MY INTERVIEW WITH RAY CLEMENCE
The old saying “Never meet your heroes!” is one that I don’t like. I have met my heroes and I have never been disappointed.
The old saying is that if one day you meet your hero you will come to find that they aren’t as magical as you thought they were. It will hit you like a tonne of bricks and you will find out that maybe you weren’t smart, that you chose a hero that wasn’t perfect and you were somehow wrong….for a long time.
I don’t remember the first time I watched Ray Clemence on the telly doing what great goalkeepers do. The entire Liverpool squad was magical. In my eyes and in the eyes of many, they were European Royalty…scoring the most beautiful goals and winning every cup on the planet. Of course every schoolboy I knew wanted to be a goal scorer like Kevin Keegan or Ian Rush but I knew deep down that would be impossible for me. I couldn’t emulate those guys. I was told I was an intelligent player (I was an intelligent kid after all) and back in the day that compliment was handed out to two kinds of kids- the really good football players that could be the captain or guys like me…not very good at scoring or running but maybe as a left back or a goalkeeper they could do well.
I was disheartened for maybe a minute. You mean I could put on that green shirt that Ray Clemence used to wear and be a goalkeeper? I could save goals instead of score goals? From then on, Clemence became the player I idolized. I remember watching him during the matches and not really focusing on what the rest of the squad was doing. We were gonna win…that’s a given! But I wanted to see Clemence make some saves.
I remember in one match Clemence tipped the ball over the cross bar and I thought…Can a goalie do that? Is that allowed?
The next day I tried to do that myself only to find out you need to be pretty tall and athletic and have great timing to do that. I kept trying to tip the ball over the net but ended up putting the ball in the back of the net. It’s easier to catch the ball son!
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My first ever poster I put up on my wall was that of Ray Clemence. It was printed by Topps….I think….it was a million years ago to me…I want to say that it came out of a Cereal Box but that isn’t a heroic enough memory. If I was printing legend…I would say a gust of wind blew it and it landed on my feet. Better yet, a gust of wind blew it and I dived to save it from landing in a puddle. I saved that poster even when he transferred to Spurs. Many many years later, that poster travelled with me to LA. I ended up giving it to someone who was a Liverpool fan as well. An ex pat stuck in the soccer barren waste land that was the US in the late 80’s early 90’s.
After watching Clemence religiously and trying out every move he had…I was quite frustrated that I was not as good as he was in goal. How could I not be as good as him? I would watch him on TV more, studying every move. Every post match interview. Newspaper articles. I was convinced that Clemence was good because he wore his goalkeeper gloves. His gloves had to have magic powers. And…If I wore those gloves…I’d be just as good as he was. Totally logical. I was sure of this. It was his gloves.
I don’t remember how long I had to wait to get those gloves. But I eventually got them. My dad probably got tired of hearing about them every day and broke down and bought me a pair. I’ll print the legend right now and say it was a Christmas and Birthday gift and that I couldn’t ask for anything ever again. I do remember wearing them for the first time. It was at scout’s football match in Acton. Yes! I remember where I wore those gloves for the first time but I can’t remember the date or just about anything else really important. However, I do remember a few girls being impressed by the fact I was wearing football gloves and that from then on I was known as the guy with the football gloves. By the way, the gloves didn’t help me one bit. I was still just as rubbish as I was before my dad got them and I was subsequently moved to left back…a position I made my own from then on.
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You can read about Ray Clemence in the thousands of articles that are being written about him as I type this. You will read about his time at Liverpool and on the England team. His move to Spurs. You will undoubtedly read many quotes from people about him. Quotes that will span from the 60’s till now. But All I want to say is ….
Ray Clemence was my hero.
And I met him.
Decades after I put up that small poster and a million miles from England… I met my hero.
In a hotel lobby in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to meet Mr Clemence and interview him for my podcast. I don’t get nervous when doing interviews (anymore) after all, we’re both humble servants of the Soccer Gods but I was nervous this time. I didn’t want to come across as fan so I wore purple. If I wore Red or White or anything with a Liverpool badge it would surely mean I wasn’t a proper football guy. I made sure I had even more time to get to the interview so I set out three hours before the start time. LA Traffic was not going to make me look bad that’s for sure. When I got to the hotel…I scoured the place to find the best seating arrangements and let the bar tender know that drinks were going to be on my tab and that he should be available. I tried very hard to remain pro. But one of the first things I said to Mr Clemence when I met him was “I had your poster on my wall when I was a kid!”
Couldn’t help it.
The interview went well. I’ve republished it on the website.
After the interview was done my brother called me up and asked me how it went.
“It was good”
“Did you get his autograph?”
“No man! How would that look?”
“Any regrets?”
“No…I wasn’t wrong!”
Rest in Peace Mr Clemence.
Thank you for being my Hero.
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