Greavesie is still all-time top goalscorer in the big 5 leagues

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El flaco said:
good stats there, would have been nice to see the number o fgames required to hit those figures.
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Yeah, I think Greaves would look mighty impressive with that factored in.

Interesting the length of the careers for most of the players was the same too. Most of the guys on the list seem to have had 14-17 year careers, with a few outliers.
 
Dannyboy said:
The man is an absolute legend. One of my favourite pictures is of Greaves post match, socks rolled down, cuppa in one hand, snout in the other.
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Aye it was a different world then. Apparently quite a few of the players would go down the local pubs after the game, places like the Bell & Hare/Corner Pin. So hard to imagine nowadays.

Shame Greavesie, got a bit too fond of the beer, cos he probably had another 30+ top flight goals in him, had he played into his 30s, as while his pace had gone, he still had skill and a goalscorer's brain.
 
Greaves357_bestever said:
Aye it was a different world then. Apparently quite a few of the players would go down the local pubs after the game, places like the Bell & Hare/Corner Pin. So hard to imagine nowadays.

Shame Greavesie, got a bit too fond of the beer, cos he probably had another 30+ top flight goals in him, had he played into his 30s, as while his pace had gone, he still had skill and a goalscorer's brain.
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Muller was a raging alchy as well, sign of the times, I guess.
 
Mick Cooper said:
Not sure why you think it will be an unpopular comment, as its quite possibly going to come true.
He comes across as a complete douche (as our colonial cousins like to say) but it doesn't stop the fact that he's a superbly gifted and astonishingly talented footballer.
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Some people judge him based on their opinion of him as a celebrity/his perceived attitude rather than a footballer, though, so expecting some hate.
 
Greaves357_bestever said:
For those who don't know much about the great man's style and output, this gives a taste.

So many of his great goals are missing, because simply there wasn't wall to wall TV coverage in those days. So much of the skill he possessed, his sense of humour, his corners that he scored from, etc, etc.

Usually you had to go to the games to see the greats in actions, and people flocked in their thousands to see the likes of Greaves, Charlton etc.





Luckily, there is some of his legacy preserved for ever.

Shame there's a bit too much West Ham in the last video, but TV coverage was becoming wider by then, with the Big Match as well as Match of the Day.

Greaves was great friends with Bobby Moore, and Bobby wanted so much to leave West Ham in the 60s to join Spurs, such a shame that never went through.
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I'm looking at that video and trying to think of how to describe his style. A Messi who's also good in the air? I don't think clubs get more than one of these kinds of players per century.
 
Juicy Sushi said:
I'm looking at that video and trying to think of how to describe his style. A Messi who's also good in the air? I don't think clubs get more than one of these kinds of players per century.
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Certainly there's a lot of similarities between Greaves and Messi. Most of the other players on the list are markedly different to Greaves. Players like Shearer Lofthouse Ronaldo are/were much bigger than Greavesie.

And while Muller was similar height to Greaves, he was far more powerfully built.
 
Juicy Sushi said:
Yes, he's certainly not a physical monster, but seems to have a pretty perfect blend of blistering pace, quick directional changes and a good shot from just about anywhere it's physically possible to fire from. It's a pity he played when he did. Looking at his skillset, he'd really benefit from the changes to the rules in the modern game, as well as physical improvements to the ball and playing surface.
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Good points, as a highly skilled and technically adept player, the modern game would suit Greavesie. Not sure about the double training sessions though :)

A measure of his natural talent is his record at youth level. Naturally it's not in the 'official figures' but it's amazing.

Taken from Wikipedia

scoring 51 goals in the 1955–56 season and 122 goals in the 1956–57 season under the tutelage of youth team coach Dickie Foss.[4] Greaves scored in the 1958 FA Youth Cup final, but Chelsea lost the two-legged tie 7–6 on aggregate afterWolverhampton Wanderers turned round a four goal deficit with a 6–1 win in the second leg.[5] He turned professional in the summer of 1957, though spent eight weeks working at a steel company to supplement his income during the summer break.[6]

My bolding.

122 goals in a season, most teams never match that in a season at any serious level. For one player to score that many, it's simply ridiculous.

Two adult records of Greavesie that are likely to stay for the foreseeable future.

41 Lge goals in one season for Chelsea, and 37 for Spurs. Costa is doing brilliantly but I doubt he'll get even 31 Prem goals this season, let alone 41. Generally speaking if you get 30 Prem goals in a season these days, it's absolutely exceptional.
 
Joe Clash said:
60 is the record for a 42 game season - 1927-28 Dixie Dean for Everton.
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Think he meant Premier League, old Div 1 was a separate entity but you're correct for top division.

P.S. William Dean. He hated 'Dixie'. Ironic that he's remembered by that name lol.
 
Joe Clash said:
It would work. Modern football is boring. Progress doesn't always go in a forward direction - it sometimes slips round the back - but we're all being happily conned.
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It seems to be, but I have hope. At some point, everyone's going to wind up going full Ardiles/Zdenek. We've seen every other tactical trend. It's time for 0-0-10!
 
Yep, enjoy your 75th year JG. Not just the greatest goalscorer we've had, but the greatest goalscorer the top flight of English football (Div1/Prem) has ever seen.

And indeed as per my opening post, still the leading top flight scorer in all the major European Leagues.
 
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