Football: Former Tottenham hotshot Greaves warded after severe stroke

LONDON (Reuters) - Messages of support have flooded in for former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea forward Jimmy Greaves who is seriously ill in hospital after suffering a severe stroke.

Greaves, 75, is being treated in intensive care after being taken ill on Sunday.

Having established himself as a prolific striker with Chelsea for whom he scored a then club-record 124 league goals, he moved to Tottenham in 1961 and scored 266 times in 379 appearances - a record that still stands.

He won 57 England caps, scoring 44 times and is fourth on the all-time scorers list behind Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Wayne Rooney.

Greaves was part of England's 1966 World Cup winning squad but was injured in the group stage and replaced by Geoff Hurst.

He originally missed out on a medal because they were awarded only to the 11 players who featured in the final, although he finally received one in 2009.

Greaves, who also had a short spell with AC Milan, was at his most deadly while with Tottenham and is still revered there.

He scored in the 1962 FA Cup final and 1963 European Cup Winners Cup final and added a second FA Cup in 1967.

Greaves, who had a minor stroke in 2012, is due to be inducted into the club's Hall of Fame on May 13.

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