Greavsie at 80 - in his own words...

The greatest goalscorer in the history of English football, a superstar of world football and one of our all-time greats, Jimmy Greaves celebrates his 80th birthday today.

Born in east London on 20 February, 1940, 'Greavsie' joined us from AC Milan in December, 1961.

He bagged a hat-trick on his debut against Blackpool at White Hart Lane on 16 December, 1961, and went on to score 266 goals in 379 appearances in all competitions until moving to West Ham in March, 1970.

Jimmy's goals helped Bill Nicholson's 'glory, glory' team retain the FA Cup in 1962, create history by becoming the first British team to lift a European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963 - Greavsie scored in both finals - and then claim the FA Cup again in 1967.

He is still the highest all-time goalscorer in the top flight of English football (Division One/Premier League) with 357 league goals in 516 games for Chelsea, Spurs and West Ham.

In this special interview adapted from the Tottenham Hotspur Opus, we hear from the man himself on life at Spurs from start to finish...

How did you feel when Spurs came in for you?
Jimmy: "I was pleased. They were a great team, the best in England at the time. I felt that it would have been pointless going back to Chelsea because I wanted to move on. So that was it. Bill Nicholson brought me back to White Hart Lane for £99,999."

Did that one pound make any difference to you?
Jimmy: "It didn’t make a blind bit of difference to me, no. Most people seemed to be under the impression that it was done for my benefit - to ease the pressure - but it wasn’t. The deal could have been for 10 million quid for all I cared. All I wanted to do was move to Tottenham Hotspur. I think Bill didn’t want to be the first manager to pay that amount of money for a player, but it never made a scrap of difference to me - I didn’t get any of the fee anyway! So contrary to it being done to take the pressure off, I really couldn’t have cared less."

It was quite a return to English football. Over 13,000 people turned up to see you play your first game, a reserve team match against Plymouth...
Jimmy: "I didn’t give that any thought to be honest, I just wanted to get the first game out of the way. I ran out onto the field and there were all these people there. I hadn’t played in the reserves before: I’d played for the Chelsea youth team and then went straight into the first team at 17. I thought that was the norm. The chairman of Plymouth even welcomed me onto the pitch!"

And, of course, you scored a hat-trick on your debut at White Hart Lane (against Blackpool). That must have got you off to a good start?
Jimmy: "I remember the air was full of expectancy. Bobby Smith wasn’t playing because he was injured, so Les Allen was playing instead. I remember my first few touches didn’t come to anything. I wasn’t making mistakes, but nothing was happening. Then suddenly out of the blue we got a throw-in. I think Dave Mackay took it, he launched it in and Terry Medwin flicked it on. I threw myself at it with an overhead kick and it was in the back of the net. I went on to score a hat-trick and my Spurs career was up and running."

Just how good was the Spurs side of the early 1960s?
Jimmy: "They were a great team, but in so many different ways. Every lifetime produces a great football team, but you don’t necessarily get a great bunch of personalities at the same time. In that team, everybody could play and everybody got on. The mixture was spot on, there was a great companionship and the football was incredible. We had the will to stand by each other and see each other through - not only on the football field, but anywhere. The first two or three years of my Spurs career were fabulous."

You’ve said before that playing at Spurs was the summer of your career.
Jimmy: "Well it was, no question about it. The seasons from 1962-1964 were the best years of my football life. I played in what I thought was the greatest ever team. It’s difficult to judge today because there have been some outstanding teams in the history of the game. But to me there wasn’t another side like the Spurs team of the early 1960s. We had everything. There was a very strong and powerful defence: Dave Mackay was in the heart of it and he was the best player Spurs ever had. He possessed everything - skill, strength, he could pass, he could tackle. But if Mackay was the heart of the side, then Danny Blanchflower was the brain. He was a brilliant player, a brilliant captain and a brilliant mind. He was a real leader."

You had a great goalkeeper in Bill Brown...
Jimmy: (Laughs) "He was a good goalie for a Scot! He wasn’t the greatest at coming out, but we had big Maurice Norman in central defence to deal with crosses. On the other hand, Bill was a tremendous shot-stopper, probably the best around. In the year we won the European Cup Winners’ Cup (1963) he kept us in the competition when we went over to play Slovan Bratislava. Believe me, it was cold. The Danube had frozen over, but on the night we were playing, the thaw had set in and their pitch was like a skating rink. We were really up against it because Slovan had some good players. They destroyed us that night. We were beaten 2-0 and it really should have been more because we were never in the game. It was thanks to Bill that we had a chance in the return leg. Slovan were blasting them in from everywhere, but he stopped most of it. In the end, we actually came out feeling quite pleased. I remember trooping off and I thinking, ‘blimey, we got hammered there, but we can do them at home'. I knew we could score three or more goals at White Hart Lane."

In front of Bill, you had Peter Baker and Ron Henry who were both were quick, tough, hard full-backs...
Jimmy: "Just to show you how good they actually were, we also had Mel Hopkins in the squad, who was a Welsh international. Mel got injured and once Ron came in and took his place, he didn’t let go. We had talent all over the pitch. Big Maurice Norman was very strong in central defence. Cliff Jones was a brilliant winger, he had a good eye for a cross and was a great header of the ball. In midfield, John White floated around the middle of the park - you could always find him if you were looking to make a pass. And then there was Bobby Smith. Sometimes we had a telepathic partnership up front. He was tough, too. He used to rough up the goalkeeper at corners and crosses, something you’d never get away with today."

What about Terry Dyson?
Jimmy: "Terry really epitomised the success of that side, because he had limited ability, but he made up for it through effort, guile, quick thinking and enthusiasm. He was really my favourite player at Spurs because he just deserved to be there. He was a very efficient cog in the team."

What were Bill’s team talks like?
Jimmy: "Well, we’d all be in the dressing room beforehand and would often agree among ourselves to keep quiet if he asked us if there were any questions. We wanted to get away early. Everybody would just look at the floor when he asked, but it never went to plan. Bill would always say, ‘What? We’re all experts now, are we? We’re the greatest players in the world, are we?’ Still nobody would say a word. Then he’d walk up to Knowlesy and say, ‘Knowlesy. You must have something to say!’ Then Knowlsey would open his mouth and we’d all groan. It would add another hour on the meeting."

Were you pleased with your medal collection from the Spurs era?
Jimmy: "Looking back, we should have won more trophies than we actually did because we had the players there to do so. Spurs had won the Double before I arrived. Once I joined, we should have won the league again. We won the FA Cup in ‘62 and ‘67 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in ‘63, but we should have won the league at least once more in the time I was there. We also should have picked up the European Cup in ‘62 but we were knocked out by Benfica in the semi-finals. It never seemed to happen for us. In some ways that ‘Super Spurs’ team underachieved really."

Why didn’t it happen?
Jimmy: "Well, when I joined we were chasing the league, the FA Cup and the European Cup, but we didn’t have the big squads of today. We would have won the League if we’d not lost 3-1 to Ipswich Town at home. They went on to win the title and we missed out on the Double; well, the Treble really because we were knocked out of the European Cup by Benfica. We were so close. The Ipswich game was a poor performance, there was no excuse, though of course we had Benfica on our minds because we were due to play them shortly after. The thing is, there’s a lot going on now with players in their careers, but they’re more used to it now. Going to Europe was tough then."

How did it feel getting knocked out of the 1962 European Cup semi-finals by Benfica?
Jimmy: "It was a big blow. Bill had his heart set on winning that trophy and we really should have won it, too. I scored twice in Lisbon in the first leg. Both times they were ruled out for offside. Then during the game at White Hart Lane I scored again and it was disallowed for offside again. I always hold my hand up if I’ve scored a goal and it’s been marginally offside, but that one was definitely not offside. That would have put us right back in the game (Benfica captain José Águas had given his side an early lead). If it hadn’t been for that, I think we would have won it. It would have changed the course of the game."

How did that affect you?
Jimmy: "Well it was the worst game of football I’ve ever played in. I felt terrible afterwards, and so did Bill. Winning the European Cup was Bill’s goal. It was his dream and his desire and sadly it never happened for him. Benfica were a good side, though, they weren’t mugs. They were the holders of the trophy and in the final that year they beat Real Madrid, who were admittedly a little bit over the hill – I think we would have beaten them, too."

What was it like playing in those big European games?
Jimmy: "It was under the floodlights, we’d play in the all-white kit and the crowds were fantastic. It was electrifying. Football was never a drab game from a spectator’s point of view, but if you look at some of the old photos from those days, you’ll see the crowds and they’re all in their overcoats and caps. Some of them might have a team scarf on, or a coloured rattle, but nobody really dressed up. There were no replica shirts and there was no colour. Despite that, the atmosphere was fantastic. Today you get all the fans wearing the shirts and I think of White Hart Lane during those European years, it started the whole thing off. We had the ‘Spurs Angels’ and everybody started to dress up. It was something totally new. Those games were electrifying to play in."

Were you aware of the importance of winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963?
Jimmy: "Oh yeah, we were very aware of it. We were aware that it was a landmark in the history of British football, though we knew that we probably should have won the European Cup the year before. Bill scared the life out us in his team talk before the game. The trouble was that we’d lost Dave Mackay through injury beforehand, and that was it for Bill. I really, truly believe that Bill couldn’t see us winning that game without Dave. Originally, he was going to play Tony Marchi and Dave and leave out Danny (Blanchflower) because he was returning from injury. It was a very brave decision, but Bill just felt that we needed a little bit more defensive strength in the middle of the field. Tony was a very good player anyway – he had played in Italy so he knew how to play the game. But when Dave failed his fitness test, Danny came back into contention. By then, Bill was panicking about Atletico (Madrid), but one of the great things about football in those days is that you never really knew much about the opposition, so you didn’t worry. You couldn’t watch them weekly on telly like you can now. We knew they were the holders of the trophy, and we also knew they were a good side, but by the time Bill finished we thought they were from Mars. Anyway, once Bill had had his say, Danny got up and gave the most marvellous speech arguing about the talent we had in our team. In the end we all came out of the team talk thinking, ‘Danny’s right. What have we got to worry about? Look at all the players we’ve got’.  After that, we absolutely murdered them: 5-1 on the night. It was Terry Dyson’s game. He was brilliant that evening - he scored a cracker of a goal and played the game of his life. That was one of the best games I played in during my career."

The year 1963 marked the end of an era for Spurs didn’t it?
Jimmy: "Well, Danny Blanchflower got a bad injury and Dave Mackay broke his leg twice. Peter Baker was coming to the end of his career, Maurice Norman got injured, and Bobby Smith became injury prone. Then we lost John White, which was a tragedy. Dear old John. Before you realised it, that team had crumbled and there weren’t really any of us left. Before you knew where you were, Bill had bought Pat Jennings and Cyril Knowles, both of whom were great buys. Terry Venables also came to the club and they tried to buy Johnny Haynes, which would have been brilliant, but it never came to anything."

Bill didn’t quite recapture the Spurs team of 1961-1963, but he came close...
Jimmy: "Oh yeah, he built a good team. Mike England was a good player, as were Pat, Cyril, Joe Kinnear, Phil Beal, Alan Mullery, Venables, so we had a good structure, but we fell short. The problem was that we couldn’t win away like we used to. We didn’t lose our way, we just didn’t seem to be as good. Given the players we had, we should have been a lot better. In those years - ‘65, ‘66, ‘67 - we should have won a title. We won the FA Cup, but we could have won a title with those players. Those were the great days, though. And when the team broke up in 1963, it certainly didn’t go downhill because we still had some great moments after that. And you know I played with one of the greatest players of all time in Alan Gilzean..."

You hit it off with Gilly, didn’t you?
Jimmy: "We hit it off on and off the pitch. He was great. He was a character, Gilly, but he could really play and he had the most wonderful footballing brain."

How did he complement you?
Jimmy: "We could just read each other’s minds. It happens occasionally. I had a bit of that same sort of telepathy with Bobby Smith and Johnny Haynes, but Gilly and I played together for a lot longer. There’s no specific answer as to why it happens. You don’t practice it and you can’t coach it. You certainly can’t do any of the things that coaches will have you believe. It isn’t like that at all. It’s just something that happens - it comes together from time to time and it works, it sparks and it’s great."

And you picked up your last trophy - the 1967 FA Cup?
Jimmy: "The ‘67 Cup Final was different because it was the first all-London final and Chelsea were probably a year off being a really good side. We caught them at just about the right time, when we were just a bit too strong for them. A year or so later, they had become a really good team."

Was your biggest frustration not winning a title with Spurs?
Jimmy: "No, it wasn’t really. I always enjoyed my football there. I loved playing at Spurs. It was the summer of my career and I would have played there for the rest of my career if I could. That would have been enough for me."

So did you view football as a career or a sport?
Jimmy: "My job as a professional footballer was to entertain people, to excite people. It was about winning and about being involved in the game, but I always regarded the game as being about satisfying the supporters as much as anything else. To me, it was always about running out on the field and entertaining. Any roar of satisfaction from the crowd is a great roar, especially if you’ve scored. I still think back to that White Hart Lane roar now. It’s always fantastic."