Jimmy Greaves was part of the England squad that won the 1966 World Cup. (Image: Getty)
Jimmy Greaves will be looking down on England this summer in North America as they seek to emulate their team’s heroics in the 1966 World Cup. Although the goalscoring icon enjoyed a glittering career, he was always the first to admit that life off the pitch was fraught with serious challenges. Greaves, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 81, was part of the World Cup winning team and started the tournament as England’s front-line striker.
However, after sustaining an injury that required 14 stitches to his shin in the final group game against France, he replaced Geoff Hurst, who scored the winning goal in the quarter-final against Argentina. Even after Greaves had fully recovered, manager Alf Ramsey continued to use Hurst, a choice that proved completely justified as he scored a hat-trick in the final against Germany. It was a devastating blow for Greaves, but it did not taint his impressive career, which saw him score 402 goals in 617 appearances, spending his best years at Chelsea and Tottenham.
Despite his extraordinary talent, football salaries at the time bore no resemblance to modern times. Greaves faced severe financial hardship and ended up selling clothes out of her one-bedroom apartment to make ends meet.
Speaking to the Guardian in 2003, he said: “Don’t worry about it. I wish I was playing today. Some players score six goals a year and make a lot of money.
“I look back at my time at Chelsea when we had to fight for £8 a week in the winter and £7 a week in the summer. Now we have players on £40,000 a week who have never even played for the first team.”
In the twilight years of his career, the forward also struggled with alcoholism, which devastated his playing days at West Ham, Brentwood and Chelmsford City.
He admitted, “I completely forgot about the ’70s and it passed me by. I was a drunk from 1972 to 1977. I woke up one morning and realized it was a different world. I was living in that world, but I didn’t realize it.”
As the decade drew to a close, Greaves was declared bankrupt and his marriage to his wife Eileen collapsed.
Ms Greaves (left) resorted to selling clothes from her one-bedroom apartment. (Image: The FA via Getty Images)
His difficulties ultimately forced him to confront his own inner demons, and he admitted:
“About a mile down the road from here is Wally’s spiritual home, where I spent five months of my last year of sobriety in 1977. I spent more time there than anywhere else. It wasn’t easy.
“One day I said, ‘I’m done with it,’ and walked away, and luckily I stayed away until today.
“Are there times when you really want to drink? Of course you do, just like anyone else. It doesn’t make you inhuman. You’re probably just as depressed as anyone else and want to go out and have a few bottles, but you know you can’t.”
Greaves had an illustrious career in the media as a newspaper columnist and television pundit. The most famous is the popular show Saints and Greavesy, which aired on ITV from 1985 to 1992.
But he openly admitted that the financial reward was nothing special. He said: “I’ve made a good living playing football, and I’ve made a good living thanks to television. But if you ask me, ‘Do I have the money?’ the answer is no. I just haven’t earned enough to pack it in.”
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