Jimmy Greaves (1957–1971, Chelsea / Tottenham Hotspur)

James Peter Greaves was born in Manor Park, London, on 20 February 1940. Signed as a Chelsea apprentice in 1955, Greaves turned professional in 1957 and scored on his First Division debut against Tottenham Hotspur on 24 August that year.

A hat-trick against Manchester City in November 1960 brought up his 100th league goal, making Greaves, at 20 years and 290 days, the youngest player in English football history to reach that mark.

Chelsea sold him to AC Milan in June 1961 for £80,000, but the move proved unsuccessful and Tottenham Hotspur manager Bill Nicholson brought him back to England six months later for a deliberate fee of £99,999.

At Tottenham, Greaves scored a hat-trick on his debut and went on to win the FA Cup in 1962 and 1967, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963 — the first European trophy won by a British club. First Division top scorer in six seasons, more than any other player, his career total of 357 top-flight goals remains the all-time English record.

Greaves earned 57 England caps and scored 44 goals, including a record six hat-tricks. Injury during the 1966 World Cup group stage cost him his place for the final and, despite being fit, Alf Ramsey retained the winning side. The squad medal did not arrive until a FIFA rule change in 2009.

Greaves moved to West Ham United in March 1970 and finally hung up his boots in 1979.

A period of alcoholism followed before he rebuilt his life, eventually co-presenting the popular ITV programme Saint and Greavsie alongside Ian St John from 1985 to 1992.

A founding inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002, Greaves received an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours and died on 19 September 2021 in Little Baddow, Essex, aged 81.

Jimmy Greaves – Rookie Cards and Significant Others

The earliest known Greaves card dates from 1957, the year of his First Division debut: the A&BC Quiz Card #7, issued while he was still a teenager at Chelsea.

Four further issues followed in 1958 as his reputation grew rapidly. The Barratt & Co Famous Footballers Series A6 is the most widely recognised of his early cards and is the one most commonly encountered in graded form.

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The Chix Confectionery Famous Footballers No. 3 Series appeared in the same year; two colour variations of this card have been officially acknowledged by the Cartophilic Society of Great Britain.

The 1958 Colinville Footer Gum International Football Stars and the DC Thomson/Adventure World Cup Footballers complete the group of confirmed 1958 issues, the latter tying his early card history directly to the tournament he would go on to play in eight years later.

The 1959 Cadet Sweets Footballers #36 is the last confirmed Chelsea-era card before his move to AC Milan and marks the end of his early British card run.

His subsequent career at Tottenham and England generated a continuous stream of issues throughout the 1960s. His profile in Europe brought representation in Italian sticker productions including the 1966–67 Panini Campioni dello Sport #177, and he appeared in multiple A&BC issues across the decade.

His card history runs from 1957 to his first retirement in 1971 and spans both of his principal clubs, providing collectors with a documented record across the full arc of one of the most prolific goalscoring careers in English top-flight history.

See the 2002 Hall of Fame Inductees or browse the full list.