The film features rarely seen archive and interviews with Harry Redknapp, Sir Geoff Hurst, Ian St John, Denis Law, George Cohen, Cliff Jones, Pat Jennings, Gary Lineker, Glenn Hoddle, Barry Davies, John Sillett, Alan Mullery, Ron Harris, Steve Perryman, Jimmy Tarbuck, Rio Ferdinand, several members of Jimmy’s family and more.
Cult Kits had the pleasure of getting a sneak preview of the film, in a private viewing at the beginning of the month. We had the honour of chatting with the great mans family about the making of the film and how incredibly proud they clearly were of their father and grand father. We all cried and laughed with them throughout.
The story begins in the 1950s with Jimmy a target for every major club in London. Jimmy opts for Chelsea – 1955 league champions. He makes the breakthrough and becomes a teenage superstar - scoring 124 league goals in 157 games.
Frustrated by Chelsea’s inconsistency and the maximum wage Jimmy moves to AC Milan in Italy.
The story begins in the 1950s with Jimmy a target for every major club in London. Jimmy opts for Chelsea – 1955 league champions. He makes the breakthrough and becomes a teenage superstar - scoring 124 league goals in 157 games.
Frustrated by Chelsea’s inconsistency and the maximum wage Jimmy moves to AC Milan in Italy.
After his disappointing spell at Milan – Greaves returns to Tottenham for a club-record fee. Jimmy is a major success, he scores 21 goals in 22 games before the end of the season. Between 1962 and 1965, Greaves scores 101 league goals in 123 games.
After spells on ATV in the Midlands and on the panel for the 1982 World Cup, in 1985 ITV executives decide that Jimmy needs his own vehicle. They pair him with former Liverpool footballer Ian St John – Saint and Greavsie is born, and it is a colossal hit, awards are won, Greavsie is a major public figure again, as evidenced by his Spitting Images Puppet. Jimmy is a star to a completely new generation…
We can not recommend this film enough. BT's recent edition to their award-winning film series, in our opinion, is their best yet. It's a beautifully told story – that for an audience that would only know him from his TV career, will be amazed at what he achieved as a striker in domestic football as well as his international career.
Sadly Jimmy suffered a severe stroke in 2015, which has tragically left him wheelchair bound and with speech difficulties. This has of course ended his public appearances, when adoring fans would listen first hand to the many stories, told with great joy, by one of football's most talented and generous human beings.
If you missed last night's opening viewing of the film, fear not! You can catch it again on Saturday February 22nd at 7.30pm on BT Sport 2. Prepare yourself to laugh, cry and then laugh some more.
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Other films in the series include:
Too Good to Go Down the rarely-told story of how relegation in the mid-1970s enabled the modern-day Manchester United to emerge.
Two Tribes which focuses on the city of Liverpool during the 1980s and how, against a backdrop of social unrest, the city’s two football teams rose to bring a fresh hope and a new identity to Merseyside.