Jimmy Greaves and the ’66 World Cup

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It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
The BT documentary a wee while back on Greavsie was really excellent. A wonderful goal scorer and a great personality.
 
I heard him in an old interview the other day saying that once Geoff Hurst scored in the quarter finals he didn’t expect to get back into the team other than through injury.

Given that it was years later he seemed to have had no problems with Ramsey’s decision.
 
I heard him in an old interview the other day saying that once Geoff Hurst scored in the quarter finals he didn’t expect to get back into the team other than through injury.

Given that it was years later he seemed to have had no problems with Ramsey’s decision.
Oh, I think he understood Sir Alf’s thinking very well. It was questionable whether he was fully recovered from his injury in the France game; he had been off form for a while; England were winning without him, and his replacement, Hurst, was scoring. Naturally, he wasn’t happy about it, but he could have no complaints.

A real what-might-have-been.
 
Some of Jimmy Greaves’ astonishing scoring records:
  • Leading scorer in the English top flight a record six times
  • Scored 25 hat tricks (or more goals) in the top flight
  • His club’s leading goalscorer in 12 of the 14 seasons he played top flight football
  • At 21, he was the youngest player in the history of English top flight football to score 100 goals
  • At 23, he matched Dixie Dean’s record of 200 league goals
  • Scored on his debut for every team he played for: Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs, West Ham, and England
  • Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer in the league, in the FA Cup, and in all games
  • Tottenham’s record scorer of hat tricks (or more goals) with 15
  • Best goals-to-games ratio of any England player with 50+ caps, and the best of all England players in the modern (post-war) period
  • An all-time record of 6 hat tricks (or more goals) for England.
 
Some of Jimmy Greaves’ astonishing scoring records:
  • Leading scorer in the English top flight a record six times
  • Scored 25 hat tricks (or more goals) in the top flight
  • His club’s leading goalscorer in 12 of the 14 seasons he played top flight football
  • At 21, he was the youngest player in the history of English top flight football to score 100 goals
  • At 23, he matched Dixie Dean’s record of 200 league goals
  • Scored on his debut for every team he played for: Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs, West Ham, and England
  • Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer in the league, in the FA Cup, and in all games
  • Tottenham’s record scorer of hat tricks (or more goals) with 15
  • Best goals-to-games ratio of any England player with 50+ caps, and the best of all England players in the modern (post-war) period
  • An all-time record of 6 hat tricks (or more goals) for England.

There was a great article in the Daily Mail the other day that put to bed the numerous myths regarding the phenomenal striker and incredibly decent bloke.

 
Greaves was dropped for Roger Hunt in the 66 final. Hurst was always playing.
In the three group games, v Uruguay, Mexico and France, Sir Alf picked Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt, and left out Geoff Hurst.

Perhaps he considered picking Greaves over Hunt for the final, but the fact is Hurst wasn’t in Sir Alf’s preferred XI going into the tournament, and only got into the team when Greaves was injured.
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
15 goals in England’s top division,would probably guarantee you a place in the starting 11 today.
11 nowadays.
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
Excellent post mate.
 
In the three group games, v Uruguay, Mexico and France, Sir Alf picked Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt, and left out Geoff Hurst.

Perhaps he considered picking Greaves over Hunt for the final, but the fact is Hurst wasn’t in Sir Alf’s preferred XI going into the tournament, and only got into the team when Greaves was injured.
Hurst by the time of the final was Ramsey’s first choice centre forward. So it was between Hunt and Greaves.
 
He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.
Flashback to that point in time…

Going into that 5-game goalless run in 1966, Jimmy Greaves had played 44 times for England, and scored 43 goals. Pretty much a goal-per-game average.

No wonder he roomed with Bobby Moore - he must have been almost an automatic pick.
 
Not a post about the World Cup 1966 but Jimmy Greaves scored for Tottenham Hotspur against us at Ibrox in December 1962 in the 2nd round of the European Cup Winners Cup. Crowd of 80.000 saw him score a great, typical Greavsie goal after just 8 minutes.

We lost 3 v 2 that night and 8 v 4 on aggregate in what was billed as a Battle Of Britain.They were a superb team back then and went on to win the ECWC that year against Atletico Madrid. Spurs became the first British team to win a European Trophy. Sticks in my mind because my older brother was a Spurs fan and never let me forget about it! Interesting fact was that Jim Baxter was apparently dropped for the first game by Scot Symon at White Hart Lane but reinstated at Ibrox.
 
Flashback to that point in time…

Going into that 5-game goalless run in 1966, Jimmy Greaves had played 44 times for England, and scored 43 goals. Pretty much a goal-per-game average.

No wonder he roomed with Bobby Moore - he must have been almost an automatic pick.
My Gramps said that Greaves was the best striker he had ever seen in over 50 years of watching professional football.
 
He was a far better striker than Hurst but as the OP states, Hurst was in better form going into the WC. Whether something happened in the training camp to piss off Ramsey we will likely never know. You have to think if there were high jinks it would have came out by now.

Regardless of his failure to get a WCW medal, Greaves is a decent shout as the best British striker ever.
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…

That's a good read, great work. His international goal record for England is top class in only 8yrs
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
Ramsay also had the knowledge that he had a truly world class player in Charlton who could weigh in with goals while controlling the game from the middle of the park. The disappointment of the final was that the two best players on the park cancelled one another out.
 
If England were winning without JG then Sir Alf would never change the team.
The players that played under him said that it was hard to get into the England team, and even harder to get out.

Jimmy Greaves stats are off the scale. My old man always said if he had to pick a player to score to save his life it would have been Greaves.
 
Greaves was dropped for Roger Hunt in the 66 final. Hurst was always playing.
Greaves was dropped for Roger Hunt in the 66 final. Hurst was always playing.
Your right mate,it’s would have been Hunt who would have lost out.
He was a far better striker than Hurst but as the OP states, Hurst was in better form going into the WC. Whether something happened in the training camp to piss off Ramsey we will likely never know. You have to think if there were high jinks it would have came out by now.

Regardless of his failure to get a WCW medal, Greaves is a decent shout as the best British striker ever.
I think all it was,Ramsey wasn’t changing a winning side.
 
He was a far better striker than Hurst but as the OP states, Hurst was in better form going into the WC. Whether something happened in the training camp to piss off Ramsey we will likely never know. You have to think if there were high jinks it would have came out by now.

Regardless of his failure to get a WCW medal, Greaves is a decent shout as the best British striker ever.
I don’t think Hurst was in better form before the World Cup. He made his international debut in February 1966, and had played just five games, scoring once, in the lead up to the finals. Greaves had played four times in that period, scoring five goals (4 in one game).

Hurst got his chance when Greaves was injured, and took it.

Greaves wasn’t fit for either the quarter final v Argentina (when Hurst scored the only goal), or the semi final v Portugal. Greaves was supposedly fit for the final, but perhaps Ramsey felt he wouldn’t be sharp enough, or perhaps at that point he just preferred the Hurst-Hunt combo.

All that matters is England won, but Greaves was desperately unlucky that the big game fell right in the middle of the only few weeks/months of the 1960s when he wasn’t indisputably England’s best striker.
 
Some of Jimmy Greaves’ astonishing scoring records:
  • Leading scorer in the English top flight a record six times
  • Scored 25 hat tricks (or more goals) in the top flight
  • His club’s leading goalscorer in 12 of the 14 seasons he played top flight football
  • At 21, he was the youngest player in the history of English top flight football to score 100 goals
  • At 23, he matched Dixie Dean’s record of 200 league goals
  • Scored on his debut for every team he played for: Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs, West Ham, and England
  • Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer in the league, in the FA Cup, and in all games
  • Tottenham’s record scorer of hat tricks (or more goals) with 15
  • Best goals-to-games ratio of any England player with 50+ caps, and the best of all England players in the modern (post-war) period
  • An all-time record of 6 hat tricks (or more goals) for England.
The greatest British goalscorer of all time.
 
A thoroughly good guy and a great goalscorer. Fought back from a major personal setback to get to the top of the English game. Was obviously gutted to miss the WC Final. His life ebbed and flowed but his resurgence as a pundit on regional telly then on to Saint and Greaves, from the depths of alcoholism, was remarkable.

Also liked a crafty fag at half time during his career.
 
Greaves was a fabulous goal scorer. A real poacher. As a youngster watching back then I felt sorry for him missing out and I continued to feel for him as the years went by. But as others have said, Sir Alf made the call and it proved to be the right one for England.
 
He wasn
Greaves was a fabulous goal scorer. A real poacher. As a youngster watching back then I felt sorry for him missing out and I continued to feel for him as the years went by. But as others have said, Sir Alf made the call and it proved to be the right one for England.
He wasn't just a poacher, he was a football player. Just look at some of the goals he scored and the way he would skip by tackles and round the goalkeeper.
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
Record breaker, still the only man to score a 2 goal hat-trick in a World Cup Final
 
Bizarrely, the guy who overtook him in 2nd place to Bobby Charlton went into a major Championship as England's number one striker with....Hepatitis.

Gary Lineker, Euro 88. I think he missed 3/4 months of the next season as well.
 
He wasn

He wasn't just a poacher, he was a football player. Just look at some of the goals he scored and the way he would skip by tackles and round the goalkeeper.
He could drift past players similar to Best ( not quite as good ). A fantastic footballer with great vision.

My da hated Ramsey for ever, as Greaves never got on to the pitch that day, injured or not.
 
My Gramps said that Greaves was the best striker he had ever seen in over 50 years of watching professional football.
My old man said the same.
He and the uncles debated Greaves v Law nearly every week.
The general feeling was that Law was a great goalscorer but Greaves a better footballer.
 
On the topic of Jimmy, I was always puzzled about this card which
I think was part of a Question Of Sport set. The card depicts the man
himself on the front, but on the back is a list of questions - most of them
mentioning Rangers. I don't think a lot of thought went into compiling
them. Either that, or the guy who compiled the questions was a Tim.

qzz-Isf-Z9-PBvx-1.jpg

Rl-Uw-W6u1faf-N.jpg
 
Watching Saint & Greavsie, as a kid in the mid-eighties, he looked like a proper old man to me with the baldy heid and the walrus 'tache. But looking back now, he was only in his mid-forties, which seems like no age at all.
 
On the topic of Jimmy, I was always puzzled about this card which
I think was part of a Question Of Sport set. The card depicts the man
himself on the front, but on the back is a list of questions - most of them
mentioning Rangers. I don't think a lot of thought went into compiling
them. Either that, or the guy who compiled the questions was a Tim.

qzz-Isf-Z9-PBvx-1.jpg

Rl-Uw-W6u1faf-N.jpg
It was from a Saint and Greavsie quiz board game

 
Glad so many appreciated this. And great thread contributions.

Jimmy Greaves was my first football hero, and these things stay with you. He was England’s top scorer the year I really got interested in football. I loved his prolific goalscoring - all kinds of goals - before I knew about all his record-making. It’s nice that the evidence confirms my instincts.

RIP Jimmy.
 
It’s well documented that the late Jimmy Greaves, England’s top striker of the sixties, missed the 1966 World Cup Final, which ought to have been the pinnacle of his career. There’s a lazy trope about that sparking his alcoholism, mostly refuted by Jimmy in his lifetime, and by recent obituaries.

But that story masks the uncomfortable background to Greaves missing the final. The sad fact is he was off form, and picked the wrong year of the 1960s for that to happen.

Here’s part of his goalscoring record for the period:

1960/61 41 league goals (with Chelsea)
1961/62 21 league goals (from December on return from Italy, where he scored 9)
1962/63 37 league goals
1963/64 35 league goals
1964/65 29 league goals
1965/66 15 league goals
1966/67 25 league goals
1967/68 26 league goals
1968/69 27 league goals

1966 sticks out like a sore thumb. What happened? Jimmy missed three months of the season (Nov/Dec/Jan) through illness - he had hepatitis - and had to fight to get back to sharpness in time for the World Cup.

He was picked again for England from May ’66, and scored against both Yugoslavia and Norway. But he then went on a run of 5 consecutive England games without scoring, including the 3 group matches in the finals - unprecedented. Prior to that, Greaves’ longest run without scoring for England was 3 games, and he scored a total of 44 goals in 57 appearances, from 1959 to 1967.

England won both their quarter final and semi final without him, and Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal against Argentina in the quarters. So it wasn’t such a tough decision for Sir Alf Ramsey to leave Greaves out. In any other season, it would have been madness to drop him, but not 1966.

And, of course, Hurst’s hat trick in the World Cup Final appeared to vindicate Sir Alf’s decision. But I’ve often wondered whether a fired-up Jimmy Greaves would have scored 4 in the final…
Heard it said that he was never quite the same player after contracting hepatits.
 
My old man said the same.
He and the uncles debated Greaves v Law nearly every week.
The general feeling was that Law was a great goalscorer but Greaves a better footballer.
Likewise with my old man and his brother & brothers in law.
General consensus was that Greaves was the greatest scorer they'd seen but that Denis was more flamboyant.
Nobody else came close, in British terms, for them.
 
Heard it said that he was never quite the same player after contracting hepatits.
Not that season, 65/66, I’d agree.

But in the next three league seasons he scored 25, 26 and 27 goals, won the FA Cup in 1967, and was the league's top scorer in 1969. All that suggests otherwise.
 
Glad so many appreciated this. And great thread contributions.

Jimmy Greaves was my first football hero, and these things stay with you. He was England’s top scorer the year I really got interested in football. I loved his prolific goalscoring - all kinds of goals - before I knew about all his record-making. It’s nice that the evidence confirms my instincts.

RIP Jimmy
When Scotland played England in 67 the general consensus was that they had strengthened the World Cup winning eleven by selecting Greaves.

A player who floated over mud heap pitches and played at a time when centre half’s had free reign to kick lumps out of opponent. A true superstar!
 
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