Jimmy greenhoff info.

A great player, whom occassionally appears on the pitch at the Brit when great ex players paraded.

Remember the two superb goals at Birmingham when we topped the table and won 3-0. He could play up front with any partner with Big John ritchie the best but also great with Geoff Hurst.

The teleapathic relationship with Alan Hudson was and is legendary.

My boyhood hero and still is 40 years later, meet him last year and had a good chat about the FA Cup semi final against Arsenal when through on goal he blasted his shot over the bar and as they say the rest is history. If only he had scored we would have had to wait nearly forty years to get to an FA Cup final.

Last i heard he was driving a forklift at ROF Radway Green after losing a lot of money after a failed insurance business which i believe his partner mismanaged. allegedly.

I could swear he said he cried when he left on one of those old videos I have where they interviewed a lot of ex players.

A wonderful player, his name was chanted on the boothen for a quite a few games after he'd gone iirc.

That fucking stand

pretty much spot on.
I was a raw 17 year old when he was sold, but I remember being totally devastated, one of those moments when you never forget where you were when something happened!
Top top player.

Shock of blonde hair and his flair, panache made him a massive fans favourite and my all time hero.
He fitted our team at the time perfectly (credit to Waddo) though the position he played - inside right isn't really a factor these days so it is difficult to draw comparisons with modern day players.
The Ritchie comparison is completely unfair - centre forward and inside right were two completely different positions and of course the centre forward scored more goals, but Greenhoff scored important match winning goals and to be honest rightly or wrongly a Greenhoff goal meant more to an impressionable teenager than anybody else on the team.
If i was to try and draw a comparison it would be to Van Der Vart today or even Cantona in his days at MUFC. Talismanic and a genius.
The fact that we (I) can still feel such emotion about a player all these years on says something about how special he really was!

I agree we everything that's been said. I worshipped the ground Jimmy Greenhoff walked on, we used to say "Jesus saves but Greenhoff scores the rebound". I have never seen another No. 8 (Inside Right) as good as Jimmy play for Stoke since.

We often talk about Biggins, Stein, Thorne, Hoekstra, Fuller etc being special......but listen up guys, honestly they were not fit to lace Jimmys boots (and I love Riccy Fuller) and those who were around at the time (late 60's onwards) will know what I mean.

Ask Peter Coates he'll tell you....he's seen with his owns eyes.

Jimmy was a proper footballer, not like the overpaid ladyboys that play nowadays (including some of ours) and a gentleman to boot.

I'd sometimes see him stop off at the Off Licence opposite Bank Corner in Alsager on his way back from training to pick a box full of booze up on his way home.....sometimes the traffic would just stop at the junction and stare.......wow that's Jimmy Greenhoff. He used to live on Sandbach Road South during his playing days, not sure where his lives now but, from reading other threads on here, still in Alsager I believe.

If we put up a statue at the Brit for anyone, it should be Jimmy Greenhoff.

As I sit here kissing the badge on my Silk Scarf (yes Silk F***ing Scarf) Greenhoff was and still is God.

Werrington- Fuller is the only player i have seen at Stoke who can take a ball with his back to goal and either hold and lay it off like Greenhoff could- Fuller also has the ability on occasion to turn and completley rip a hole in the defence like no one else ive seen, but he is no where near as consistent as GreenHoff and not as lethal in the 20 yeard box- the only player i have seen though with similarities

McGarry pointed out that he still lives in Alsager a few weeks ago.
He was at the Europa Cup match vs Besiktas, Block 9,
Q-Railing Upper with his grandson (along with a few other SCFC legends)

See my photo!! He is the only player I have shaken his hand and thanked him! Fuller comes close in that he makes me excited when he gets the ball..but no one, no one, is in sir james' league! A true God of scfc. Only behind sir stan so my dad tells me. Hudson next..

November 2nd 1974. Infancy about to experience one of the defining moments of an entire
life. For the first time approaching the Victoria Ground, clinging to dads hand and The Four Tops I'll Be There hissing out from the tannoy. The turnstile itself provided a challenge. What a strange obstacle for a five year old to negotiate! Walking past the tea bar, up the steps to see a small strip of grass through legs. The higher on the steps more green becomes visible until reaching the top then looking down on a great big strip of grass....and it was paradise.

Football matches had a specific aroma in those days. The unique smell of bovril cigar smoke and anxiety. A moody autumn sky added to the morose demeanour. A childs mind is unhindered by critical faculties. When our players emerged each one of them held God like status. OK, some were no doubt better players than others, but just wearing our red & white stripes secured my affection. However, there is still room for a special one. Mine was our blonde bombshell Jimmy Greenhoff. I've seen better players (though not many) but it was Jimmy who opened the window, through which I gleefully climbed, to open my heart and mind to the possibilities of the greatest game on earth.

Jimmy dominated my early football watching career. Sitting on the wall in the Butler Street Paddock and Jimmy moves to a wide position. The first time in my life I felt awestruck. The great Jimmy Greenhoff was a matter of feet away from me. Being in the park with my brother and dad practising Jimmy volleys. And a blistering one against Leeds winning us a cracking game. (By Jimmy not by us in the park!) Sadly, I also remember crying on a Saturday morning in December 1976 when dad showed me the back of the Daily Mirror and it displayed the unthinkable news. Greenhoff had gone to Man Yoo. He didn't want to leave us. Betrayed by Stoke City Football Club. That news indelibly stamped a cynical edge in my mind. Seven is too young to endure heartbreak as deep as that. The next game I sort of expected him to be playing for us. Stoke City without Jimmy? Impossible. The next game I expected him to be there as usual. But gone he was...to win the FA Cup as we got relegated.

For all the heartbreak attached to supporting a football club, would we really want things any other way? Surely the glory of the great moments is exacerbated by their rarity. When we see gloryhunters we resent what they symbolise. Soulless empty mercenaries bathing in tepid reflected glory which is riddled with poison. Could the brigade of parasites who attach themselves to a football club by way of a bedspread feel the warmth I feel when I reflect on my infatuation with Jimmy?

The pride and passion we feel for our team is something few of us would really want to change. And, I'm sure like many of you reading this, I'm so glad I grew up loving that great big strip of grass.

Jimmy Greenhoff. Greatest uncapped english player ever. FACT.

one thing I remember - vs Birmingham, I think & the ref was Roger Kirkpatrick, smallish, plumpish & baldish, & the ref started running backwards, lost his footing & fell over - Jimmy helped him up & then used his Stoke shirt sleeve to give his bald pate a bit of a shine! Brilliant, JG & the refs head!

The best player never to play for England. Absolutely sublime.