THE

death of Jimmy Greaves last week and the outpouring of respect for the magnitude of what he had achieved in the game was a reminder that despite the efforts of broadcasters everywhere to induce amnesia in the viewing public, English football did not begin in 1992 when the Premier League was formed. When statisticians talk about Harry Kane chasing goalscoring records, they almost always talk about the pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League total. However impressive Shearer was as a player, he is not the man Kane is really chasing. Kane is chasing Greaves, who holds England’s top-flight record, and the chase is likely to be forlorn.