David Tossell - Natural: The Jimmy Greaves Story

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2019
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

David Tossell, 2019

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.

A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978-1-78531-490-2
eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-556-5

--

Ebook Conversion by www.eBookPartnership.com

CONTENTS

FOREWORD
By Sir Geoff Hurst

J IMMY Greaves was a genius in the art of scoring goals. There are people in different walks of life to whom you can give that label and Jimmy was exactly that in what he did.

If there were 20 players in a crowded penalty area, he had the ability to find a yard or two on his own. And the other beauty of his game something that he was very good at compared to other players who found themselves in those positions in front of goal was that he always expected the ball to come to him, no matter what. It could hit a defender; it could hit a post it; it could come off a team-mate; but he would always expect the ball to finish up at his feet. Lesser goalscorers dont have that anticipation and it is almost a shock when the ball comes to them. They lose their composure. But Jim knew what to do, how to control it and put it away.

He was such a great player that he probably didnt have to work as hard and dedicate himself as much as people with lesser talents. Many of us and I include myself had to work a lot harder to get somewhere close to the ability he had. His record at Chelsea and Tottenham was phenomenal and, heading into the World Cup in 1966, he was one of Englands five world-class players, along with Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Gordon Banks and Ray Wilson. Jimmy had been ill with hepatitis so was probably not quite at his best during that period, but had he not been injured in the group games I dont think there would have been any question of Alf Ramsey leaving him out of the team.

I obviously regard it as a huge piece of luck that I was able to play in the latter stages of the tournament and in the final. It wasnt something that I expected. I was just happy to be in the squad. But that is sport, and I was ready to play and able to take the chance when it came along. As disappointed as he was, it never stopped me getting along with Jim in later years.

He was always such a laid-back guy and an unbelievably funny character, which came through in the things he got involved in after football; his television career, the writing and his theatre shows. He was just a natural in everything he did. I did a show with Jimmy and Gordon Banks at Wembley, just before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and we had pictures taken backstage with the trophy. The guy from FIFA who was looking after it explained that only players who have won the World Cup are allowed to actually hold it in their bare hands. Everyone else, including the handler himself, had to wear white gloves. Jimmy piped up, Hang on. That means if it gets nicked there are only our bloody fingerprints on it! I was in tears even before we went on stage.

Another thing that comes to mind is being parked outside my front door listening to the radio when Jimmy described Wayne Rooney as looking like SpongeBob SquarePants. I was laughing, even though I had no idea at that stage who the hell SpongeBob SquarePants was. When I looked it up and saw pictures, I laughed a hundred times more. It was a typical Jim comment. When he once described me as one of his best guests on his theatre show I was very flattered, considering how funny he was.

Like most people, I had absolutely no idea at all none whatsoever about the extent of his problems with drink after he retired from playing. I was astonished when it came out in the papers. There had never been any rumours in the football fraternity. It was a huge shock. It is a great credit to him as a person to be able to stop drinking as he did and get on with a fantastic career in other areas. He never talked about it with me and I doubt with many other people outside of his family. He just carried on working.

You never know how others find people, but I would be very surprised if anybody would have had any reason to be unhappy with Jimmy on or off the field. There are some people you can get on with, but you recognise that others might not find it so easy. But I cant imagine anyone would think anything other than Jimmy was a terrific, funny guy and great company. And what a player one of the greats. His goalscoring record is astonishing and I dont think we will ever see anyone like him again.

INTRODUCTION

I found it so natural to score goals. I had absolutely no idea how good I was. It was easy for me, to be honest

I T all happened too fast for the White Hart Lane crowd and television viewers to fully appreciate. They just knew that they had seen something very special.

As usual, Match of the Day had chosen to show Tottenham Hotspurs game against Manchester United, their first meeting of the 1965-66 season. The opportunity to drop some of English footballs biggest stars Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best for the League champions; Jimmy Greaves and Dave Mackay for Spurs into peoples living rooms on a Saturday evening was not one the BBC was going to pass up, as they proved by featuring the fixture six times in the shows first three seasons. When Greaves scored a dazzling third goal in the middle of a 5-1 triumph, the shows producers congratulated themselves on their selection, while those watching from their sofas, had they been able to foresee technical advances, might have cursed that slow-motion replays were still a few years away.

In the modern age we can use the Internet to find, pause, analyse and marvel at the genius of the greatest goalscorer in the history of English football. With Spurs two up and the October clouds erasing the shadows over the pitch that have framed the early exchanges, Mackay pushes the ball forward to Greaves, his back to goal, 30 yards out. This being the 1960s, when defenders frequently mistake the number on a forwards jersey as a target to aim at, Greaves finds the United centre-half, Bill Foulkes, clambering all over him.

Greaves doesnt go down. He retains his balance, leaving Foulkes the one on the ground as he pivots towards goal. Perhaps it is the somewhat tentative nature of the turn that has the United defenders back on their heels, unprepared for the burst of acceleration that he unleashes. In a flash, he has sliced through and away from four of them. Pause the picture now he looks like a sprinter breaking the tape a yard ahead of a string of pursuers. Meanwhile, substitute John Fitzpatricks clumsy attempt at a sliding tackle has scarcely registered in Greavess peripheral vision, let alone disturbed his single-minded path into the penalty area.

As United goalkeeper Pat Dunne advances, there is a barely perceptible hitch in Greavess stride, just enough to convince the keeper he is about to shoot, sufficient to commit him to a dive. Instead, without any loss of speed, Greaves continues on his diagonal course in the direction of the right-hand goalpost, slipping beyond Dunnes groping left hand before side-footing the ball into an empty net from six yards.