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De tekstWatching the surviving film of the football work of the recently departed England
international striker, Jimmy Greaves, is a stark reminder of the vastly different playing
regimes that existed in English football in the early 1960s compared to the manicured
Premier League era of today. Greaves played in two winning FA Cup finals for Spurs, in
1962 and 1967. FA cups were about the only “live” club football available on TV to the
British public at the time, but these were occasions celebrated not only for the trophies
concerned. These were also among the few fixtures for which the players involved could
look forward to a playing surface that did not resemble some boggy no-man’s-land
dragged up from a first world war reconstruction. ITV is currently broadcasting The
Big Match Revisited, a highlights’ show from the early-1970s. This routinely reminds us
that the science of pitch preparation and recovery had barely knocked on the door of the
English game – certainly not in the months after Christmas. This was the case even as
Greaves’ career was fast winding down. He played in a period when hulking defenders
had the weight advantage over high-stepping, slight forwards. But many contemporaries
contend that Greaves could glide over these muddied fields leaving marking defenders
flailing in his wake. It certainly looks that way from the few surviving film clips. No
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Striker without peer Like the troubled and brilliant George Best – who was at his peak
around the same time – Greaves would end up having more than one public persona.
Firstly, there was “Greaves” the player – the lazy team-mate without the ball, but a man
who came alive when in possession and who, single-minded, thought of only one
outcome: scoring goals. “I often passed to him”, his Spurs strike partner Martin Chivers
ruefully observed on TV after the news of Greaves’ death broke on September 19, “but I
never expected a pass back.” Greed is generally prized among the very best strikers even
today, though scoring goals is a team pursuit. And Jimmy Greaves remains the top
scorer in top-flight English football, with 357 goals from 516 matches compared with the
next player on the list, Alan Shearer, who scored 283 goals in 559 matches. Few would
bet on this record being overtaken anytime soon. A video screen above a football stand
displays a tribute to Jimmy Greaves. Favourite son: Jimmy Greaves remains Tottenham
Hotspurs’ most prolific goalscorer more than five decades after he left the club. EPA-
EFE/Neil Hall Then there was “Jimmy”, the style merchant (he even played one season
in Milan) and playful dressing room joker. A notoriously poor trainer, Greaves – or so
we were told – would cut corners, or even hitch lifts from milk floats during cross-
country pre-season stamina work. Surely not all these tales can be apocryphal. “Jimmy”
was also a friend to fans and to the lowliest of boot-cleaning apprentices – accessible and
charming in equal measure. He only ever earned £100 per week during his last top level
playing stint in the early 1970s at West Ham United, so unlike today’s multimillionaire
players, Greaves was never too far away from the people who worshipped him.
Alcoholism and redemption Which brings us to “Greavsie”, the social animal, the
drinker. There is speculation that it was being left out of the WorldCup final-winning
side in 1966 that pushed “Greavsie” into excessive drinking and eventually alcoholism.
This is something he would always deny, pointing out that he went on to top score in the
league the following year and that Spurs won the FA Cup largely on the back of his
prolific goalscoring. Though like Georgie Best – or, more recently, the likes of Paul
Gascoigne, Paul Merson and other talented working-class showmen – and with little in
the way in those days of a positive support network and a secure bank balance,
preparing to depart the elite sporting stage in 1971 was probably a too difficult
transition to manage, alone and intact. Unlike today, players then could drink with
journalists, fans and others without the constant threat of exposure by mobile phone.
Drinking cultures were part of the dressing room of all the top British clubs before
global recruitment began. In 1982, champions Liverpool were on the bevvy on the
, afternoon before their final league game at Middlesbrough. But, unlike with Best’s fate,
it was another dimension of Greaves that probably saved him from an early grave. It
was the knockabout, cartoonish “Greavsie” who starred alongside Ian St John, the
straight man in their Saturday afternoon “Saint and Greavsie” ITV show from the mid-
1980s. Greaves was the one gently poking fun at the game and its conventions. Jimmy
Greaves and Ian St John holding a football and wearing t-shirts saying 'We're' and
'Back'. Rivals, colleagues, friends: Greaves with his ‘Saint and Greavsie’ co-host, Ian St
John. WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo Today, the blending of sport and
entertainment is ubiquitous and all-too-depressingly familiar. But this was an early and
novel departure. For those of us who had caught even a glimpse of the real Greaves in
his pomp – immaculately groomed, sharp suits, fast feet, brilliant finishing – this latest
reinvention was a little difficult to accept. But it brought the middle-aged Greaves
something of a national treasure status and perhaps offered some compensation for a lack of
more formal recognition. Scandalously, he received an MBE only in 2021. When asked about
how he should be announced on the after-dinner speaker circuit he often told his hosts: “Just
call me Jimmy Greaves, FA.” Thanks for the memories The death of Jimmy Greaves is
another reminder, of course, of how important public memory still is in telling stories about
sport’s great performers of the past. Today, every moment of the careers of elite football
players is recorded or tracked in some way. For Greaves and others of his generation, we rely
much more on our emotions: how did he make us feel? And perhaps this is no bad thing, a
welcome escape from the iron cage of data analysis. We can all have our own memories of a
true great of the English game, embroidered, invented or otherwise.
Jimmy Greaves: English football’s top goalscorer who
blazed a trail of stardom and redemption
The death of former England soccer player Jimmy Greaves reminds us of the big differences
between English soccer in the early 1960s and the current Premier League era. During
Greaves' time, the only televised club soccer games were the FA Cup finals, but the fields
were often muddy and not well taken care of. Greaves played when big defenders had an
advantage over small, skillful forwards like him. However, he stood out with his smooth and
impressive goal-scoring skills. He is still considered the all-time leading scorer in English top-
tier soccer. Besides being a great player, Greaves had a flashy personality and was known as a
likable person who easily connected with fans. However, he also had problems with drinking
too much alcohol and faced personal challenges after he stopped playing soccer. Despite that,
he reinvented himself as a TV personality on the show "Saint and Greavsie." His death
reminds us how important it is to remember and talk about great soccer players from the past.
The article emphasizes the significance of feelings and personal memories, compared to the
widespread use of data-driven analysis in today’s world.
Bron:
https://theconversation.com/jimmy-greaves-english-footballs-top-goalscorer-who-blazed-a-
trail-of-stardom-and-redemption-168328
Moeilijke woorden:
1. Regimes: Systems or methods of operation and management.
• Vertaling: Regimes
2. Manicured: Carefully maintained or groomed.
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