James Greenhoff (born 19 June 1946) is an English former footballer. He was a skilful forward but, although capped five times at under-23 level (being on one of those occasions an over-age player), he never played for the full side, and is labelled as the finest English player never to play for England. He made nearly 600 appearances in league football. His younger brother Brian was also a professional footballer.
Greenhoff began his career at Leeds United in 1963, at the time that the club sought promotion from the Second Division in 1963–64; Leeds went on to be First Division runners-up in 1964–65 and 1965–66. He also played in the 1967 and 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup finals. He won both the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and League Cup in 1968, before he was sold to Birmingham City. In 1969, he made a £100,000 move to Stoke City. He won the League Cup with Stoke in 1972, and also lifted the Watney Cup in 1973. He was moved on to Manchester United in 1976, and lifted both the FA Cup and Charity Shield in 1977. He was switched to Crewe Alexandra in December 1980, before joining Port Vale via Toronto Blizzard in August 1981. He was appointed player-manager at Rochdale in March 1983, before he resigned in March 1984.
Career
Leeds United
Greenhoff was born in Barnsley. He started his career as an apprentice with Leeds United in June 1961, having impressed in the centre-half position for Barnsley Schoolboys. He was coached by Syd Owen. He turned professional at the club in August 1963, and made his senior debut as a sixteen-year-old. Leeds finished the 1963–64 season as champions of the Second Division under Don Revie's stewardship. The "Peacocks" then went on to finish 1964–65 as First Division runners-up, with champions and hated rivals Manchester United finishing above them on goal average. Leeds again finished second in 1965–66, six points behind champions Liverpool; however Greenhoff missed much of the season with an ankle injury, and a head injury sustained from a car crash. They then finished fourth in 1966–67, five points off the summit; Revie began to convert Greenhoff from a winger into a centre-forward. He turned out against Dinamo Zagreb at Elland Road in the second leg of the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, a goalless draw, Leeds lost the tie 2–0 on aggregate.
Once again, they finished fourth in the First Division in 1967–68, five points behind champions Manchester City. Greenhoff played 37 games, including a memorable 7–0 victory over rivals Chelsea on 7 October. He went on to appear in the League Cup final in 1968 after recovering from a knee injury; United beat Arsenal 1–0 thanks to a strike from Terry Cooper. Greenhoff went on to score four of Leeds' nineteen goals past minnows CA Spora Luxembourg in the 1967–68 instalment of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He also appeared as a half-time substitute in the first leg of the final, a 1–0 home win over Ferencvárosi TC, which was enough to secure Leeds the trophy after a goalless draw in Budapest. Greenhoff played a total of 136 games for Leeds in league and cup, scoring 36 goals.
Birmingham City
He was bought by Birmingham City manager Stan Cullis in August 1968, who paid the Yorkshire club a £70,000 fee. The transfer came as a surprise to many Leeds fans. Greenhoff made a huge impact at Birmingham, scoring fifteen goals in 36 games (in all competitions) as the "Blues" finished 1968–69 seventh in the Second Division. During the campaign he scored four goals in a 5–4 win over Fulham at St Andrew's on 5 October. Despite this, Cullis told him that he was not scoring enough goals.
Stoke City
In August 1969, he left Birmingham for Tony Waddington's Stoke City in a deal worth £100,000, which was a club record for Stoke. He made the switch despite late interest from Everton. He hit nine goals in 37 games in 1969–70, a tally beaten by strike partners Harry Burrows and John Ritchie. He slotted in seamlessly in the team, connecting Ritchie with the midfield by feeding off Ritchie's knock-downs and bringing the wide players into the game. In 1970–71 he hit ten goals in 43 games, appearing in Stoke's FA Cup semi-final defeat to eventual winners Arsenal. He missed an easy chance that would have put Stoke 3–0 ahead, and in an interview in 2011 he said the miss "still gets to me".