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Ray Clemence, MBE (born 5 August, 1948 in
Skegness, England) was one of English and European
Football (soccer)|football's best and most
decorated goalkeepers, part of the all-conquering
Liverpool_F.C.|Liverpool team of the 1970s.

Clemence made his debut for Scunthorpe United
F.C.|Scunthorpe United in 1966 and was spotted and
signed by Liverpool manager Bill Shankly a year
later. 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 was powerless to prevent
Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal scoring twice in extra time
to peg back Liverpool's lead and win the game 2-1.
However, there would be joy for Clemence two
seasons later when Liverpool won both the Football
League|League title and UEFA Cup, with Clemence
saving a penalty in the final of the latter. The
following year Liverpool won the FA Cup with a 3-0
win over Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United.

Clemence was, by now, a regular for England
national football team|England but the presence of
Peter Shilton meant that the England management
struggled to decide which keeper was the best, and
ended up alternating their selection.

With Clemence in goal, Liverpool won another
League and UEFA Cup double in 1976 and then made a
courageous bid for a unique treble a year later.
They achieved the first leg when they won the
League title, but then lost the FA Cup final to
Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United. A
concolation was to be had a few days later,
however, when they won the European Cup for the
first time, defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach
3-1, with Clemence making a series of important
saves.

Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 with a
narrow 1-0 win over Club Brugge at Wembley
Stadium|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
again, and in 1981 they won the League Cup and
then the European Cup for the third time, which
ultimately proved to be Clemence's last game for
the club.

The emergence of Rhodesian-born keeper Bruce
Grobbelaar put Clemence under threat for his place
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 join
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur for a fee
of 300,000 pounds. Ironically, the two clubs
reached the 1982 League Cup final, which Liverpool
won 3-1. Spurs did, however, win the FA Cup,
defeating Queens Park Rangers F.C.|QPR after a
replay.

Clemence's international career was event-free, in
that it coincided with England's least successful
era, failing to qualify for two Football World
Cup|World Cups in 1974 and 1978. Clemence was part
of the squad which qualified for Ec2|1980 but this
ended in failure. In 1982, he was in the squad
which qualified for the World Cup, but again
England did not progress as far as hoped. Clemence
retired from international football shortly
afterwards with a total of 61 caps. His rival
Shilton ended up as first choice keeper for the
rest of the 1980s, played in two more World Cups
and attained a record 125 caps.

Spurs won the UEFA Cup in 1984 but Clemence missed
the final through injury. He did reach a fifth FA
Cup final in 1987, when his side lost to Coventry
City F.C.|Coventry City. He is in a select group
of players who have appeared in five or more FA
Cup finals.

He retired in 1988 and joined the coaching staff
at Spurs, working his way through to the first
team, before leaving to become manager of Barnet
F.C.|Barnet in 1994. Three years later, he was
recruited by his former Spurs and England
team-mate 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 remains in that position
to this day, and occasionally works as a pundit on
TV and radio.

Clemence was awarded an Order of the British
Empire|MBE for services to football. His son,
Stephen Clemence|Stephen, is a midfield player who
came through the ranks at Spurs and now plays for
Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City.

On February 2 2005 Clemence announced that he had
been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that he
would spend time away from the England squad
whilst he receives treatment. He is the second
member of Eriksson's staff to be diagnosed with
prostate cancer, Brian Kidd was diagnosed with the
disease prior to Ec2|2004.