Today we lost a football legend, Raymond Neal Clemence MBE, not only a top-class goalkeeper but an all-round nice bloke.
The former Scunthorpe, Liverpool, Spurs and England international goalkeeper passed away aged 72, he is one of only 29 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances, he also acted as Head of the FA Development Team, overseeing the development made by players in the England Youth teams from under-16 to 21 levels, having previously been part of the England senior team backroom staff.
Ray Clemence – 1977 International Friendly – Brazil 0 England 0
Born in Skegness on August 5, 1948, a nine-year-old Clemence started as a centre-forward but was a defender in his early teens before, one day, Lumley Secondary Modern’s school team found themselves short of a keeper.
Ray went from stacking deckchairs on Skegness beach to being the last line of defence in the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s.
An £18,000 signing from Scunthorpe, Clemence helped the Reds win five First Division titles and three European Cups during 11 years as the first choice at Anfield in which he remarkably missed only six league matches.
The former England international, who conceded just 16 goals in the 42-match 1978-79 season, played more than 1,100 games for Scunthorpe, Liverpool, Tottenham and the national team over a 23-year career.
He is lauded by many Liverpool fans as their greatest goalkeeper ever.
One Liverpool fan we spoke to said;
Liverpool fans are well known for giving ex-players a good reception on their return to Anfield. I was at this match, May 1982. A hero’s welcome for an absolute legend. Never been bettered.
RIP Ray Clemence
In any other era, Ray would have gone on to gain well over one hundred England caps, but his main nemesis of the time, Peter Shilton was the preferred choice of the England managers of that era.
Ex-England keeper Shilton was devastated by today’s news and had this to say about Ray;
“This is a devastating day for me, Ray was a rival and an England colleague over the years but more importantly he was my friend.”
“I knew he had been unwell and in hospital, we had exchanged texts and the last one I have from him was a ‘thumbs up’, he did not want people to worry about him, that was typical of him, Ray was a warm man with a great sense of humour, we would spend most of our time laughing, It was not frowned upon to socialise on England duty back then and even have a drink and we used to do that”.
“He was great fun on a night out and that continued once we had both retired, at reunions and golf days and things, It was always great to see him”.
“On the field, he was a very natural goalkeeper, he was tall and incredibly athletic and had great hands, Ray was totally reliable and unfussy, he was not showy or extravagant but of his era, there were very few better”.
“For a while, I was at Nottingham Forest while he was at Liverpool and there was great rivalry between the clubs, but for us, it never changed a thing, we were mates”.
Ray’s illustrious 14-year career at Liverpool saw him win the old first division in 1972-73, 75-76, 76-77, 78-79 and 79-80, the FA Cup in 1973–74 and the league cup in 80–81 along with various Charity shields.
He also won the European Cup in 1976-77, 77-78 and 80-81, along with the UEFA cup twice in 72-73, 75-76 and the UEFA super cup in 1977 with the Reds.
In his seven years at Tottenham Hotspur from 1981, he won another FA Cup in the 1981–82 season an FA Charity shield in 1981 and the UEFA CUP: 1983–84.
Ray Clemence, one of Englands greatest goalkeepers. RIP. x
