saying Jimmy Greaves has been airbrushed from history – he is the true goalscoring reference point, not Alan Shearer, says a journalist for the Telegraph. And I agree with him.
English football did not begin in 1992; it was simply rebranded.
And is there a career and set of records that have retrospectively benefited more from this historic airbrush than those of Alan Shearer?
It is not Shearer’s fault, but every time there is some sort of goalscoring landmark, as there was this weekend with Sergio Aguero’s 12th Premier League hat-trick and 177th goal, the reference point is the same: Shearer, whose 260 Premier League goals is a record. You will know this because Match of the Day rarely miss an opportunity to point out that their star pundit was also the competition’s greatest ever goalscorer.
Except that he’s not. Not really. Not unless you think that changing the name of a competition that began some 104 years earlier - and still keeping all the same clubs, venues, players, rules and basic formats (with two fewer teams) - somehow makes that a new competition....
Jimmy Greaves scored just the 106 more top flight goals than Shearer, easy stat to overlook. 11 times he scored more than 20 top flight goals in a season, 8 times scored more than 25 goals in a season, and 4 times scored more than 30 goals in a season. Not exactly sure how many top flight hat-tricks he scored, I lost count at 15, which included scoring five in a game, and three or four times scoring 4.
So just to put the record straight Shearer actually comes 5th in the all time top league scorer.
Jimmy Greaves 366
Dixie Dean 310
Steve Bloomer 309
The three I have always considered England`s three finest strikers, remarkably spread over nearly a century of football.
The followed by
Gordon Hodgson 287
Alan Shearer 260
So there you have it. Jimmy Greaves 366 goals is the true reference point to aim for about the best top flight striker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6BXH3UdSI4
Decent article in the Telegraph today
posted on 14/1/20
Good morning Sandy from a very gusty Caribbean Sea🌊
When JPG scored his goals the pitches were quagmires and not the pristine ones of today.
Also the balls were heavier and not waterproof until mid 60’s onwards.
Tackling was ferocious and often went unpunished, as it was viewed as part of the game.
I think that Dave Mackay, Tommy Smith, Norman Hunter and Johnny Giles might have been sent off in the pre-match warm up if playing today
Rushie in my opinion was possibly the next best natural striker behind Greavsie, that I personally have ever seen
posted on 14/1/20
Rushie is a scoring legend. No doubt. Man made me sick, even though his record against UTD was carp.
But then when you have Barnes and Beardsley behind him, what do yo expect?
posted on 14/1/20
comment by sandy (U20567)
posted 2 hours, 58 minutes ago
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 39 minutes ago
I've no problem with it as long as it's made clear one is talked about as the PL era. And I think it's fair to separate them because the football back then and now has changed so much.
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Not changed that much, still play 11 aside, two goals, two penalty spots, ref, two linesmen, pretty well the same rules. I never quite get why people think the game has changed, it really has not changed very little. Some of the games back then were every bit as good as games today.
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As with most sports the standard has improved a lot since those days in many aspects such as fitness, tactics, health etc. Talent is the one thing that stays consistent through eras. There were stand out talents back then and there are stand out talents now.
posted on 14/1/20
Whilst I think air-brushed from history is perhaps an exaggeration, I do agree he's not revered in quite the way he should be in England.
Greaves goal scoring record is up there with the likes Puskas, Di Stafano and Gerd Muller but those 3 (and quite possibly more besides) are revered as goal scoring royalty in their respective counties, and beyond, in a way that I'm not sure Greaves is.
Ask the average football fan to name icons of the 60's and I suspect you'd get names like Best, Charlton and Moore. All 3 worthy, don't get me wrong, but Greaves should been seen as an icon.
I wonder whether it's because he's not synonymous with something? Puskas, Di Stefano and Muller are known for their European Cup triumphs, Carlton and the World Cup winners.
Either way, Greaves should have a higher status imo.
posted on 14/1/20
Greaves won the Cup Winners Cup in I963 with Spurs. It was one of the biggest trophies you could in in Europe and Spurs were the first British club to win a major European trophy.
posted on 14/1/20
comment by GeniusGreaves (U1302)
posted 45 seconds ago
Greaves won the Cup Winners Cup in I963 with Spurs. It was one of the biggest trophies you could in in Europe and Spurs were the first British club to win a major European trophy.
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Not disputing that, just that he's not synonymous with that competition in the way Puskas and Di Stefano are with the Madrid EC successes.
Was just looking for a possible reason that's all because logically his reputation and status should be their equal.
posted on 14/1/20
He also scored twice as we thrashed Atletico Madrid
5-1. I was 13 and travelled to Rotterdam for the game from RAF Laarbruch, where my father was stationed.
posted on 14/1/20
Naby8
posted on 14/1/20
ok, the Elephant in the room.
Whose missus did Greavsie touch up?. or is it cos he liked a drink and that some see it as, He let the England team down in '66?
There should be a Statue of the man.
posted on 14/1/20
Whatever way you look at it, Greavsie was a true legend of the game. The word legend is bandied about far to easily. In the case of Jimmy, it is rightfully used.