The most natural goalscorer in English football history, whose prolific record across club and country remains astonishing.
James Peter Greaves was born on 20 February 1940 in Manor Park, Essex, and joined Chelsea's youth ranks in 1955, quickly establishing himself as one of the most naturally gifted goalscorers English football has ever produced. He made his first-team debut for Chelsea at 17, scoring on his very first appearance — a pattern he would repeat at every club he joined throughout his career. By the age of 20, he had already scored 100 league goals, still the youngest player in English football history to reach that milestone. After a brief, unhappy spell at AC Milan in 1961, Greaves returned to London to join Tottenham Hotspur for what was then a huge fee, and spent nine prolific seasons at White Hart Lane. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in both 1962 and 1967, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963, while his 37 league goals in the 1962–63 season remains a club record to this day. He finished his career with 357 goals in England's top flight — still the all-time record more than half a century after his retirement — and topped the First Division's scoring charts on six separate occasions. Greaves scored 44 goals in 57 appearances for England, a tally that remains fourth on the country's all-time list behind Wayne Rooney, Bobby Charlton, and Gary Lineker, and his six international hat-tricks remain an England record. Cruelly, an injury during the 1966 World Cup cost him his place in the England side, and he watched from the stands as Geoff Hurst, his replacement, scored a hat-trick in the final; Greaves did not receive a winner's medal at the time, since only the eleven players who featured in the final were honoured, though he was belatedly presented with one in 2009. Greaves battled alcoholism for much of his adult life, an addiction that contributed to his retirement from professional football at just 31, though he later spoke openly about his recovery. He found a second career as a much-loved broadcaster, forming a popular double act with fellow striker Ian St John on the television programme "Saint and Greavsie." Greaves suffered a serious stroke in 2015 that left him needing a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and he died on 19 September 2021, aged 81.
Being England's fourth-highest goalscorer with 44 international goals
Despite being part of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad, he didn't receive a winner's medal until 2009 — 43 years after the final — because he didn't play in the match itself.
Did You Know?How They Played
Clinical finisher with exceptional positioning and instinctive goalscoring ability
Lasting Impact
One of England's greatest natural goalscorers and a key figure in the 1966 World Cup squad
Career Honours
- FA Cup 2x
- European Cup Winners' Cup 1963
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1963
- FA Cup 1962
- FA Cup 1967
| Club | Period | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 1957–1961 | 157 | 124 |
| AC Milan | 1961–1961 | 10 | 9 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1961–1970 | 321 | 220 |
| West Ham United | 1970–1971 | 38 | 13 |
| Brentwood | 1975–1976 | — | — |
| Chelmsford City | 1976–1977 | 25 | 13 |
| Barnet | 1977–1979 | 51 | 16 |
| Woodford Town | 1979–1980 | — | — |
 England | — | 57 | 44 |