Ray Clemence

Scunthorpe United

Born in Skegness, Lincolnshire, Clemence played eight matches on trial for Notts County, but was ultimately not signed by the Meadow Lane club. He was spotted by Scunthorpe United whilst playing in a county-cup final at their Old Showground ground for his local youth club Skegness Cosmos. After starring in the Cosmos' 4-3 victory, Clemence was invited for formal trials with The Iron, which he duly passed. Clemence went on to sign professional terms for Scunthorpe on his 17th birthday, 5 August 1965, shortly before the start of Scunthorpe's 1965–66 Third Division campaign. Despite initially playing in the club's 'third team', Clemence's big break arrived later in his debut season – making his professional debut in a 1–1 draw at home to Swansea Town on 2 April 1966. Prior to this debut, Clemence remembers a key behind-the-scenes intervention from two Scunthorpe coaches: "Jack Brownsword and Alan Bushby pulled me aside, gave me a pep talk and told me they thought I could play for England one day but 'you've got to work at it'". Clemence went on to make four appearances in total throughout his debut season, including earning his first professional clean sheet in a 1–0 victory away at Southend United. Having spent much of that season as understudy to the experienced former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa custodian Geoff Sidebottom, Clemence later cited Sidebottom as a crucial early mentor: "I learned a lot from Geoff. He taught me how to look…

Clemence was a regular for England between 1972 and 1983, making his debut and keeping his first clean-sheet in the 1–0 World Cup qualifier win over Wales at Ninian Park on 15 November 1972. England failed to qualify for World Cups in 1974 and 1978. Clemence was part of the squad that qualified for UEFA Euro 1980 but the team failed to qualify from Group 2. In 1982, he was in the squad for the World Cup, but again England did not progress beyond the quarter-final stage. Clemence captained England once — the first keeper to do so since Frank Swift. The game in question was a 1981 friendly with Brazil at Wembley, although Clemence couldn't prevent the Brazilians from scoring as England lost 1–0. Because of injury to his left knee, Clemence was retired from international football with 61 England caps in a 12-year international career. The presence of another goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, meant that the England management struggled to decide which keeper was the best, and ended up alternating their selection. Shilton ended up as first-choice keeper for the rest of the 1980s, playing in two more World Cups and attaining a record 125 caps.

Management

Clemence retired in 1988 and joined the coaching staff at Tottenham, working his way through to the first team, before leaving to become joint manager of Barnet (with fellow goalkeeper Gary Phillips) in January 1994. At the start of the 1994–95 season, he took sole charge leading Barnet to ninth and 13th in the Third Division.

England coaching team

In August 1996, he was recruited by his former Spurs and England teammate Glenn Hoddle as goalkeeping coach for the England national team, a position he continued to hold under Hoddle's successors Kevin Keegan and Sven-Göran Eriksson. He remained in that position under Steve McClaren, until he was replaced by Italian Franco Tancredi as goalkeeping coach in December 2007, as Fabio Capello took charge of the national team. Clemence, however, remained part of the England backroom staff, and when Roy Hodgson took over as manager, he reinstated Clemence as goalkeeper coach. On 11 June 2012, he snapped his Achilles tendon during England's warmups for their game against France during UEFA Euro 2012. He was also England's Head of international teams, managing all the junior, women's and disability teams. In 2013, Clemence retired; being "lavishly saluted", and being bought a gift from the England team; despite his last appearance at an international level being 30 years earlier.

Clemence was appointed an MBE in the 1987 Birthday Honours for services to football. His son, Stephen was a midfield player who came through the ranks at Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City, before retiring because of injury at Leicester City in 2010. He was appointed manager of Gillingham in 2023, then Barrow in 2024. Clemence's daughter Sarah also has footballing connections, being the wife of former Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest manager and Scotland striker Dougie Freedman. He also occasionally worked as a pundit on TV and radio, and commented on current goalkeeping stories in football. In February 2005, Clemence announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that he would spend time away from the England squad whilst he received treatment. He was the second member of Eriksson's staff to be diagnosed with prostate cancer; Brian Kidd was diagnosed with the disease prior to UEFA Euro 2004. He died from prostate cancer at his home in Broxbourne on 15 November 2020, at the age of 72. Clemence is held in high regard by both Liverpool and Tottenham fans. He was voted in at No. 11 on the Liverpool Football Club web site poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop; he was also the highest placed goalkeeper. He was also chosen as goalkeeper in the BBC's Merseyside team of the 20th century, and topped Total Football's poll of the best ever goalkeeper, beating players of the calibre of Peter Shilton, Lev Yashin, Gordon Banks and Pat Jennings. Shortly before his death,…