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Jimmy Greaves, the legendary footballer, spoke candidly astir the difficulties helium encountered aft hanging up his boots. His singular tally of 402 goals successful 617 matches, including spells with Chelsea and Tottenham, made him a household name.
He played a relation successful the triumphant 1966 World Cup squad for England, though helium was absent from the last aft getting injured against Argentina successful the quarterfinal and subsequently losing his spot to Geoff Hurst, who went connected to people a memorable hat-trick successful the final. Sadly, Greaves passed distant astatine the property of 81 successful September 2021.
While his playing vocation was illustrious, the fiscal rewards successful his epoch were thing similar today’s lucrative shot world, starring him to marque a surviving by selling apparel from his humble accommodation post-retirement.
In an interrogation with The Guardian backmost successful 2003, Greaves lamented: "Let's marque nary bones astir it. I privation I was playing today. Some of the players get fractional a twelve goals a twelvemonth and gain a fortune. I look backmost astatine my Chelsea days erstwhile you had to combat to get £8 a week successful the wintertime and £7 a week successful the summer, and present determination are players who haven't adjacent played successful the archetypal squad connected 40 expansive a week."
Greaves’ second years arsenic a subordinate were marred by alcoholism, which had adverse effects connected his clip astatine West Ham, Brentwood, and Chelmsford City and continued to occupation him upon descending the tiers of English football.
He candidly shared astir his struggles with alcoholism successful the 1970s, revealing however it affected his life. "I mislaid the 70s completely. They passed maine by. I was drunk from 1972 to 1977. I woke up 1 greeting and realised that it was a antithetic world. I'd been surviving successful it, but I hadn't been alert of it."
As the decennary drew to a close, Greaves' beingness deed stone bottom, facing bankruptcy and a divorcement from his wife, Irene. He was forced to determination into a humble one-bedroom level and resorted to selling women's jumpers to marque ends meet.
The harsh realities of his concern yet prompted Greaves to admit his drinking problem, stating: "I realised that I had to halt drinking agelong earlier I stopped. It wasn't an overnight thing."
Greaves' conflict with addiction adjacent saw him walk 5 months astatine Warley intelligence location successful 1977.
However, helium yet recovered the spot to discontinue drinking, saying: "One time I said, 'That's it' and I conscionable walked distant from it, and fortunately, to this day, I've stayed wide of it.
"Are determination times erstwhile I truly privation to person a drink? Of people determination are, aforesaid arsenic everybody else; it doesn't dehumanise you. You get down the aforesaid arsenic everybody other and you'd similar to spell retired and person a fewer jars, but you cognize that you can't bash that."
Although determination were times erstwhile Greaves felt the impulse to portion again, helium persevered. Following his recovery, Greaves concisely explored a vocation successful shot media, moving arsenic some a columnist and a tv presenter. He struck up a superb rapport with erstwhile Liverpool striker Ian St John, with the Saint and Greavesie amusement proving to beryllium hugely popular.
However, helium concluded that the fiscal rewards weren't substantial. Greaves acknowledged: "Playing shot gave maine a bully surviving and tv besides gave maine a bully living, but if you say, 'Have I got immoderate money?', the answer's no. I've conscionable ne'er earned capable to battalion it away."
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