Ray Clemence, the goalkeeper behind five league titles and three European Cups at Anfield, died on this day in 2020 at the age of 72.
Match of the Day went out in colour for the first time with Liverpool’s win over West Ham United in 1969, Clemence and Kevin Keegan won their first England caps side by side in 1972, and in 2018 Trent Alexander-Arnold scored his first goal for his country.
2020: Remembering Ray Clemence
In 2020, Liverpool lost one of the greatest goalkeepers in their history. Ray Clemence died at 72, and the tributes came from Anfield, from Tottenham Hotspur and from right across the game.
Bill Shankly had spotted him at Scunthorpe United and brought him to Anfield as an 18-year-old in June 1967, for £18,000. He had to bide his time behind Tommy Lawrence, but from the start of the 1970-71 season the gloves were his.
What followed was a decade of almost relentless success. In 665 appearances in all competitions, Clem won five league titles, three European Cups, two UEFA Cups, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the 1977 UEFA Super Cup. In 1978-79 he stood behind a defence that conceded only 16 league goals in 42 games.
His last game for the club was the 1981 European Cup final in Paris, where he kept a clean sheet and Alan Kennedy’s late goal beat Real Madrid. That summer he joined Spurs, and at the end of his first season there he won the FA Cup again.
He collected 61 England caps, sharing the job for years with Peter Shilton, and later passed on what he knew as a coach at Tottenham and with the Football Association. At Anfield, though, he will always be remembered first as Liverpool’s goalkeeper: no one in that position has matched what he won there, and many still regard him as the finest the club has ever had.
1969: Liverpool in colour
Fifty-seven years ago today, in 1969, Match of the Day was shown in colour for the first time, and the cameras were at Anfield. The programme’s very first edition, on BBC Two in 1964, had also come from there, when Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-2.
This time Bill Shankly’s side beat Ron Greenwood’s West Ham United 2-0. Chris Lawler opened the scoring after 27 minutes and Bobby Graham added the second on the hour.
Ron Yeats, captain as usual, was celebrating his 32nd birthday, and apprentice Steve Peplow made his debut before making way for Roger Hunt. The visitors had Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Trevor Brooking and Harry Redknapp in their side.
1972: Ray Clemence and Kevin Keegan make their England debuts
Three years later to the day, in 1972, Ray Clemence and Kevin Keegan lined up together for England for the first time, in a World Cup qualifier against Wales at Ninian Park. Bill Shankly had found both of them at Scunthorpe United.
Colin Bell scored the only goal in the first half. Emlyn Hughes was also in the England side, while John Toshack led the line for Wales.
2018: Trent Alexander-Arnold off the mark
It was 2018, and Wembley had turned out to say goodbye to Wayne Rooney, back for his 120th and final England cap in a friendly against the United States. Trent Alexander-Arnold, a 20-year-old Merseysider, made sure the night was not only about the past.
Jesse Lingard had already put England ahead when Jadon Sancho slipped the Liverpool right-back in, and Alexander-Arnold drilled a low shot across Brad Guzan and inside the far post for his first international goal. Callum Wilson added a third on his debut as England won 3-0.
Born on this day
Born on this day in 1937, in Aberdeen, Ron Yeats was the man Bill Shankly called his colossus. Signed from Dundee United in July 1961 and made captain, he led Liverpool out of the Second Division in his first season, then lifted two league titles and, in 1965, the club’s first FA Cup.
He played 454 games, more than 400 of them as captain, a tally bettered only by Steven Gerrard, and later served the club for 20 years as chief scout. He died in 2024.
José Miguel González Rey, known to everyone as Josemi, was born in Málaga in 1979. Rafael Benítez’s first signing as Liverpool manager, in the summer of 2004, the right-back made 35 appearances before joining Villarreal in a swap for Jan Kromkamp in January 2006.
Also on this day
- 1902: George Livingstone, Jack Cox, Arthur Goddard and Sam Raybould all scored as Wolverhampton Wanderers were beaten 4-1 at Anfield.
- 1913: Donald McKinlay scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Preston North End.
- 1919: Dick Forshaw scored twice and Albert Pearson once in a 3-3 draw with Bradford Park Avenue at Anfield.
- 1924: Dick Forshaw scored, but Burnley won 2-1.
- 1930: Jimmy Smith scored twice and Leicester City’s Adam Black put through his own net as Liverpool won 3-1 at Anfield.
- 1947: Billy Liddell scored, but Sunderland won 5-1 at Roker Park.
- 1952: Cliff Holton scored a hat-trick as Arsenal won 5-1 at Anfield, with Jimmy Payne on target for Liverpool.
- 1955: Bill Shankly resigned as manager of Workington.
- 1958: Louis Bimpson scored and Albert Mays put through his own net, but Derby County won 3-2 in the Second Division.
- 1975: Brian Hall and Ray Kennedy scored in a 2-1 win at Newcastle United.
- 1980: Ray Kennedy and Terry McDermott scored in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
- 1987: John Aldridge scored in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
- 2008: Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard scored in a 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers.
