An inside-forward, Johnny played 52 games and scored seven goals for the club at the end of the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s, the latter part of the Ted Drake era.

His Chelsea career was a reunion between manager and player as Drake had been in charge at Reading when he became a professional for his home-town club in 1949.

There he caught the eye of several top division sides and signed for Tottenham in 1953 where he became an England international, earning three caps in 1956.

In December 1959, he signed for Chelsea in a part-exchange deal that took Les Allen the other way, and he made his debut away at Blackpool, netting our only goal in a 3-1 defeat.

Greaves scored all five in a 5-4 win at Preston in his second game and the new arrival found the net himself in his second game at Stamford Bridge, a draw with Leicester. A highlight of that first season was a 4-1 win at Arsenal in which he scored and he was among the goals when Peter Bonetti's debut at home to Manchester City ended in a 3-0 win. Johnny finished his first half-season with five goals to this name as Chelsea avoided relegation by a couple of places.

The next season was an improved one for the team overall with a mid-table finish but although he started the campaign in the side, the emergence of Bobby Tambling contributed to limited opportunities after Christmas and he moved on in September 1961, remaining in west London at Brentford before heading to Crystal Palace.

He later managed non-league side Knebworth.

An inside-forward, Johnny played 52 games and scored seven goals for the club at the end of the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s, the latter part of the Ted Drake era.

His Chelsea career was a reunion between manager and player as Drake had been in charge at Reading when he became a professional for his home-town club in 1949.

There he caught the eye of several top division sides and signed for Tottenham in 1953 where he became an England international, earning three caps in 1956.

In December 1959, he signed for Chelsea in a part-exchange deal that took Les Allen the other way, and he made his debut away at Blackpool, netting our only goal in a 3-1 defeat.

Greaves scored all five in a 5-4 win at Preston in his second game and the new arrival found the net himself in his second game at Stamford Bridge, a draw with Leicester. A highlight of that first season was a 4-1 win at Arsenal in which he scored and he was among the goals when Peter Bonetti's debut at home to Manchester City ended in a 3-0 win. Johnny finished his first half-season with five goals to this name as Chelsea avoided relegation by a couple of places.

The next season was an improved one for the team overall with a mid-table finish but although he started the campaign in the side, the emergence of Bobby Tambling contributed to limited opportunities after Christmas and he moved on in September 1961, remaining in west London at Brentford before heading to Crystal Palace.

He later managed non-league side Knebworth.