Manchesterfootball.info’s Tony Bugby pays tribute to his boyhood hero Ray Clemence.
It was with enormous sadness that I heard of the death of Ray Clemence after a lengthy illness at the age of 72.
As a goalkeeper, Clemence was always the player I aspired to be in those long-gone primary school days. Sadly, a trial for the town team was the height of my playing days and I could only dream of what my idol achieved with Liverpool, Tottenham and England.
Embed from Getty ImagesI was too young to remember legendary Gordon Banks playing in his prime with Clemence emerging from the next generation alongside Peter Shilton while overseas the Italy’s Dino Zoff and German great Sepp Maier were also admired.
But it was Clemence’s agility and athleticism which immediately caught my eye, he was the player I dreamed of becoming but never did.
Clemence, who as a teenager stacked deckchairs on Skegness beach while playing for Scunthorpe United, made saves which left this young boy open-mouthed in awe and admiration in equal measure.
He had a flamboyance which made a huge impression, something which Shilton, despite his undoubted greatness, lacked.
Being the last line of Liverpool’s formidable defence, Clemence was hardly overworked as underlined when, in the 1978-79 season, he conceded a miserly 16 goals during the 42-game league campaign, keeping a remarkable 28 clean sheet.
When a goalkeeper is needed so infrequently, it requires an immense level of concentration to remain focused, another of Clemence’s qualities as he remained a model of consistency.
Indeed, Clemence, who was understudy to Tommy Lawrence for his first two-and-a-half years at Liverpool, went on to play 665 games, the joint fourth most for Liverpool, missing only six games between 1970-81 and winning five league titles and three European Cups.
The emergence of Bruce Grobbelaar saw Clemence leave for Tottenham where he clocked up a further 330 appearances while there were 61 caps for England – how many more would it have been but for Shilton who is the record holder with 125 appearances for his country.
Clemence, with more than 1,000 appearances as a player, later became England goalkeeping coach under Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Roy Hodgson, clocking up more than 300 games in that capacity.
What has been most striking in the tributes to Clemence has, surprisingly not only about his football exploits, but about him being described as one of the nicest individuals you could ever wish to meet.
In my journalistic career, I spoke to Banks and Shilton but, sadly, never had the pleasure the privilege of meeting my boyhood hero who gave me so much joy.