LONDON: Jimmy Greaves, one of the greatest goalscorers in English football history, has made a full recovery after suffering a stroke. The 72-year-old former Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham star spent two nights in hospital and underwent neck surgery after falling ill at his home in Chelmsford, Essex. He has since been discharged and says he is feeling as fit as ever.

Greaves was reported as saying: “I had a mini-stroke but just weeks later I’m honestly feeling better than I have in years – I’m as fit as a butcher’s dog. I’m out and about, enjoying life to the full. I lost a stone, which I needed to do and it’s made me feel a lot younger.

“If anyone complains about the NHS, don’t believe a word of it. The people who looked after me couldn’t have been any more professional or caring.”

Doctors at Chelmsford’s Broomfield Hospital discovered the football columnist, who is England’s third-greatest scorer with 44 goals, had suffered a transient ischaemic attack – hence the neck surgery.