How Doncaster Rovers nearly ended glittering career of Ray Clemence before it even began

Regarded as Liverpool’s greatest ever goalkeeper, Clemence died on Sunday at the age of 72 after a battle with cancer.

During his glittering career, he won a string of England caps, league titles, European trophies and plenty of other silverware.

But back in 1967, Doncaster Rovers nearly put paid to all that – and here’s how.

Back then, Clemence was just starting out in the world of football, and was the man between the sticks for a lowly Scunthorpe United.

However, he’d already attracted the interest of footballing giants Liverpool and on May 5, 1967, United, with Clemence in goal, took on Rovers in a Division Three match at Belle Vue.

Rovers came away 3-0 winners, with Clemence at fault for two of the goals.

To make matters worse for the young keeper, among the crowd in Doncaster on that Friday night was Reds managerial legend Bill Shankly.

“I remember telling my parents my big chance had just gone straight out the window,” Clemence recalled. “That summer, because I was still on only £11 a week, I took a job on the deckchairs at Skegness beach.”

A few weeks later, while at his summer job, he spotted a man running towards him.

“My mum had phoned the council to send someone to find me. She’d had a call from the club to say Scunthorpe had agreed a fee with Liverpool and it was up to me if I wanted to go.

“My life changed at that moment, as I’m standing there stacking deckchairs.”

From that point on, life would never be the same again for Clemence following his £18,000 transfer.

A key part of the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1970s and 80s, he helped the Reds win five First Division titles and three European Cups during 11 years as first choice at Anfield in which he remarkably missed only six league matches.

The former England international, who conceded just 16 goals in the 42-match 1978-79 season, played more than 1,100 games for Scunthorpe, Liverpool, Tottenham and the national team over a 23-year career.

As well as the league titles and European Cup success, Clemence also won an FA Cup, a League Cup, two UEFA Cups and the European Super Cup.

He moved to Tottenham in 1981, making 330 appearances for the north London club.

He helped them win the FA Cup in 1982 and the UEFA Cup two years later, although he was a spectator for their final victory over Anderlecht as stand-in Tony Parks proved Spurs’ penalty shoot-out hero.

Clemence hung up his gloves for good in 1988 and joined the Tottenham coaching staff.

He also had a spell in charge of Barnet before, in 1996, joining the England coaching team under Glenn Hoddle. He remained part of the backroom staff until his retirement in 2013.