Greenhoff: James (Jimmy)

1963-1968 (Player Details)

Forward

Born: Barnsley: 19-06-1946

Debut v Swansea Town (h): 22-10-1963

5’10” 11st 2lb (1968)

#82 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

Greenhoff was in the Barnsley side that won the1960-61 English Schools Trophy and, after representing Yorkshire Schoolboys joined Leeds after his apprenticeship in August 1963. He started at right half, but was pushed forward with the advent of Billy Bremner, and made a valuable contribution to the side which established itself as a First Division force in the mid-1960s. With the signing of Mick Jones and the emergence of so many talented youngsters, Greenhoff was sold to Birmingham City for £70,000 in August 1968 in the middle of a Cup Final. He had played in the first leg of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup against Ferencvaros, coming on as substitute but was sold before the second leg had taken place. He scored fourteen goals in thirty-one games before a £100,000 transfer from Birmingham City to Stoke City saw him help the Potters lift the League Cup in 1972. He scored seventy-four goals in two hundred and seventy-four appearances for Stoke City before he went to Manchester United for £200,000 in November 1976 and played alongside his brother Brian and scored twenty-six goals in almost one hundred games. His experience helped nurture a crop of exciting young players and he won an F.A. Cup Winners’ medal in 1977, when he deflected home the winner. He had a season with Toronto Blizzard in 1979-80 but was soon back at Old Trafford. Despite a series of good performances at top level, he never won a full England cap, although he appeared in four Under-twenty-three level games while at Birmingham City and played for the Football League while at Stoke City. He was acknowledged as one of the finest players never fortunate enough to have played for England and enjoyed a god-like image with the Potters. In December 1980 he went to Crewe Alexandra, where he had a spell as Manager, replacing his old Stoke City boss Tony Waddington, before going to Canada for a second season with Toronto Blizzard. In August 1981 he joined Port Vale, where he scored five times in almost fifty matches, before going to Rochdale as Player-Manager in March 1983. He left Spotland and returned to Port Vale as Player-Coach. He later coached youngsters at holiday camps and then ran his own insurance business in the Stoke area.