Tributes have been flowing in for Jimmy Greaves who passed away last weekend. Along with Bobby Charlton, Jimmy was every schoolboy's hero when I was growing up – an era when you could have heroes that didn't play for your team. Jimmy was the greatest English goalscorer and his record supports that view. 44 goals in 57 internationals, 413 domestic goals in a 14-year career only punctuated by a short unhappy spell with AC Milan between his time at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
The chirpy Cockney burst on to the English football scene as a 17-year-old in 1957 scoring on his Chelsea debut against Spurs at White Hart Lane and netting 22 goals in his first season. The Coventry connections at Chelsea were there from day one; Reg Matthews was an ever present between the sticks and future City players Brian Nicholas, Alan Dicks and John Sillett were also at the Bridge. Jimmy's long friendship with Sillett started back then and endured all those years. The team picture of Chelsea, taken in 1957, has Greaves second right on the front row, Nicholas second left on the fron row, Dicks far left top row and Matthews third left with Peter Sillett, brother of John, between Dicks and Matthews.
In his famous ITV role with Ian St. John (another City link) in Saint and Greavsie, Jimmy found a new career in which again he excelled. The Saturday lunch-time show with the humorous Greaves and the straight-man St. John was light relief from the more serious Football Focus. In 1987 Jimmy predicted City's demise in the FA Cup from the fourth round onwards and it became a prediction he couldn't alter even at Wembley in the final. As the Coventry fans chanted 'are you watching Jimmy Greaves' Jimmy was as pleased as punch that his old mate 'Sill' had lifted the trophy.
Several readers have asked me if Jimmy ever played at Highfield Road. City didn't reach the First Division until 1967 so their supporters didn't have the chance to see him 'in the flesh' until the latter days of his career. His first meeting with the Sky Blues, in October 1967, coincided with the managerial handover from Jimmy Hill to Noel Cantwell. Greaves, of course, ruined the party. City, two down in 10 minutes through Greaves and Cliff Jones, pulled level with a Ronnie Rees brace, then Jimmy settled the match with what Derek Henderson, writing in the Coventry Telegraph, described as 'a world-class goal from a world-class player'.
He went on to describe the goal: 'Greaves looked harmless enough when he moved on to the ball just outside the box. But seeing Bill Glazier advance slightly, he looped a dipping shot which floated into the top left hand corner. Let no one say it was lucky – it had the hallmark of genius about it'.
In the return at White Hart Lane the following April City were desperate for points but Jimmy again terrorised the Sky Blues, scoring two goals in a 4-2 home win, and once again Henderson waxed lyrically: 'More than anything else, the reason why Coventry City were outwitted.....was a living legend by the name of Jimmy Greaves. Defences from Moscow to Montevideo have never fathomed how to put the clamps on this remarkable goal-snatcher. And for the second time this season, the Sky Blues had cause to reflect on his uncanny ability of being in the right spot at the right time, and of his knack of making his shots tell.'
The following season Jimmy scored 36 goals for Tottenham but failed to net against City, mainly due to the superb marking of Brian Hill who never gave him an inch. Spurs did, however, do the double over the Sky Blues again. Finally in December 1969 City managed to defeat Spurs 3-2 at Highfield Road and again Greaves, whose scoring record was declining, was not on target. Four months later Jimmy was off to West Ham as a make weight in the biggest transfer in British football at the time – Martin Peters valued at £200,000 joining Tottenham.
Jimmy had his ups and downs at West Ham, where he teamed up with his close friend Bobby Moore, and in January 1971 they and two other West Ham players were caught drinking in a Blackpool nightclub on the eve of an FA Cup tie (which the team lost). The players were fined and suspended for a month. The end of the suspension coincided with a game at Highfield Road and Greaves atoned for his misdemeanours by snatching the only goal. That was the last time Jimmy played against the Sky Blues.
If you have a question about Coventry City's history please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @clarriebourton
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