RAY CLEMENCE
RAY CLEMENCE ON HIS THREE EUROPEAN CUP WINS, THAT NIGHT IN ROME, AND HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER
RAY CLEMENCE thought there could never be another Bill Shankly, that they broke the mould when the gravel-voiced Scot who was the architect of the modern Liverpool walked away from Anfield.
So the highest praise you could find for Jurgen Klopp as his club stands on the brink of their first Champions League final in 11 years is that Clemence, the goalkeeper in Liverpool’s greatest European era, is thinking again.
Clemence has found himself mesmerised not only by the whirlwind brand of attacking football Klopp has produced, but by the way the Kop has become a wall of sound again.
‘If you ask me to compare them, I thought Shankly was unique, a one-off, but then I’d have to say that Jurgen Klopp is the nearest thing,’ he says.
‘In terms of the relationship Klopp has between himself, the players and fans, it is exactly what Shankly did.
‘He pulled the club together so it was one strong unit that would do anything to help each other out and Klopp has revived that.
‘You only have to look at the last Champions League games, Manchester City and then Roma, the atmosphere in there is like it used to be when I played. Just special, special nights. You can’t underestate just how hard that is for a manager to achieve, and the bigger the club the more difficult it is.
‘At any level it’s tough these days for managers because everybody wants success yesterday, and at a club the size of Liverpool there are so many factions you have to try to bring together.
He appears to have done that and it’s a priceless achievement.’
Clemence, now 69, has never lost his love for Liverpool. Signed by Shankly from Scunthorpe in 1967 he went on to play 665 games over 12 seasons, winning five First Division titles and three European Cups.
And the thought of this side heading for Rome for tomorrow’s semi-final second leg, with a 5-2 lead and the prospect of starting a new era of success, brings the memories flooding back.
The Eternal City, the Olympic Stadium. That was where Liverpool won the first of the five European Cups their fans love to sing about, when they beat Borussia Monchengladbach in May 1977.
‘We had three or four months where we were going for the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup, and so every three days we had to win a game,’ he says. ‘There was no respite culminating in the final
ten days when we won the league on the Saturday, lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final the following Saturday, and then four days later we had the European Cup final in Rome.
‘Of course we were down. Going to the stadium we had been told there were going to be 11,000 fans there, which was incredible considering all the expense, but we went out to look at the pitch and there were 26,000 there.
‘Half the stadium was red and
‘There was an incredible party after — which I don’t remember a lot about — then we went back to Liverpool and 3 million people’
white, they had come from all over the world to be at Liverpool’s first European final.
‘When we went back in nobody really spoke, but we were all looking at each other and thinking the same thing: “We cannot let these people down, we have to perform”.
‘That team had so many big personalities, Tommy Smith, Emlyn Hughes, Jimmy Case, you can reel them off. I’ve always said you need one to wear the armband, and three other captains, but that side had seven or eight leaders.
‘The way up to the pitch was a dark tunnel, with some steps just before going out. We were just looking at each other, thinking we had a disappointment four days ago and we’re not going to have another one.
‘There was no shouting, no “Come on Boys” or anything like that. There was just a sense that we all knew what each other were thinking and we just had to be concentrated.
‘We needed to be at our best and we were — Kevin Keegan in particular was being marked by Berti Vogts who was the best man-for-man marker in the world at that time and Kevin ran him to death.We finished up winning and winning in style.
‘There was an incredible party afterwards — which I don’t remember a lot about — and then we went back to Liverpool and 3million people, it took us three hours to get from the airport to the centre of Liverpool.
‘Great days and you’d love these boys now to sample some of the same.’
These days the mental strength which won all those trophies is used in another and more serious ongoing battle. Clemence was diagnosed 13 years ago with prostate cancer and he’s defying a disease which still kills one man in Britain every 45 minutes.
‘It came from nothing,’ he recalls. ‘I didn’t feel ill, but basically when I went to the toilet the flow of water was not as strong as it used to be. I was with the England team as a coach and I spoke to the England physio Gary Lewin and asked: “Is it just because I’m getting older?” He immediately said: “You are past 50, have you ever been tested for PSA (Prostate-specific antigen)?”
‘I was oblivious to all of that as too many men are. That’s why there are campaigns to get people to be tested early. I went to the specialist and to start with it was confirmed I had cancer, I had to have the prostate taken away, and then the cancer controlled with tablets and hormone treatment, but the last few years it has got more difficult.
‘I have had three sets of chemo, I’ve had a tumour in my back, and a brain tumour which they managed to get rid of and it hasn’t come back, I’ve had radiotherapy.
‘There are days when I don’t feel the best but hopefully that’s when nobody is around. I just want to give a positive attitude to everybody that’s involved whether they are trying to find a cure or whether they have the disease too.’
WE meet at Aston Villa’s training ground where his son Stephen, assistant to Steve Bruce, is trying to help get the creaking old Midlands giant back to the Premier League.
Ray looks a picture of health despite his ongoing issues and the bond between father and son is obvious.
‘My son was born the day after my dad had his first operation and he is one of the most positive people I have known,’ says Stephen.
‘There are times I go down at the weekend after games and I can see he’s not quite right, but he wouldn’t show that to the public. My mum and my sisters, we see that and it is our job to pick him up. He still has a lot to look forward to in his life.’
‘I’m a survivor, basically,’ says Ray. ‘There is lots of talk about people only lasting five years with it, well I’m 13 going on 14 years now and I am still doing all the things I want to do.
‘I travel around a lot, I play lots of golf in different parts of the world, I get to see Stephen, and my other two children are involved in sport.
‘My eldest daughter is married to Dougie Freedman the director of football at Crystal Palace and my second daughter is married to Brian Davis who plays on the PGA Golf Tour.
‘I say to people that it is a physical illness but it is a mental fight against it. If you give in and get weak I believe it will have you, but if you are strong mentally you can give it a good fight and you fight it as long as you possibly can. That’s where I am.
‘I know it is never going to go away, it is how long I can fight it and how long the wonderful staff can give me the treatment that will help me fight it.’
Things to look forward to include a World Cup this summer and a man who won 61 caps believes England have suddenly been blessed with the best choice of goalkeepers for years.
‘People say it’s a problem position for Gareth Southgate but I disagree,’ he says. ‘Joe Hart has 70-odd caps and has deserved them, but he hasn’t had a strong challenger and now he does have.
‘Now he has Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford, the boy Angus Gunn at Norwich who is out on loan from Manchester City is coming through, so all of a sudden you are going to have three or four goalkeepers.
‘Then there’s Nick Pope at Burnley who has had a fantastic season, even though it might be too soon for him. We are better than we have been for many years.’
Bill Shankly would have loved all that optimism. Much, you suspect, like Jurgen Klopp.