Dear Jimmy

An Open Letter to Jimmy Greaves on his 74th birthday lamenting his absence from the Tottenham Hall of Fame.

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 An Open Letter to Jimmy Greaves,
 February 20, 2014.

Dear Jimmy,

I hope you will forgive the familiarity as we haven’t spoken for nearly 40 years but I feel I’ve known you all my life. We also have one thing in common, our deep love for Tottenham Hotspur.

I’d like to ask you about the Tottenham Hall of Fame and your omission. “I have read” that you declined the invitation to be inducted. There would appear to be an rift between the club and yourself. I don’t know, nor do I want to, the reason for this. However It surely isn’t an insurmountable problem. Even if you feel the solution currently lies with the club.

I feel there are several points to be considered that may have been lost during the discussions between the two parties. Firstly the fans, I fully agree with your old boss Bill Nicholson when he said they were the most important people at the club. I believe they deserve the opportunity to thank and honour you for your service to the club. You will know from your live appearances the love, yes love, that the supporters still have for you.

Secondly, and with absolutely no disrespect to the legends that have been inducted, the current omission of yourself does tend to raise a question of the validity of the Hall of Fame. Can you image West Ham without Bobby Moore or United without Charlton?

Therefore I urge you to and the club to seek a compromise to whatever differences that currently bar your entry. To follow the example of your old partner, Alan Gilzean, who recently ended his self imposed exile and was warmly welcomed home.

There is one final point which lies completely between you and your own conscience. I know you like frank speaking, we both know you WILL be inducted at some point in the future, either now or posthumously.  I ask you to consider would it not be better for you to experience the warmth and welcome of your many contemporaries as they celebrate the occasion with you, on your own terms.

You may not be the reason I love Tottenham but you provided much of the early romance. I do whole heartily hope that the two sides can overcome whatever stands between them and I look forward, like thousands of others, to the day we can welcome home a true legend of the Lane.

Yours Sincerely
Keith Harrison
Nilgiris, TN