision is clear: measure him by his numbers and his recovery, not by the single match he didn’t play.

Frequently asked questions