He made a successful first appearance at right back as one of four debutants in a goalless draw with Preston North End on 16 September 1911, described in the Manchester Guardian report as "always effective".

The Daily Mirror wrote that "a feature of the match was the splendid combination of the Palace halves and forwards, who, but for the great play of Greaves at back for Bury, would probably have run up a much bigger score.

[7] During the First World War, Greaves appeared for Bury in the regional competitions,[8] but when the Football League resumed afterwards, he "broke down in the opening match of the season", and was thereafter "persistently dogged by injuries to his limbs".

[9] Bury released him, and he returned to the north-east of England, where he was already employed as a schoolteacher in Sunderland, and signed for Darlington, a member of the newly formed Third Division North.

[9][10] He played in Darlington's first Football League fixture, a 2–0 win at home to Halifax Town on 27 August 1921,[11] and went on to appear in around three-quarters of their matches over the next seven years.