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The Spoils of War! | Ray Clemence | King Kenny
Ray Clemence
Face To Face With An Anfield Legend
by Jeremy Ruane (December 2004)
The recent visit to New Zealand shores of LFC goalkeeping legend Ray Clemence was manna from heaven for Liverpool fanatics, who, for the price of a gala dinner ticket, were granted the opportunity to meet the man who, in his time at Anfield, was widely regarded by Kopites and others as “England's number one”.
His after-dinner speech was, as you would expect, hilarious, patrons regaled with tales of life at Liverpool under Bob Paisley and,
particularly, Bill Shankly.
“I love the man. He was such an enormously influential figure in my life, in all our lives”, he said of `Sir Bill'. “There's quite a bit of lobbying for posthumous knighthoods for the likes of Bill, Bob and Brian Clough, all people who have done so much good for the game. But it's very difficult for them all to be recognised, and very hard to know where to draw the line”.
I enjoyed the privilege of not only meeting `Clem', and getting a few LFC programmes and other memorabilia items signed (as you do), but interviewing him at a media conference at Auckland's Waikaraka Park, where Ray was taking a training course for a raft of local goalkeeping coaches endeavouring to attain their International Goalkeeping license.
The session itself was great to watch, with The Master taking over between the sticks at one stage, and producing a couple of saves which rolled back the years. Indeed, the intensity of the entire session sky-rocketed as soon as “Clem” switched from watching instructor to showing them how it's done.
Perhaps it was because there was an element of awe - and why not? - among those watching, both trainees and gathered onlookers, that the training session was fairly subdued, in terms of calling for the ball and general communication. Whatever, it all changed when Ray took over in goal for about five minutes.
In that time, we learnt at first-hand how Phil Thompson, Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Smith, Alan Hansen and company were invariably well-positioned as a certain voice which, it must be remembered, had to be heard over the Kop in full cry, unleashed a stream of instructions concerning all sorts of aspects of what was going on around the defenders in front of him.
Suffice to say, there was a lot more “verbal” activity in the session from the participants following Ray's stint twixt the sticks.
Afterwards, it was the media's turn to pay due homage to the sixty-one-times-capped England custodian. Some, particularly the NZ
Herald's Sports Editor, David Leggat, showed that he'd done some research on his subject prior to asking the questions. It contrasted sharply with that done by those who are more used to reporting on matters oval-ball-shaped in nature.
The final questions Ray fielded were on matters which, by his own admission, he would happily speak for hours on, if he had the time. “There are so many highlights from my time at Anfield”, he said to me. “The ten days at the end of the 1977 season, for instance, when we experienced every emotion possible.
“They were so special, and something that will stay with all of us forever. Indeed, with Emlyn having passed on recently, it's something I'm still reliving now.
“As regards one particular game, St. Etienne. They were renowned as the best side in Europe at the time, with a young Michel Platini amongst others in their ranks. The atmosphere at Anfield was absolutely incredible - that was the day we all believed, as a team, that we could win the European Cup.
“Kevin Keegan, “The White Pele”, was always going to be successful, simply by his enthusiasm and his hard work. He wouldn't have been among the top six players in the world without it. For a small man to score as many headed goals as he did says a great deal about him.
“The best player I played with or against, however, was Kenny Dalglish. He always had you thinking `What's he going to do next?' You could never relax when he was on the pitch, because he'd come up with something you simply didn't think possible, such as when he nutmegged me in scoring the winner for Scotland against England one year - I took a load of stick for that for weeks afterwards!
“My biggest disappointment was not performing in the World Cup Finals.
After having been a regular selection under Don Revie, his successor, Ron Greenwood, chose to alternate between my good friend Peter Shilton and myself, in order to avoid a situation such as that which happened in Mexico in 1970, when Gordon Banks took ill.
“I accepted it because you want what's best for your country. I was still regarded as the number one goalkeeping selection unless I made mistakes or lost form - in that World Cup squad, I had the number one jersey, while Shilts wore 22.
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“Heading into the final preparations for Spain `82, Tottenham had reached the FA Cup Final in my first season there, and of course, it went to a replay. At the same time, England had two internationals scheduled which were a key part of the build-up, and in neither of which I was able to participate due to Spurs' cup commitments.
“Shilts played well in both, and that led to him getting the nod ahead of me to play in the Finals. All in all, very frustrating, because I'd done nothing wrong for two years - how ironic that it came down to my success at club level!!
“Injuries are another thing which frustrated me, although I have to say I was very lucky in that regard - I only missed six games in my time at Liverpool.
“I went to Spurs at 32 - the reason? We'd won the European Cup, beating Real Madrid in the final, and while the boys were going crazy in the dressing room, I was sitting there as if it was just another day at the office - we'd just won the European Cup for the third time, and I was `ho hum, another winner's medal'.
“I knew then that I needed a new challenge, so went to Spurs. While there, I picked up two ankle injuries, a dislocated shoulder, and a groin injury which, six months later, developed into an Achilles problem. Once that happens for a goalkeeper, …
“While I felt that physically I could have carried on for another couple of years, the injury meant that any decisions about retirement were made for me, which was nice. It meant I could hang up my boots with people remembering me as having signed off at the highest level.
“Nowadays, I'm involved with the England set-up, not as a goalkeeping coach, however. Instead, my role is to identify and oversee all
international and potential international goalkeepers from the age of fourteen upwards.
“Basically, I'm in charge of all the goalkeeping education courses in England - there are three licences for senior goalkeeping coaches. I get to work with all the best young `keepers and the best senior `keepers as well. It's the next best thing to playing really - it's a wonderful job, which I've been in for seven years now.
“You have to laugh when you think that I only went in goal myself at fifteen, and never wanted to be a goalkeeper to begin with. I went from striker to centre-half to left-back, but once I went in goal, everything that had to be done was so natural to me - I was born to be a goalkeeper!!
“Goalkeeping nowadays is about being a complete player. The game, the rules and the technology has changed so much from when I played. The ball these days can make you look a real fool at times - it's so much lighter compared to the balls we played with, and it doesn't even begin to compare with the old lace-up balls, which were still in use when I was a lad.
“The ball is one of the main reasons why you see goalkeepers tending to parry or punch shots away these days, rather than catch them. The flight of the ball is that much harder to judge, because with it being lighter, it's coming towards you that much more quickly, so you have to react accordingly.
“The concentration and decision-making which this entails is the key difference between a top goalkeeper and an international goalkeeper - it's that fine a line.
“This role, of course, entails me being away from home a lot, and I don't get to see son Stephen playing as much as I'd like, although I do try to see him whenever I can. I'm a very proud father, and am lucky to have a son playing at the top level.
“He's under enormous pressure, not only because it's difficult to stay at the top but with being my son, there's a lot of jealousy as well. However, he has made a good fist of his career to date, and while I'm always there for him, I felt it was important that he make his own way in the game, and be recognised for his achievements as Stephen Clemence, not because he's my son.
“I`ve had a fantastic family around me to help me to achieve and enjoy a fantastic career. To be successful in anything you have to make sacrifices. You're away from home, you're moody round the house, and you have bad days when things haven't gone right.
“But Veronica, my wife, has done a magnificent job, and has had a big influence on our three children, all of whom are married, and all of whom have provided us with grandchildren. Suffice to say, I have quite an exciting life away from football as well.
“When I retire, if I can leave behind a structure which improves English goalkeeping, that will make me proud. I hope I'll be remembered for being a successful professional, one who'll always give 100% to whatever I'm asked to do. Shanks taught me that, and I'll always try to do it in whatever role I play”.
As far as we Liverpool fans in New Zealand are concerned, Ray Clemence has certainly succeeded on that score.
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