Jimmy Greaves, a great goalscorer, made his England debut on this day.

Jimmy Greaves, a legendary England marksman who racked up 44 goals in 57 internationals, had a reputation for always managing to score on his debut. He did it for Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs, West Ham, in his testimonial, even for England when he was only 19.

Walter Winterbottom gave Greaves his first cap in a friendly against Peru in Lima, played on this day in 1959. It was the second match of a four-match tour that also took in internationals against Brazil, Mexico and USA.

The young Chelsea striker shot home off a post early in the second half but England went down 4-1 to the Peruvians, Seminario notching a hat-trick.

Greaves scored 13 England goals in 1960-61, still the record for a single season, and that included England’s 1,000th goal in history against Wales at Wembley.

He got seven in the Home International Championship, a record he shares with Scotland’s Hughie Gallagher, and finished with six England hat-tricks.

But the great man only scored once in World Cup finals. He was injured against France in the third match of the 1966 tournament and couldn’t get back in the side.