He was a huge player in a wonderful team, the King of White Hart Lane. . . ‘Sir Jimmy’, why not?

IAN ST JOHN Liverpool 1961-71 and Jimmy’s TV partner on Saint and Greavsie

We got our partnership going purely by accident. Jimmy was working on tV in the Midlands and doing very well up there, making a name for himself, and I was at London Weekend television when Bob Patience, our producer on sport, thought it would be a good idea to put us together.

So we did the show called Saint and Greavsie and it worked out nicely for everybody. We worked together well. We were opposites in many ways. Scotland and england. North and South. Bob was a good ideas man and gave the programme a different slant from every other programme. We were doing something others hadn’t quite got around to.

Jimmy was a great storyteller and I always found him funny. We had fun and if you’re doing a job you enjoy then that’s not a bad thing. He made people laugh but behind everything he said was the fact that he had been such a fantastic footballer for his club and country.

He was a huge player in a wonderful tottenham team with wonderful players. We read about all sorts of people getting awards, why not Jimmy? He was the King of White Hart Lane... Sir Jimmy, why not?

ALAN MULLERY Tottenham Hotspur 1964-72

oNe Word: genius. He was a goalscoring machine and the best of his time, just like Lionel Messi in the modern day. We could be playing on mud and ice and Jimmy greaves would still score goals. He was born to score goals and he went through his career scoring goals for every club he played for and he would score fabulous goals.

He would drive me mad at times. one of the laziest players I’ve seen but he would score 30- odd goals a season and I would rather have in my side than not. I was always proud to be in a team with Jimmy greaves. And what a smashing fella.

HARRY REDKNAPP West Ham team-mate 1970-71

He WAS a genius. He was on another level. His best days were behind him when he joined us at West Ham but he was still a great player and we couldn’t wait to be with him on his first day.

He loved his football. We would often would meet up on tuesday and thursday evening in Hainault and sometimes on a Sunday morning with Jimmy and Bobby Moore and half a dozen mates, and we’d put some coats down for goalposts and play.

then we’d go to the retreat pub in Chigwell. In the summer we’d get the groundsman to open the training ground at Chadwell Heath at six o’clock and have a game and then go for a drink. We’d have a great time.

He’s a great guy, so laid back. He’d still have his clothes on at quarter to three, get changed in five minutes, stand by the door kicking his legs for five minutes — that was his warm-up — and then go out and score e a hat-trick.

He was always s down to earth in the way he spoke. You never hear a bad word about him from m anybody. He would laugh and joke but he was s very clever when it came to football. He knows the game.

CLIFF JONES Tottenham Hotspur 1958-68

oNCe my playing days were over I missed the buzz and I got a bit of a buzz from the drink, to the extent where it was a progressive illness and my wife Joan got hold of Jim. He came round and said: ‘Cliff, you’ve got a lovely home, family, job, do you want to lose it, because you will if you don’t stop drinking.’

Because it had happened to Jim. He told me to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. I thought he was joking but I’ve been going there twice a week for 30 years. one day at a time. I haven’t had a drink for more than 30 years. It’s a way of life for me now.

Jim gave me that push in the right direction and I would not be here today if it wasn’t for him.

Jim saved my life, no doubt about that. We had great times together and he helped me along when I had my problems. It was all down to Jim.

I do love Jim and he’s not too well now. He’s a great pal and what a player he was. All he ever wanted to do was score goals. He would be happy to have a stinker if he could toe-poke one over the line in the last minute.

He is the greatest of all the goalscorers, an absolute natural. the only thing was, when he scored, no emotion.

We played against Leicester and he picked the ball up in his own half, like the goal Son Heung-min scored against Burnley this season. Jim went past three defenders, gordon Banks came out and dived and he went past him and then he rolled the ball into the back of the net.

the whole place was going potty. there were three defenders on their backsides, plus the england goalie — one of the best in the world — and Jim’s just walking back, rubbing his hands together.

When it came to scoring goals, he was the best ever, one of england’s greatest ever strikers. one of tottenham’s greatest ever strikers. one of Chelsea’s greatest ever strikers. If we we’re re talking about services to football you can’t fault him.

And he has conducted himself well. He is a recovering alcoholic and has done a lot of work helping addicts. He should be recognised.

DANIEL LEVY Tottenham Hotspur chairman

JIMMY greAVeS’ goalscoring records have stood the test of time in domestic and international football, marking him out as one of the greatest ever english strikers.

His contribution to our club’s history is substantial and that is why he is one of the first players any supporter still talks about when debating the finest players to wear our colours. urs. even modern footballers continue to be compared to Jimmy and his achievements. We look forward to welcoming Jimmy’s family to our match against rB Leipzig next week to mark his 80th birthday.