Jimmy Greaves

Jimmy Greaves signed for Chelsea as a teenager and turned professional in the summer of 1957. On the opening day of the season, at White Hart Lane, he scored on his debut. It was the start of an extraordinary run.

In four years he scored 132 goals in 169 games, 124 of them in the league. He hit 13 hat-tricks, more than anyone else in the club’s history. In 1960–61 he scored 43 times, 41 in the league, a Chelsea record that still stands. By 20 years and 290 days old he already had 100 league goals: nobody has ever reached 100 English league goals at a younger age.

The Chelsea of that era did not win trophies, and Greaves won no honours in blue. He was, though, the First Division’s top scorer twice, in 1958–59 and 1960–61.

His farewell is one of the best in our history. In his last game before an £80,000 move to Milan he was captain for the day and scored all four goals in a 4–3 win over Nottingham Forest.

Greaves went on to become a Tottenham great and a television favourite, but he performed his first miracles at Stamford Bridge. He died in 2021. Those who saw him always spoke of the coolest finisher there ever was.

Sources

• Chelsea FC — Jimmy Greaves 1940–2021 (debut, 132 goals, 13 hat-tricks, 41-goal season, last game)
• Wikipedia — List of Chelsea F.C. players (169 apps / 132 goals)
• Wikipedia — Jimmy Greaves (100 league goals at 20, top scorer 1958–59, move to Milan)
• Wikimedia Commons — Jimmy Greaves 1959.jpg (photo: Hesekiel, Public domain)