SIR GEOFF LEADS CALLS TO HONOUR LEGEND
Jimmy Greaves is the greatest goalscorer english football has ever seen and today Sportsmail is launching a campaign for his achievements to be honoured. Greaves will be 80 on February 20 and there is a wonderful new documentary out which pays tribute to his life. There is no better time for the nation to salute one of its finest footballers and ‘Give Greavsie a Gong’ for his services to football; to let him know what he meant to so many people who were entertained by his exhilarating skills on the pitch and his work in television and newspapers. england’s 1966 World Cup final hero sir Geoff Hurst (above) — who replaced an injured Greaves in the tournament — said: ‘Jimmy was the greatest
goalscorer ever in the English game. Genius is bandied around these days but Jimmy was truly deserving of that epithet. He has been a great friend for over 50 years and I know he has quietly helped lots of people through the years. ‘He deserves recognition at this time in his life. As much for his family and friends and fans as for himself. I fully support the Mail campaign.’ Jimmy’s son Danny added: ‘It would mean the world to our family if he was given the recognition for entertaining millions of people for more than 60 years, from the age of 14 to the age of 75 — and it would make Dad a happy man.’ Greaves scored 357 goals in the top flight of English football, a record untouched nearly 49 years after the final game of his professional career. There were also 44 goals in 57 internationals for England and he is the forgotten star of the 1966 World Cup winning squad. He was Sir Alf Ramsey’s top striker going into the tournament only to be injured in the final group game. Fifteen of Ramsey’s squad of 22 have since been honoured for their contributions to the sport, but not Greaves. Former Manchester United striker Denis Law said: ‘He should be Sir Jimmy Greaves.’ Tottenham plan to dedicate the Champions League game against RB Leipzig next week to him on the eve of his 80th and BT Sport will broadcast their documentary Greavsie for the first time, straight after their live coverage of the match.