Ray Clemence – An obituary
I was saddened to read that Ray Clemence passed away today at the age of 72. The former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper won 61 caps for England during his playing career and later became a goalkeeping coach and manager.
Clemence would undoubtedly have won many more caps if it wasn’t for Peter Shilton who played for England in the same era. Shilton won 125 caps and he and Clemence alternated appearances between 1972 and 1983 as Alf Ramsey, Don Revie and Ron Greenwood couldn’t decide on a permanent number one.
Ray Clemence started his playing career at Third Division Scunthorpe United before Liverpool manager Bill Shankly brought him to Anfield for only £18,000. It would be one of the greatest signings Shankly ever made as Clemence kept goal for Liverpool for the next fourteen years.
In his time at Anfield, Clemence won eighteen trophies. This included five League titles, three European Cups, two UEFA Cups and an FA Cup.
The 1978/79 season saw the Liverpool defence and Clemence concede only sixteen goals in 42 league matches on their way to the league title. Of these sixteen, only four of these were conceded at Anfield in 21 home games.
This record would be beaten in 2004/05 when Chelsea conceded fifteen goals over the course of their title winning campaign. However, they only played 38 games, four fewer than Clemence and his Liverpool team mates did 26 years earlier.
After fourteen years with Liverpool, Clemence left to join Tottenham Hotspur in 1981 for £300,000. He was 33 at the time and played until he was 38 before an Achilles injury ended his playing career.
In the seven years at Spurs, Clemence won the FA Cup in his first season and the UEFA Cup two seasons later. He missed the Final against Anderlecht through injury.
Clemence enjoyed an eleven year international career, but never played in the World Cup. England didn’t qualify for the 1974 and 1978 Finals and although he went to the 1982 Finals in Spain, Peter Shilton was first choice in all five of England’s games in Spain.
After hanging up his gloves in 1988, Clemence joined the backroom staff at White Hart Lane before becoming Joint-Manager at Barnet in early 1994.
In 1994/95, Clemence took over as Barnet Manager on his own and the club finished 13th in the Third Division.
Glenn Hoddle took over from Terry Venables as England manager in the summer of 1996 and recruited Clemence as his goalkeeping coach. He would hold the job until Fabio Capello brought in his own staff in 2007.
Clemence passed away earlier today after a fifteen year battle with cancer. He will be remembered as one of the greatest goalkeepers to have ever played for England.
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