Obituary - Ray Clemence

We were all saddened to learn of the passing of one of the greats, Ray Clemence. Ray passed away peacefully on Sunday following a long battle with illness, surrounded by his loving family. He was 72.

Regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, Ray won five league titles, three European Cups, two UEFA Cups, the FA Cup and League Cup during 14 years at Liverpool.

Ray joined Spurs in August, 1981, aged 33, and went on to make 330 appearances for us until his retirement due to a knee injury in March, 1988. He won the FA Cup at the end of his first season here in 1982 but was injured and an unused substitute for our UEFA Cup triumph of 1984.

Born in Skegness, Lincolnshire, on 5 August, 1948, Ray joined Scunthorpe United on his 17th birthday, made his Football League debut in April, 1966 and chalked up 50 appearances for the Iron.

He was snapped up by Liverpool in 1967, made his debut in a League Cup tie against Swansea in September, 1968 and eventually his league debut in January, 1970. He didn’t look back. Between February, 1970 and May, 1981, Ray featured in 660 of Liverpool’s 668 senior games. That sequence included a run of 336 consecutive appearances from 9 September, 1972 to 4 March, 1978 as the Reds dominated the decade.

Brought to Spurs by Keith Burkinshaw, a former team-mate from his early days at Scunthorpe, Ray made 61 appearances in his first season, 1981/82, as we retained the FA Cup, reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup and were runners-up in the League Cup - beaten by his old club Liverpool in the final. We also finished fourth in Division One.

Ray made the 1,000th senior appearance of his career in our 5-1 home win over Newcastle United on 7 September, 1985 and then overtook the British record of 1,098 senior games during April, 1987, a mark set by fellow goalkeeping great and Spurs legend Pat Jennings. Ray’s final appearance was against Norwich City on 10 October, 1987, taking his career tally to 1,119 first-class matches.

Ray earned 61 caps for England between 1972-1983, as he battled it out for number one status with Peter Shilton. His final five caps came during his time at Spurs, his last a European qualifier against Luxembourg in November, 1983, aged 35.

Ray was awarded the MBE in 1987 and following retirement, became our goalkeeping coach in 1988, combining that role with duties as reserve team manager from June, 1989 and assistant to first team coach Doug Livermore from May, 1992 to June, 1993.

Ray took the post of England goalkeeping coach in August, 1996, and started another 17-year association with the Three Lions. He retired as The FA’s head of national teams at the end of October, 2013.

Meanwhile, Ray’s son, Stephen, progressed through our Academy ranks to make 109 appearances for Spurs between 1997-2000. He is now Steve Bruce’s assistant at Newcastle.

Inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2014, Ray remained a popular member of our legends’ matchday hospitality team at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and will be missed by everyone at the Club. We extend our sincere condolences to his widow Veronica, Stephen, daughters Sarah and Julie, and his extended family and friends at this sad time.