Neil Clement

Early career

The younger son of Dave Clement, the former QPR and England full-back of the 1970s, Neil Clement was born in Reading, Berkshire but later attended Dorridge Junior School and Arden School in the West Midlands. His brother is football coach Paul Clement. As a teenager, Clement obtained a place at The Football Association's School of Excellence at Lilleshall. He had played as a centre-forward up until the age of 14, and only switched to left-back to improve his chances of getting into Lilleshall. He started his career at Chelsea, making his professional début in a 3–1 Premier League win over West Ham on 21 December 1996. This was to be his only league appearance and only start for Chelsea. He failed to make a single appearance during 1997–98, and the following season his contribution to Chelsea was restricted to just two substitute appearances in the League Cup. To gain first team experience, Clement was loaned out to Reading in November 1998, making his début in a 1–0 win at Northampton on 21 November 1998. A week later, on 28 November, he scored his first goal in professional football as Reading beat Lincoln 2–1. He remained with Reading until February 1999, but the following month started another loan spell, this time at Preston North End. He was sent off on his North End début in a 1–0 defeat to Colchester on 2 April 1999.

In 1999–2000, Clement continued to struggle in his attempt to break into the Chelsea first team. In November 1999 he was loaned out…

Clement is married to Rebecca and they have two daughters together, His father was the late England player and QPR legend Dave Clement.

Individual PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02 First Division