Goalkeeper legend Ray Clemence is dead – VG

As a Liverpool player, he also won the FA Cup, the English League Cup and the FA Charity Shield. He played there from 1967 to 1981.

In 1981 he went to Tottenham, where he won 240 games. He also experienced success there, and won the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup in the 1981/82 and 1983/84 seasons, respectively. In 2014, he was inducted into the club’s “Hall of Fame”.

– One of the greatest goalkeepers who has ever played the game, Tottenham writes in the press release.

Clemence also represented England, and won 61 matches with the flag on his chest.

In 1987 he was also awarded the MBE (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his contribution to football.

– Very sad

Clemence was also an important contributor to Erik Thorstvedt. Clemence was central when Thorstvedt was brought to Spurs – and was also for a long time the Norwegian’s goalkeeping coach.

– I met him for the first time long before I was at Tottenham. I think it was on a football shoe here in Norway, and then I was then on a trial training at Tottenham. Then I did not get a work permit, but he was central in that I was picked up there when I actually got a work permit. And then I had him as goalkeeping coach, and as a regular coach, says Thorstvedt.

Clemence was in Tottenham’s support staff for a long time, before he also led the team for a while.

– A very nice guy, that is. I knew Ray pretty well. It was always nice to meet him when I returned to White Hart Lane. It was always a pleasure to meet him, even though he was often ill, says Thorstvedt, who naturally thinks it was sad to receive the message of death.

– It was very sad, but he has fought hard for a long time. He has been ill for many years. Then he has gotten better, and worse. It has characterized him for many years. I think he was exhausted himself.

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When asked how good Clemence actually was, Thorstvedt says:

– Well, I do not know how many goals Liverpool conceded at their best, but there were not many. He was part of their huge winning machine. Winning superiorly had become a habit for him, so then he wanted a challenge, and went to Tottenham. And there he continued to play big.

– And he and Peter Shilton played every other match for the English national team for a long time, so …

– A wonderful man

Ray Clemence’s tributes are pouring in on social media, and among them, Peter Shilton has written this on Twitter:

– I’m devastated to receive the news that Ray Clemence is gone. We were rivals, but good friends. Ray was a fantastic goalkeeper with a wonderful sense of humor. I will miss him as we have been friends long after we gave ss as players. Rest in peace, my friend.

Here are a bunch of other tributes:

– Clem was my England coach for more than a decade. A wonderful man with a fantastic left foot. I had a poster of him on my bedroom wall as a child. Rest in peace, writes former Liverpool and England goalkeeper David James on his Twitter-account.

– I grew up watching Ray Clemence. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of having him as a guest in our studio for the FA Cup final. He was a great man, a gentleman, and so kind. Rest in peace, Ray Clemence. Another hero has left us, writes Jan Åge Fjørtoft on Twitter.