Jimmy Greaves, former Tottenham Hotspur and England striker, has died

Greaves suffered a stroke in May 2015 which has left him wheelchair-bound and with severely impaired speech and Tottenham said he had died at home on Sunday morning.

The Premier League club said in a statement: “We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of the great Jimmy Greaves, not just Tottenham’s record goalscorer but the finest marksman this country has ever seen. Jimmy passed away at home in the early hours of this morning, aged 81.

“Throughout his wonderful playing career, Jimmy’s strike rate was phenomenal. His Spurs return was 266 goals in 379 appearances between 1961 and 1970 - 220 goals in 321 league games, 32 goals in 36 FA Cup ties, five in just eight League Cup ties and nine in 14 European matches.”

A member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, although he did not feature in the final victory over West Germany, Greaves scored 44 goals across 57 senior appearances for the Three Lions.

His career began in the junior ranks at Chelsea and he turned professional in May 1957, scoring on his Blues debut and racking up 132 goals in total for the club. He remained at Stamford Bridge until 1961, when he moved to AC Milan. After a single season in Milan he joined Spurs in 1961 to play in Bill Nicholson’s successful side.

The Tottenham statement continued: “Although we had just won the ‘Double’, there’s no question that Jimmy’s arrival in N17 made us an even better team.

“He was a natural goalscorer, always in the right place at the right time to add the finishing touch to another well-worked move, while he could also create his own goals, as he did on numerous occasions by gliding past defenders and passing the ball into the back of the net.

“He possessed immaculate ball control, great balance and such composure in front of goal that he rarely spurned an opportunity.”

Reacting to Greaves’ death on Sky Sports News, former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara said: “We are going to be able to witness that (grief) today, everyone will see it, and an amazing round of applause for him (at Tottenham v Chelsea).

“It’s not easy to build a legacy at a club, Jimmy was an icon, football legend, Spurs have been very lucky to have such a great player as part of their club.

“A truly sad day to have lost someone so great. He is definitely a legend.”