Jim was Greaves’ last victim wearing a Tottenham shirt
Jimmy Greaves’ achievements have been reeled off since his passing last Sunday.
No wonder.
466 strikes in 661 games as a professional with Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham, West Ham and Barnet.
44 goals in 57 England appearances, including six – yes, six – hat-tricks. Greaves also bagged 15 trebles during his nine years at White Hart Lane.
He also took home the match-ball the last time he scored for Spurs. But you have to dig deep into the archives to discover that was against a former Scotland keeper – in a reserve match.
Both Greaves and Birmingham City shot-stopper, Jim Herriot, had fallen out of favour with their respective managers when their clubs were drawn together in the FA Combination Cup on February 28, 1970.
Just four months earlier, Herriot had played his eighth and final match for Scotland, a 3-2 defeat to West Germany in a World Cup qualifier, with Gerd Muller among the opposition goalscorers.
So a game with the reserves was a bit of a comedown for both him and Greaves. But at least the venue allowed Jim to perform his unique pre-match ritual.
“If anyone remembers me, they’ll remember me for having mud under my eyes,” says Jim, now 81, with a laugh.
“It was actually Jock Stein who put me on to that during our time together at Dunfermline.
“We were playing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, and I told Jock I’d been struggling to see high balls because of the glare from the floodlights.
“I don’t know where he picked it up from – maybe American football – but he told me to rub some mud under my eyes and that would do the trick.
“It did, and I carried on with that for the rest of my career. I didn’t like wearing a cap in the sun, or even gloves in the rain. I preferred to use resin to help the ball stick to my hands – or sometimes saliva after a bit of chewing gum!
“It was never a problem getting mud at White Hart Lane – you just had to separate it from the sand first!
“In fact, in my time, all the pitches in London were bad, bar Highbury.
“So I knew what to expect ahead of that reserve match, in more ways than one.
“I’d played for Birmingham in a FA Cup quarter-final against Spurs three years previously. We drew 0-0 at St Andrews, but lost the replay 6-0, with both Greaves and Terry Venables getting doubles.
“Alan Gilzean also scored that day, and he got one past me again in that reserve cup tie.
“It was strange to think that I had only recently been at the other end while big Gillie was scoring against the Germans and swinging on their crossbar!
“He was some player, but so was Jimmy Greaves. “I’d place him in the top three of the players I played against, alongside George Best and Denis Law.
“Who was the best? It’s too close to call.” Within weeks of tormenting Herriot for the final time, Greaves was on his way to West Ham. But Jim had to wait a bit longer to get out of his situation.
“Freddie Goodwin had replaced Stan Cullis as manager, and he brought a keeper with him, Mike Kelly, from QPR,” Jim continues.
“That was the writing on the wall for me despite being a first-team regular since signing from Dunfermline after the 1965 Scottish Cup Final.
“Loan spells at Mansfield and Aston Villa followed before I had a short spell with Durban City in South Africa.
“Then I came back up the road to Hibs, and that was a great time playing with ‘Turnbull’s Tornadoes’.
“And there was never any problem getting mud for under my eyes!”
Mementos from his playing career? Well, Jim has a copy of All Creatures Great And Small, signed: “From James Herriot to the real James Herriot”.
Author Alf Wight hit on his pseudonym after watching Jim playing for Birmingham City against Manchester United.