Ray Clemence: What We've Missed is Luck.

Thursday, 8th April 2010 at 12:10pm

As part of the England national football team over the past 13 years and currently in the employ of head coach Fabio Capello, few people are more qualified to talk about the Three Lions of England than former Liverpool, Tottenham and England goalkeeper Ray Clemence.

In a career that spanned 23 years, he made more than 1,000 appearances at club level, represented his country 61 times and is one of the most decorated footballers in England's history.

Clemence began his playing career at Scunthorpe United before making the switch to Bill Shankly's Liverpool in 1967.

During his spell at Liverpool, Clemence won five league titles, three European Cups, two UEFA Cups, the FA Cup and a League Cup as an integral part of a Liverpool team that swept all before them.

In 1972, Clemence made his debut for England and would feature in the side over the course of the next 12 years.

Despite being an international for more than a decade, he only accumulated 61 caps due to the presence of Peter Shilton, another equally gifted goalkeeper, and indecision by the England management which decided to alternate between the two.

Ray Clemence

After winning his third European Cup at Anfield, Clemence joined Tottenham Hotspur. He remained at the club for the next seven years, racking up 330 appearances and winning another FA Cup and a UEFA Cup before retiring.

In 1996, he was approached by then England manager Glenn Hoddle to take on the role of goalkeeping coach for the national side.

Clemence would hold that position under the next three coaches - Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren - before being replaced by Franco Tancredi when Fabio Capello took over at the helm.

Still part of the squad, Clemence recently enjoyed a 10-day visit to Phuket before the business of helping plot England's World Cup finals campaign gets underway.

The Gazette's Daniel Ogunshakin caught up with Ray at the Loy Kratong Lounge of the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket to talk about his thoughts on Thailand, his time at Liverpool and England's chances in South Africa.

Given the way the England team has performed in recent months, it was no surprise to find Ray in high spirits and feeling relaxed. And like so many who visit the 'Land of Smiles', he is full of praise for the local people with their warm smiles and welcoming personality.

"I just think the people here are so special," he said.

"Nothing is too much trouble and everything is done with a smile, no matter what you ask them."

Sporting quite a tan, it's clear that Ray and his wife also enjoy the weather that Phuket has to offer.

"At this time of year it [the weather] couldn't be better, whereas in England it's wet, cold and it's dark," he said.

"It's just a wonderful place to have a little break before Christmas."

With international football not being played week in, week out, it's easy to imagine that people in Ray's position can get away on a regular basis. Somewhat surprisingly, however, that's not the case.

"I don't get away as much as I'd like, but then most people don't get away as often as they'd like," he said.

"What my job does offer me is the opportunity to get away at times when maybe other people don't.

"From September through to November we've had a busy program with qualifying for the World Cup and the friendly game [against Brazil] in Doha.

"Between then and the World Cup draw we've had two to three weeks where things were calming down, so it was the ideal opportunity to have 10 days away with my wife.

"Once the draw has taken place, things will start getting busy again. There'll be so much preparation work to be done to make sure we're in the right frame of mind and are physically and mentally prepared."

The conversation switches to his playing days and like most former players, Ray's eyes twinkle as we look back at his time at Liverpool when the club dominated English and European football.

"It was just a fantastic time to be at Liverpool Football Club," he said.

"We were winning everything there was to win, you had 54,000 people at Anfield every single week willing you to win the game and you had a repartee with the fans."

With less than 200 days to go until the World Cup in South Africa kicks off, excitement is building across the globe as football fans begin to debate who might lift the famous trophy on July 11.

As part of the England coaching setup, Ray knows better than most about England's chances of victory in 2010, but when asked, he was determined not to talk up England's chances too much.

"What we have to do is to make sure we keep our feet on the ground," he said.

"Our world ranking is seven. If you look at it that way, we should be in the quarter finals and anything past that is a bonus.

"Can we go all the way? If you get to a semifinal anything can happen. That's where you need a little bit of luck and your best players playing well on the day. That's not what we've had in the past.

"I would never say we can win the World Cup because it's the kiss of death.

"We all want it desperately and it's been a long time. We have a confident squad and if everyone is fit and on good form, then I'll think we'll go a long way. I hope I'm sitting here next November on my holiday showing you a medal."

England fans certainly hope so too.

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