Ray Clemence

Born in Skegness, Lincolnshire, Clemence made his debut for Scunthorpe United in 1966[9] and made 48 appearances in what was then called Division 3.[4]

Clemence was signed by Liverpool manager Bill Shankly[10] on 24 June 1967 from Scunthorpe United for a fee of £18,000,[4] he made his debut and kept his first clean-sheet in a League Cup third round tie at Anfield on 25 September 1968,[11][12][13] Swansea Town were the visitors and were beaten 2–0.[14] He was nurtured through the reserve side over the next two years, with the occasional senior appearance, until 1970, at which point he became the club's first choice goalkeeper.

In 1971 Liverpool reached the FA Cup Final, where Clemence played well but Arsenal scored twice in extra time to overcome Liverpool's lead and win the game 2–1. There would be joy for Clemence two seasons later when Liverpool won both the League title and UEFA Cup, with Clemence saving a penalty in the final of the latter against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The penalty save meant that Liverpool took a 3–0 lead to Germany with them, rather than 3–1. Gladbach won 2–0 at home, had Jupp Heynckes scored the penalty, then with the same second-leg result the tie would have finished 3–3 on aggregate, and Borussia Mönchengladbach would have won on the away goals rule. 1973–74 season saw Liverpool claim yet more silverware winning the F.A Cup with a comprehensive 3–0 victory over Newcastle United.

With Clemence in goal, Liverpool won another League and UEFA Cup double in 1976 and then made a bid for a unique treble a year later. They achieved the first leg when they won the League title, but lost the F.A Cup final to rivals Manchester United. A few days later, Liverpool won the European Cup for the first time, defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1. In the second half Clemence made a magnificent save against Uli Stielike when the score was 1–1.

Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 with a narrow 1–0 win over Club Brugge at Wembley, but conceded their League title to Nottingham Forest, to whom they also lost in the League Cup final. In 1979 and 1980, Clemence kept goal as Liverpool clinched the League title in each season. The 1978–79 League success saw Clemence set a record that was never beaten under the two points for a win system, conceding only 16 goals in the 42 league matches[15] (and just 4 at Anfield). This remarkable record remains for a 42-match season and endured until beaten recently by Chelsea, who conceded 15 goals in the 38 League matches.

In 1981 Liverpool won the League Cup, and for the third time the European Cup, the latter with a 1–0 win over Real Madrid in a dour contest at the Parc des Princes on 27 May. It turned out to be Clemence's last game for the club.

The emergence of Bruce Grobbelaar put Clemence's place in the side under threat for the first time in eleven years (during which period he played in more than 650 matches and missed a mere six), and he decided to leave Liverpool to join Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £300,000.

Clemence left Liverpool to join Tottenham Hotspur in 1981 for a fee of £300,000. The two clubs reached the 1982 League Cup final, which Liverpool won 3–1. Spurs did, however, win the FA Cup, defeating QPR 1–0 after a replay.

Clemence's first Tottenham appearance was in the 1981 F.A. Charity Shield against Aston Villa at Wembley on 22 August 1981, where Mark Falco and Peter Withe each scored twice in an entertaining 2–2 draw, with his League debut coming a week later at Ayresome Park. Middlesbrough couldn't prevent Clemence starting off with a win, losing 3–1. His first clean-sheet came three games later on 12 September at Molineux, when he kept Wolverhampton Wanderers off the scoresheet in the 1–0 victory.

Spurs won the UEFA Cup in 1984. Clemence missed the final against Anderlecht through injury, but was on the bench as substitute goalkeeper in a match famously won when Tony Parks saved twice during the penalty shootout. Clemence reached a fifth F.A Cup final in 1987, where Spurs lost to Coventry City. He is in a select group of players who have appeared in five or more F.A Cup finals. Clemence sustained an Achilles tendon injury in Tottenham's away match at Norwich in October 1987, which forced his retirement from playing in 1988. Shortly after retiring Clemence joined the Spurs coaching staff.

Clemence retired in 1988 and joined the coaching staff at Spurs, 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 Division 3.

In August 1996[2] he was recruited by his former Spurs and England teammate Glenn Hoddle as goalkeeping coach for the England 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, when Roy Hodgson took over as manager, he reinstated Clemence to the Goalkeeper coach role. On 11 June 2012, he snapped his Achilles during England's warmups for their game against France during Euro 2012.

He was the head of the F.A's Head of Development Team, where his role was to oversee the England under 16s, 17s, 18s, 19s and 20 sides, working with England U21 coach Stuart Pearce in monitoring the players' progress to the U21 side. He also occasionally works as a pundit on TV and radio, and comments on current goalkeeping stories in football.[16][17][18]

In 2013, Clemence retired; being "lavishly saluted", and being bought a gift from the England national football team; despite his last appearance at an international level coming 30 years ago.[4]