With style and skill, Jimmy Greaves was one of the best ever goalscorers

For those who saw him play, he was simply the best. The great Jimmy Greaves passed away over the weekend aged 81, and the whole of the footballing world came together to pay tribute to one of the finest players of his or any generation.

Blessed with brilliant close control, balance and quickness – both of foot and mind – Greaves was a player far beyond his years and one surely who would’ve flourished in the modern game, having done so so successfully in the far less player-friendly conditions of his era.

Regardless of his other gifts, of which there were many, it was his goal scoring that set Greaves apart.

He scored 266 times across 379 Tottenham appearances between 1961 and 1970, with the 41 goals he scored in the 1960-61 season for Chelsea remaining a club record to this day. His 357 top-flight goals are, and will surely always remain, an English record. In front of goal he rarely let a chance slip by and his goals were taken with an abundance of style as well as skill.

Only modern superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can match up against his frankly absurd 466 in 661 career ratio.

For giant figures like Greaves and other greats of the game we have lost in recent times such as Diego Maradona, Paolo Rossi and Gerd Muller, the words of journalists can scarcely do them justice, not only for what they did on the field but also the impact they had on their fans off it.

Many describe Greaves now as a “natural” goalscorer. As Tony Evans noted in these pages, as if you could be born with talent as exceptional as his. All Jimmy Greaves did was score goals, as many have often asserted. He will be remembered forever as one of the best to ever do it.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor