[YCFC33]

John Charles CBE
1931-2004

Nicknames King John, the Gentle Giant.
Birthplace: Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.
Played for: Swansea, Leeds United, Juventus, Roma, Cardiff City.
Managed: Hereford, Merthyr Tydfil, Hamilton Steelers (Canada) (Technical Director)

Biography: Born 27th December 1931, the boy from the backstreets of Swansea's humble Cwbbwrla district was to go on to become one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen, and Leeds United were privileged he played for them.

Acknowledged as the greatest ever British all-rounder, for he was equally adapt at centre-half and centre-forward, Charles managed to break the Leeds United club scoring record with 42 goals in a season at a time when he was appearing at centre-half in internationals for Wales.

He was signed as a sixteen year-old by Major Frank Buckley after being on the groundstaff at his home town club, and made his United debut a year later in a friendly against the then Scottish First Division side Queen of the South at Elland Road. It was a game that was to change his life forever.

In the week earlier the visitors forward Billy Houliston had ripped England apart in Scotland's 3-1 first post-war win at Wembley, but Charles managed to do what respected English internationals could not and marked Houliston completely out of the game. Houliston was quick to praise the young talent, labelling him "the best centre-half I've ever played against."

The Yorkshire Post that day also took note of the young Charles, its correspondent at the time, Richard Ulyatt spoke of Charles as a great prospect - how right he was.

A year later he became Wales's youngest international when he played against Northern Ireland aged 18 years and 71 days.

When he was moved to centre-forward Leeds suddenly reaped the benefits of his prowess in and around the penalty area, scoring 26 goals in his first season there in the 1952-53 season, and then the next season saw him achieve a record that has yet to be beaten at Elland Road, and conceivably never will be. He scored no less than 42 goals, the highest in one season by and Leeds player ever, and the best record in the country that year.

A powerful header of the ball, just as many goals came from his forehead as his famous boots.

Former team-mate Jack Charlton remembers just how good and acomplished an all round player he was. "John Charles was a team unto himself," he said.

"He was quick, he was a very, very strong runner and he was the greatest header of the ball I ever saw. His power in the air was phenomenal."

In 1956 Charles helped Leeds finally gain promotion to the old First Division, winning the Second Division Championship, and it gave the brilliant Welshman the chance to test himself amongst the best centre-halves in the country, and for once people could compart him with the best strikers too.

He surpassed them all. In that first season he was the First Division's top marksman with 38 goals and many said he would have found the net even more in a better team.

At that time he started to attract the interest of Europe's top clubs. Real Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus led the chase. Leeds resisted for a year, but eventually, in August 1957, Charles signed for Juventus for £65,000, then a record transfer fee for a British player.

Moving to the ultra tough Italian league was supposed to really test him, but again Charles emerged as a winner in everything he did for Juve.

During Charles's five years with Juventus, the "Old Lady" of Italian football won three Serie A Championships and lifted the Italian Cup twice. In 155 appearances he scored 93 goals and was never, throughout his career, booked or sent off. He became known in Italy as the "Gentle Giant", and figured in the top three in the European player of the year polls for 1958 and 1959.

A canvas bearing the image of John Charles still hangs today upon the walls of the players lounge in the Stadio delle Alpi. alongside images of footballing gods such of Sivori, Zoff, Altafini, Capello, Cabrini, Tardelli, Rossi and Platini.

Those who knew John Charles well also knew him as a jovial, carefree man and an entertainer. Even recently at an Elland Road awards dinner he was called up on stage to treat the assembled guests to a song, and like many of his fellow Welshman, he had a singing voice that did him proud. He even went on to produce a record that rose into the Italian hit parade.

In April 1962 he returned to Leeds, but he did not have the same impact as in his first spell at the club. He admitted that Leeds had grown into a better team during his absence, and he was no longer the star. He subsequently regretted leaving Juventus too early.

He played just 11 games, scoring three goals, and in November departed once again for Italy, and attempted an Italian comeback with AS Roma, moving for £70,000, but the magic was missing and he returned to Cardiff City. He was then a player at Hereford and later took on the role of manager there. He also turned out for Welsh side Merthyr Tydfil.

Charles has also been a publican and shopkeeper.

John Charles helped Wales make it through to the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals, where they lost 1-0 to Brazil, a game in which he sadly took no part through injury. In total he played 38 times for Wales, scoring 15 goals, and was awarded the CBE in 2001.

He went on to play for AS Roma and Cardiff City, before finishing his career with non-league sides Hereford United and Merthyr Tydfil.

One thing he always was, and will continue to be, is a legend of the beautiful game and a true Leeds United Legend.

[nico21horia]

Carlos Valderrama

Carlos Valderrama stands out in a crowd, but not just because of his hair. Cultured and elegant with a ball at his feet, his genius is history in the world of football.

Dirt streets for a pitch and almost anything for a ball, Colombia produced its greatest footballer the way so many nations produced theirs. Those same streets of Santa Monica, birthplace of Valderrama, are now home to a twenty foot, seven tonne bronze statue of the man known as "El Pibé". A fitting homage to a player who brought great joy to the nation of Colombia, and anyone who had the privilege to watch him play.

"El Pibé" or The Kid, began his career at Colombian outfit Union Magdelena in 1981 as a twenty year old, relatively late considering his talent.

Staying in his home country enjoying stints with Deportivo Cali, and Millionarios, he moved to French side Montpellier in 1988 where he achieved Cup success. However the French government didn't warm to his tax affairs and he left for Valladolid in Spain after two years. A return to Colombia a couple of years later was followed by a remarkable eight years in the MLS of the US. Considering the career of a central midfielder is more often than not a little shorter than those of players in other positions, it is testament to El Pibé that he could play into his forties.

It is true that Valderrama had a remarkable playing style. A sixth sense for positioning meant he was simply ahead of the game. Thus seeing Carlos sprint was like catching a glimpse of Jan Molby in full flight - it never happened, although unlike Molby it wasn't his weight that held up proceedings.

One of his greatest admirers, Diego Maradona, said after The Kid retired: "He showed all Colombians how to play football. He could still be playing today, he doesn't need to run anywhere to play".

Natural ability was the reason Valderrama could play the game at his pace. A fulcrum in midfield, his range of passing was similar to a Koeman and Redondo rolled into one. Pinpoint long balls and delightful short balls made the Colombian famous for creating attacks and delivering the telling pass. Valderrama played the game at a stroll, because he could.

From a fine footballing dynasty; his father, three uncles, four cousins and two brothers all professional footballers, Carlos stood out a mile with his unruly electrified frizzy red hair. Destined to play for his country, he fulfilled his dream in 1985, and shortly afterwards became captain. Obtaining 111 caps, he is his country's most capped player, leading his side to three World Cup A wonderful memory is of him beating three players and putting Rincon through to equalise against the tournament winners West Germany in 1990 - perhaps El Pibé's finest moment in his country's colours. Although Colombia often failed to deliver as promised, they still entertained, with Carlos in the middle. Unwittingly a chat with club colleague Roger Milla may have led to Higuita's dribbling blunder in Italia '90 as the two had talked about the manic keeper's tendency for madness.

Sadly El Pibé was a great friend of Colombian defender Escobar who was famously killed after scoring an own goal in the World Cup of 1994. "It's very difficult for me to talk about him. It's very painful, he was very close to me. That has been my worst experience playing the sport".

In an extended career twilight, Valderrama became Major League Soccer's all-time leader in assists, was the League's most valuable player and an MLS all-star amongst other things. Adding these accolades to his two-time South American player of the year, three-time Colombian player of the year and outstanding Copa America Player awards, The Kid can be proud of his career.

At his testimonial, the likes of Enzo Francescoli, Jose Chilavert and from the stands Maradona, celebrated Carlos's career. "The time has come for me to say goodbye, and I do so with all the tranquillity in the world".

Now he is focused on becoming a coach and eventually national coach. "I enjoy a challenge, but one cannot reach this post without adequate credentials. I have to prepare myself and get myself qualified.

Before he does become national coach, he can listen to a song recorded in honour of him by Madrid de los Austrios while sipping one of the 30,000 bottles of limited edition wine tributed to him by an Argentine wine house. The president of Roices de Agrela noted: "This will enable Colombians to toast his footballing success."

The world will see Carlos Valderrama again soon, of that there is little doubt. "I love soccer. It's inside of me. It's in my blood".

[楊國棟]

Stuart Pearce

Nickname:Psycho
Played for: Wealdstone, Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Manchester City
Managed:Nottingham Forest(briefly as cartaker), Manchester City

Biography
Born in west London, he failed a trial at Queens Park Rangers and then rejected an offer from Hull City, instead settling happily into a career in the non-league game with his local side, Wealdstone while training and working as an electrician and plumber. For almost five years, he was the first choice full back of a highly successful team, then amongst the biggest names of non-league football.

In 1983 Wealdstone received an unexpected offer of £30,000 (then a huge sum for a semi-professional player) for Pearce from top-flight club Coventry City. Manager Bobby Gould had been to watch Wealdstone, and was hugely impressed by Pearce's determination and combative attitude. Pearce agreed to the move excitedly - making his professional debut for Coventry immediately. Quickly establishing himself as an uncompromising left back who played hard but fair, he was then bought by Brian Clough for Nottingham Forest two years later.

Pearce spent more than ten years at Forest, most of it as club captain and briefly also as player manager, a caretaker role he held while the club found a long-term boss. This short period in charge saw him win the manager of the month award, although ultimately resulted in Nottingham Forest's relegation. During his eventful playing career he won two League Cups and the Simod Cup, while also scoring from a free kick in the 1991 FA Cup final, when Forest were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur.

When Nottingham Forest suffered relegation from the FA Premier League, Pearce left for Newcastle United and reached another FA Cup final, though again he emerged on the defeated side. He went on to play for West Ham United, after being left out of the Newcastle side for over a year by the then manager - Ruud Gullit. Pearce left West Ham after an unsuccessful period and moved to Manchester City where he was slowed by age and injury.

He made his debut for England against Brazil in 1987 (the 999th player to receive an England cap) and, from 1988 onwards, became the first choice left back for his country, in so doing wrestling the number 3 jersey away from Kenny Sansom prior to Sansom's thirtieth birthday. He became Forest's most capped outfield player and ended up with 78 international appearances to his name.

In 1990, Pearce had a goal ruled out from a free kick during a World Cup group game against the Netherlands. England progressed to the semi-finals, and Pearce was one of two unfortunate players to miss a penalty in the shoot-out which took place against West Germany after the match had ended in a 1-1 draw. Pearce left the field in tears, though was never blamed for England's defeat as his penalty was saved by the goalkeeper and was on target for the goal, unlike the one which followed from Chris Waddle, which ballooned over the crossbar.

Pearce played in an unsuccessful Euro 92 campaign for England, when they failed to win any of their group games. He had a thunderous free kick strike the underside of the crossbar and bounce away from goal in a drawn game against France. Moments before taking the free kick, Pearce was headbutted by French defender Basile Boli, leaving a gash on his cheek. When England won the free kick Pearce immediately disregarded his injury and rushed to take it. The referee insisted on Pearce having the blood wiped from his face first, but Pearce soon returned and unleashed his thunderbolt, which unfortunately failed to go in. England's failure to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA included a personal nightmare for Pearce, when his underhit back pass allowed forward Davide Gualtieri to score for San Marino (who at the time had never won an international game) inside the first eight seconds of their qualifier. England still won the game 7-1, but qualification was already impossible.

When Terry Venables became England coach later in 1994, Pearce lost his place to Graeme Le Saux but then regained it after the Blackburn Rovers defender suffered a broken leg. Pearce stayed in the side into the Euro 96 competition, laying his ghosts to rest with a successful penalty in a quarter-final shoot-out against Spain, which England won. His forceful, emotional celebration before an ecstatic Wembley crowd became one of English football's most celebrated images. He repeated the feat in the semi-final shoot-out against Germany but once again the Germans emerged victorious.

After the tournament, Pearce joined fellow England penalty missers Chris Waddle and Gareth Southgate (who missed in Euro 96) in a light-hearted commercial for Pizza Hut in which they poked fun at their own misfortunes.

Pearce played only briefly under Glenn Hoddle and seemed to have completed his international career with 76 caps by the time he scaled down his career at Newcastle and then West Ham. However, the appointment of Keegan to the England job prompted a recall for a 36 year old Pearce for two qualifying games for Euro 2000. Pearce's broken leg later put paid to further international chances and he ended his international career with 78 caps, which for a time put him in the all-time top ten appearance makers for England.

Pearce's last club was Manchester City, where he spent one season as a player-coach, missing a penalty in his final game as a professional footballer, even though goalkeeper Dave Beasant had promised not to attempt a save. Had he scored, Pearce would have achieved 100 career goals.

He remained at Manchester City as a coach, and was appointed caretaker manager of the club on March 10, 2005 following the departure of Keegan. He expressed his wish on appointment to get the job permanently, though accepted that this would depend on the results he achieved during his temporary period in charge. On May 12, it was announced he would be appointed on a permanent basis. His first season in charge was mixed; a reasonable opening three months, plus some good publicity thanks to Pearce's eccentricities on the touchline, was tempered by a poor ending to the campaign as City lost nine of their last ten games of the season.

Pearce is a known devotee of punk rock, has seen The Stranglers nearly 30 times, and has had a record label named after him by the band, (Psycho Records). He also enjoys reading, going to the theatre and owns racehorses with his wife, Liz.

Throughout his career, he was given the affectionate nickname of 'Psycho' for his unforgiving style of play. This was initially a tag afforded to him only by Forest fans, though later it was adopted by England supporters too. A compilation of computer games was released as Psycho's Soccer Collection in 1992.

Although Pearce, with 78 caps, stands currently as the 12th most capped player for England, he did not even emerge as the most capped left back - his predecessor Kenny Sansom achieved that with 86 caps, which places him seventh in the all-time list. However, in a 2000 poll to find England's greatest XI, the public voted overwhelmingly for Stuart Pearce to take the left back spot. Sansom and Ashley Cole, the other candidates in the poll, trailed well behind.

His autobiography, Psycho, was released in 2001 and became a Sunday Times best seller.

This post has been edited by youngyjr: 09 August 2006 - 04:45 PM

[Keely-DRFC]

Charlie Williams




Doncaster Rovers
Centre Half 1949-1959.
Football League. Appearances: 157. Goals: 0.
FA Cup. Appearances: 14. Goals: 0.
FL Cup. Appearances: 0. Goals: 0

People forget that he was a footballer so like yeah. Me old flower

Charles Adolphus Williams MBE (23 December 1927—2 September 2006) was a mixed-race English professional footballer (one of the first black players in British football after the Second World War)and later became Britain's first well-known black stand-up comedian. He became famous from his appearances on Granada Television's The Comedians and ATV's The Golden Shot, delivering his catchphrase, "me old flower" in his broad Yorkshire accent.


Early life and football career
Williams was born in Royston, South Yorkshire, a small mining village near Barnsley. His father, also Charles, had come to England in 1914 from Barbados, and enlisted in the Royal Engineers. After the First World War, his father settled in Royston, where he sold groceries from a horse and cart, and married a local girl, Doris Cook. His father has been forced to give up his job as a greengrocer as a result of trench foot acquired in France, and depended on National Assistance.

After leaving school aged 14, Williams worked at Upton Colliery during the Second World War, a reserved occupation. He played football for the colliery team, before turning professional, and signing for Doncaster Rovers in 1948, aged 19. A centre-half, he played for the first team in 1950, but then remained in the reserves until 1955, when he became an established first team player for four years. He played 171 times for Rovers in total, but scored only one goal, in a second division game away to Barnsley on 24 March 1956. In his own words, "I was never a fancy player, but I could stop them buggers that were."


Showbusiness career
Following his retirement from the game in 1959, Williams tried his hand as a singer in local working men's clubs, but it was his comic chat between the songs that was best received, so he decided to move into comedy full-time. He eventually became Britain's first well-known black television comedian.[3][1] He came to prominence from 1971, when he began appearing regularly on The Comedians. The show broadcast stand-up routines from relatively unknown but often very experienced club comedians, including Frank Carson, Mike Reid and Bernard Manning. The novel combination of a black man with a Yorkshire accent and his first-hand experience of life in the British working class made him unmistakeable.

Williams comedy was often at his own expense, and particularly his colour. He used to respond to heckling by saying: "If you don't shut up, I'll come and move in next door to you".[ Like other popular comedians of his era, his comedy included jokes about "Pakis" and "coons". His reinforcement of his audience's prejudices and negative race stereotypes was perhaps a necessary product of the environment and time in which where his career began, typified by a resurgent National Front, a minstrelsy variety show in the form of The Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC, and the sitcom Love Thy Neighbour on ITV. Nevertheless, he was a role model for a new generation of British black comedians, such as Lenny Henry and Gary Wilmot, growing up in the 1970s, when almost all others were white.

He reached the pinnacle of his comedy career in the early 1970s. In 1972, he spent a six-month season at the London Palladium; presented his own show, It's Charlie Williams, on Granada Television; appeared on This is Your Life; and appeared at the Royal Variety Performance. In 1973, he presented a one-off special Charlie Williams Show on BBC2,[6] and published an autobiography, Ee-I've Had Some Laughs. He was also the host of ATV's popular game show The Golden Shot for a short six-month period from late 1973 to early 1974.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, his brand of humour was becoming old-fashioned, and his career declined. He caused offence to some by defending the Robertsons golliwog trade mark, and for saying that immigrants to the UK should conform to the British way of life.

He retired after a final tour in 1995.


Later life
Williams became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999 for his charity work. He was given a lifetime achievement award at the Black Comedy Awards in 2000, where it was recognised that he had "broken down barriers. In 2004, he was voted Doncaster Rovers' "all-time cult hero" by viewers of the BBC's Football Focus programme

Willliams died at Barnsley General Hospital on the 2nd September 2006. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease and dementia for some time. His funeral took place at St Mary's church in Barnsley on 12 September 2006.

[LFCMike]

EMLYN HUGHES

Date of Birth: 28/08/47
Birthplace: Barrow
Liverpool Debut: 4th March 1967 v Stoke City (H) Football League Division One: Won 2-1
1st team games: 665
1st team goals: 48
Other clubs: Blackpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rotherham United (player/manager), Hull City, Mansfield Town, Swansea City
International caps while with Liverpool: 59
International goals while with Liverpool: 1
Honours with Liverpool: First Division Championship 1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77 & 1978/79, FA Cup 1974, European Cup 1977 & 1978, UEFA Cup 1973 & 1976, Charity Shield 1974, 1976 & 1977 (shared), European Super Cup 1977, Football Writers Palyer of the Year 1977

Full back, centre back and midfielder he was one of the great Liverpool captains and the first to hold aloft the European Cup after the majestic 3-1 victory over Borrussia Moenchengladbach in Rome in 1977.
Hughes, who also captained England and won 62 caps, was signed as a 19-year-old by Bill Shankly from Blackpool for £65,000 in 1967 after a mere 31 League and Cup appearances. But his infectious enthusiasm, skill and endless drive combined to make him a player of impressive stature and also prompted Everton fans to give him the enduring nickname 'Crazy Horse'.

Barrow-born Hughes was an inspirational figure for club and country and crowned his energetic displays with some spectacular goals, including two in the Mersey derby win at Everton in March 1973.

Hughes, an OBE, came from a sporting family; his father was former Barrow and Britain Rugby League star Fred, both his brother and uncle were R L professionals and one of his aunts was an England hockey international. His Anfield career ended when he joined Wolves for £90,000 in 1979.

In 2003, it was announced that he was suffering from brain cancer, for which he underwent surgery. Hughes continued to battle a cancer-related tumour until his death at his Sheffield home on November 9, 2004 at the age of 57.

A minute's silence was held the following evening at Anfield before Liverpool's game against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup and was impeccably observed. His funeral service took place at Sheffield Cathedral.

Hughes was married to Barbara and had a son and daughter, both named after himself (Emlyn Jr. and Emma Lynn). His last public appearance had been at his daughter's wedding, nine months before his death.

Emlyn is a much loved character amongst the Anfield Faithful and was voted in the top 10 at No.10 on the Official Liverpool Football Club web site poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop.

This post has been edited by Carra23: 22 January 2007 - 11:12 AM

[B-Man07]

Ray Clemence



Ray Clemence (born 5 August 1948) was one of English and European football's best and most decorated goalkeepers ever and part of the all-conquering Liverpool. team of the 1970s.




[edit] Life and playing career
Born in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England Clemence made his debut for Scunthorpe United. in 1966 and was spotted and signed by Liverpool manager Bill Shankly a year later, joining the Reds for £18,000 on the 24 June 1967. He made his debut and kept his first clean-sheet in a League Cup 3rd round tie at Anfield on the 25 September 1968, Swansea City. were the visitors and were beaten 2-0. He was nurtured through the reserve side over the next two years, with the occasional senior appearance, until 1970, at which point he became the club's first choice goalkeeper.

In 1971, Liverpool reached the FA Cup final where Clemence played well but was powerless to prevent Arsenal. scoring twice in extra time to peg back Liverpool's lead and win the game 2-1. However, there would be joy for Clemence two seasons later when Liverpool won both the League title and UEFA Cup, with Clemence saving a penalty in the final of the latter against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The penalty save meant that Liverpool took a 3-0 lead to Germany with them rather than a 3-1, Gladbach won 2-0 on their home soil and if Jupp Heynckes had beaten Clem from the spot the tie would have finished 3-3 on aggregate with the Germans winning on the away goals rule. 1973/74 saw Liverpool claim yet more silverware winning the F.A Cup at a canter with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Newcastle United..

Clemence was, by now, a regular for England making his debut and keeping his first clean-sheet in the 1-0 World Cup qualifier win over Wales at Ninian Park on the 15 November 1972, unfortunately for Clemence the presence of another great goalkeeper Peter Shilton meant that the England management struggled to decide which keeper was the best, and ended up alternating their selection, without Shilton on the seen Clem would have surely topped 100 caps, whilst Shilton would have ended up with 185 England caps if Clem hadn't been around.

With Clemence in goal, Liverpool won another League and UEFA Cup double in 1976 and then made a courageous bid for a unique treble a year later. They achieved the first leg when they won the League title, but then lost the F.A Cup final to bitter rivals Manchester United. a result that affected Clem and saw him trudge forelornly off the Wembley turf. A consolation was to be had a few days later, however, when the Reds won the European Cup for the first time, defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1, with Clemence, again, being a thorn in the Gladbach side making a series of important saves.

Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 with a narrow 1-0 win over Club Brugge at Wembley, but conceded their League title to Nottingham Forest., to whom they also lost in the League Cup final. In 1979 and 1980, Clemence kept goal as Liverpool clinched both seasons League titles, the '79 title success saw Clemence set a record that was never beaten, under the 2 points for a win system the Merseysiders gained 68 points, Liverpool also only conceded a miserly 16 goals (just 4 at Anfield) which was then a record only beaten recently by Chelsea. who conceded 15, although, it has to be said, the Reds had to play 4 more matches, 42 compared to the Blues 38. Once again in 1981 silverware proudly sat in the Anfield trophy room as they won the League Cup and the European Cup for the third time, the 1-0 win over Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes on the 27 May ultimately proving to be Clemence's last game for the club.

The emergence of the South African-born Bruce Grobbelaar put Clemence under threat for his place for the first time in eleven years (during which period he played in more than 650 matches and missed a mere six) and he decided to ended his association with Liverpool by joining Tottenham Hotspur. for a fee of £300,000. Ironically, the two clubs reached the 1982 League Cup final, which Liverpool won 3-1. Spurs did, however, win the FA Cup, defeating QPR. 1-0 after a 1-1 draw.

Clem's Spurs debut came in a league fixture at Ayresome Park on the 28 August '81, Middlesbrough. couldn't prevent Clemence starting off with win, losing as they did, by 3 goals to 1, his first clean-sheet came 3 games later on the 12 September at Molineux, when he kept Wolverhampton Wanderers. at bay in the 1-0 victory.

Clemence's international career was event-free, in that it coincided with England's least successful era, failing to qualify for two World Cups in 1974 and 1978. Clemence was part of the squad which qualified for Euro 1980 but this ended in failure. In 1982, he was in the squad which qualified for the World Cup, but again England did not progress as far as hoped. Clemence retired from international football shortly afterwards with a total of 61 caps. His rival Shilton ended up as first choice keeper for the rest of the 1980s, playing in two more World Cups and attained a record 125 caps. Clem also had the distinction of captaining England, once, the first keeper to do so since the great Frank Swift, the game in question was a prestigious friendly with Brazil Clemence couldn't prevent the Brazilians from scoring as England lost by a goal to nil.

Spurs won the UEFA Cup in 1984 but Clemence missed the final through injury. He did reach a fifth F.A Cup final in 1987, when his side lost to Coventry City.. He is in a select group of players who have appeared in five or more F.A Cup finals.

He retired in 1988 and joined the coaching staff at Spurs, working his way through to the first team, before leaving to become joint manager of Barnet. (with fellow goalkeeper Gary 'sumo' Phillips) in January 1994. At the start of the 1994/5 season, Ray took sole charge leading Barnet to 9th and 13th in Division 3. In August 1996 he was recruited by his former Spurs and England team-mate Glenn Hoddle as goalkeeping coach for the England team, a position he continued to hold under Hoddle's successors Kevin Keegan and Sven-Göran Eriksson. He remains in that position to this day under Steve McClaren, he is also the head of the F.A's Head of Development Team his role is to oversee the England under 16's, 17's, 18's, 19's and 20 sides working with England U21 coach Stuart Pearce in monitoring the players progress to the U21 side. He also occasionally works as a pundit on TV and radio.

Clemence was awarded an MBE for services to football. His son, Stephen, is a midfield player who came through the ranks at Spurs and now plays for Birmingham City..

On February 2, 2005 Clemence announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that he would spend time away from the England squad whilst he receives treatment. He is the second member of Eriksson's staff to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, Brian Kidd was diagnosed with the disease prior to Euro 2004.

Clemence, who made over 1,000 first team appearances, is still held in very high regard by the Anfield faithful and was voted in at No.11 on the Official Liverpool Football Club web site poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, he was also the highest placed goalkeeper. He was also chosen as goalkeeper in the BBC's Merseyside team of the 20th Century, he also topped the magazine Total Football's poll of the best ever goalkeeper, beating the likes of Shilton, Lev Yashin, Gordon Banks and Pat Jennings.




[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index. php?title=Ray_Clemence&action=edit& section=2" title="Edit section: Career details"&got;edit] Career details
* Liverpool F.C (1967 - 1981) - 665 appearances

• 5 First Division| (Level 1) championship winners medals (1973, 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980)
• FA Cup winners medal (1974)
• 3 European Cup (1977, 1978 and 1981)
• 2 UEFA Cup winners medals (1973 and 1976)
• League Cup winners medal (1981)
• European Super Cup winners medal (1977)
• 5 Charity Shield winners medals (1974, 1976, 1977 (shared), 1979 and 1980)
• 2 First Division (level 1) runners-up medals (1974 and 1978)
• 2 F.A Cup runners-up medal (1971 and 1977)
• Football League Cup runners-up medal 1978
• Charity Shield runners-up medal (1971)
• European Super Cup runners-up medal (1978)

* Tottenham Hotspur F.C (1981 - 1988) - 330 appearances

• F.A Cup winners medal (1982)
• Charity Shield winners medal (1981 (shared))
• F.A Cup runners-up medal (1987)
• Football League Cup runners-up medal (1982)
• Charity Shield runners-up medal (1982)

* England (1972 - 1983) - 61 caps

[Hajduk]

[font="Arial" ][size=6]Davor Suker


Early years
Šuker began playing football in his home town of Osijek with the club NK Osijek, where he played for the first team between 1984 and 1989. He then moved to Dinamo Zagreb, where he played in the following two seasons and scored 34 goals in 60 Yugoslav First League matches, impressing so much that he earned his first call-up to the Yugoslav national team as well as the attention of foreign clubs. In 1991, he moved to Spanish side Sevilla FC.




Career in Spain
Šuker made his Primera División debut for Sevilla on November 17, 1991, coming off the bench as a last-minute substitute in their 1-1 away draw at <a href="http://"http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/RCD_Espanyol_de_Barcelona"" target="_blank"&got;RCD Espanyol de Barcelona. In the following match, at home against Real Sociedad, he made his first appearance from the beginning and went on to score a brace to secure his club a 2-2 draw. He finished his first Sevilla season with 6 goals in 22 appearances, but the following season he improved his record to 13 goals in 33 matches. Especially successful for him was Sevilla's first match of the season, away at Albacete Balompié, where scored his first Primera hat-trick and helped his club to drive home a 4-3 victory.

In the 1993-94 season, he turned into one of the best players in the Spanish Primera and became the second-best goalscorer of the league with 24 goals, six less than FC Barcelona's Romário. He made a total of 34 Primera appearances that season and also netted five braces and one hat-trick. After this, he played another two seasons for Sevilla, scoring 33 goals in 64 appearances in the Spanish Primera.

He went on to move to Real Madrid for the 1996-97 season, in which he repeated the success of scoring 24 goals, only he made 38 appearances that season and was third-best goalscorer of the league, behind FC Barcelona's Ronaldo and Real Betis's Alfonso Pérez. During the same 1996-97 season, he managed to score three hat-tricks in the Primera and led Real Madrid to winning the league title. The realisation of his dream of capturing major trophies continued the following season, when he won the Champions League with Real Madrid, although he only played a couple of stoppage-time minutes in the Final against Juventus.. In the Primera, he scored 10 goals in 29 appearances that season. In the 1998-99 season, his role at Real Madrid nevertheless became largely diminished, despite the fact that he performed well at the 1998 World Cup that preceded the season, and he only scored 4 goals in 19 Primera appearances. By the end of the season, he decided to leave the club after three seasons of playing for them.

His decision to leave Real Madrid also marked the end of his eight-season-long career in the Spanish Primera, which ended with a total of 114 goals in 239 appearances.

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Moving to England
For the 1999-2000 season, Šuker decided to make a move to the English Premiership and signed with <a href="http://"http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C."" target="_blank"&got;Arsenal . He made his league debut on August 22, 1999 in Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United. at Highbury, coming on as a substitute for the final 15 minutes. He subsequently played another two matches as a substitute before finally making his first appearance from the beginning in Arsenal's 3-1 home victory over Aston Villa., where he scored his first two goals in the Premiership. He scored 8 goals, including three braces, in 22 Premiership appearances for Arsenal before moving to West Ham United. for the 2000-01 season. With Arsenal, he also played in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final as an extra-time substitute. Arsenal lost the Final to Turkish side Galatasaray. on penalties, with Šuker missing his.

At West Ham, he never managed to find his place in the first team for a longer period and only made 11 Premiership appearances for the club throughout the season, scoring twice. His career in England ended with the end of that season as he decided to make a move to German side 1860 Munich for the 2001-02 season. His two-season-long Premiership career produced 10 goals in 33 appearances.

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[edit] Last two seasons in Germany
At 1860 Munich, Šuker did not manage to make his <a href="http://"http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Bundesliga_%28football%29"" target="_blank"&got;Bundesliga debut until the 15th matchday of the season on December 1, 2001, when he played all 90 minutes in the club's 1-0 home victory over Energie Cottbus. His first goal for the club came in their first match after winter break, a 3-0 home victory over 1. FC Köln, where he scored the third goal with a header. His highlight of the season came on the final matchday in a 4-2 away victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he netted his only brace in the Bundesliga. He finished his first Bundesliga season with a modest record of 4 goals in 14 appearances.

In his last season in 2002-03, he once again only occasionally played for the club and only scored once in 11 Bundesliga appearances throughout the season. He scored his last goal on November 2, 2002 in 1860 Munich's 3-1 home victory over Arminia Bielefeld and the last match of his professional career was on March 16, 2003 in his club's 1-0 home defeat to VfB Stuttgart. In two seasons of playing Bundesliga football, he only scored five goals in 25 appearances. In this two seasons with 1860 Munich, he also made a total of five German Cup appearances in which he managed to score three goals.

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International career
Already in his youth, Šuker made 25 international appearances and scored 15 goals for various Yugoslav youth national teams. In 1990, he was named to the Yugoslav national team's 22-man squad for the <a href="http://"http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/1990_FIFA_World_Cup"" target="_blank"&got;1990 World Cup finals in Italy, but did not receive any playing time during the tournament.

On December 22, 1990, he made his debut for then newly founded Croatian national team in their friendly match against Romania. In 1991, he nevertheless also won his only two caps for Yugoslavia, since Croatia was not yet registered with neither FIFA nor UEFA at the time, and scored his first international goal with the team. In his second match for Croatia, a friendly against Mexico in 1992, he scored a brace in Croatia's 3-0 victory. He then led Croatia to their first major international tournament, the 1996 European Championship, with a fantastic record of 12 goals in 10 matches during the qualifying.

At the final tournament in England, he scored three goals in four matches, including two in the 3-0 group-stage win over defending champions Denmark, where he set the final score with an unforgettable looping shot over Denmark's keeper Peter Schmeichel. He then went on to help Croatia to qualify for their first World Cup as he scored five goals in nine appearances during the qualifying for the 1998 finals in France.

He went on to claim the Golden Boot at the tournament, scoring six goals in seven matches and leading the Croatian team to their sensational third-place finish in the country's very first World Cup appearance since becoming independent. He netted one goal in every match where Croatia have scored, also scoring the winning goals in 1-0 victories over Japan in the group stage and Romania in the round of 16 as well as in the 2-1 success against the Netherlands in the third-place play-off. He also brought the team on the doorstep of the Final, when scoring the opening goal of the semifinal against France before Lilian Thuram switched the lead with his only two international goals and gave France a 2-1 victory for a place in the Final.

After the 1998 World Cup, Šuker continued to play for Croatia in their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2000 European Championship and scored four goals in seven appearances during the qualifying. He was also part of the Croatian team at the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea, but only played 63 minutes in their unsuccessful opening match against Mexico, which ended in a 1-0 defeat for Croatia. In the qualifying for the tournament, he only scored once in six matches. After the 2002 World Cup, he retired from international football and went on to be an icon for many children around the world, but mostly in Croatia where he was seen as national hero.

Šuker won a total of 71 international caps during his professional career, 2 for Yugoslavia and 69 for Croatia, and scored a total of 46 international goals. With 69 international caps, he is currently only the third most-capped player in the Croatian national team, but his goalscoring record of 45 goals for the team will probably remain unbeaten for decades, since the nearest followers have all scored less than 30 goals.

He is the joint top-scorer of all-time in European qualifying competitions with 12 goals, a feat that was only equalled this year by Northern Ireland's David Healy.

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Post-career honours and activities
Towards the end of his playing career, Šuker opened his own football school, the Davor Šuker Soccer Academy, with training camps in the Croatian capital city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagreb" title="Zagreb"&got;Zagreb as well as a couple of other cities.

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, Šuker was selected as the Golden Player of Croatia by the Croatian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. In March 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers and was the only Croatian player to be added to the list.

This post has been edited by Hajduk: 21 October 2007 - 09:06 AM

[Dutch Gunner]

Johan Cruyff



Born: 25 April, 1947. Amsterdam, Netherlands

International Caps 48
International Goals 33

Teams Ajax, Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, Feyenoord

Team Honours World Club Championship (1972)
European Cup (1971, 72, 73)
Dutch Championship (1966, 67, 68, 72, 73, 82, 84)
Dutch Cup (1967, 70, 71, 72, 83)
Spanish Championship (1974)
Spanish Cup (1978)

Individual Honours European Footballer of the Year (1971, 73, 74)


Style of play

Through his career Cruijff became synonymous with the playing style of "Total Football."[1] It is a system where a player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus allowing the team to retain their intended organizational structure. In this fluid system no footballer is fixed in his or her intended outfield role; anyone can be successively an attacker, a midfielder and a defender. The style was honed by Ajax coach Rinus Michels around the time Cruijff came to prominence.

Strictly speaking, Cruijff played centre forward in this system. But he would drop deep to confuse his markers or suddenly move to the wing with devastating effect. No one had seen a centre forward like that before. Due to the way Cruijff played his game he is still referred to as "the total footballer."[4]

Cruijff was known for his technical ability, speed and acceleration, but his greatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-mates' positions as an attack unfolded. The sports writer David Miller believed Cruijff superior to any previous player in his ability to extract the most from others. He dubbed him "Pythagoras in boots" for the complexity and precision of his angled passes and wrote: "Few have been able to exact, both physically and mentally, such mesmeric control on a match from one penalty area to another."[5]

Cruijff also perfected a move now known as the "Cruijff Turn". To do this move, Cruijff would look to pass or cross the ball. However, instead of kicking it, he would drag the ball behind his planted foot with the inside of his other foot and turn through 180 degrees and accelerate away outside a defender.



Ajax

Cruijff joined Ajax on his 10th birthday. He made his first team debut on 15 November 1964 in the Eredivisie, against GVAV, scoring the only goal for Ajax in a 3-1 defeat. That year Ajax finished in their lowest position since the establishment of professional football, 13th.[6] Cruijff really started to make an impression in the 1965-1966 season. Cruijff established himself as a regular first team player after scoring two goals against DWS in the Olympic stadion on 24 October 1965 (in a 2-0 victory). In the seven games that winter he scored eight times and in March 1966 he scored the first 3 goals in a league game against Telstar (6-2 win). Four days later, in a cup game against BV Veendam (7-0 win), he scored 4 goals. In total that season, Cruijff scored 25 goals in 23 games, and Ajax won the league championship.

In 1966-1967 Ajax again won the league championship, but also won the KNVB Cup, for Cruijff's first "double". Cruijff ended the season as the leading goalscorer in the Eredivisie with 33.

Cruijff won the league for the third successive year in the 1967-1968 season. He was also named Dutch footballer of the year for the second successive time, a feat he would repeat in 1969. On 28 May 1969 Cruijff played in his first European Cup final against AC Milan, but the Italian team ended up winning 4-1.

In the 1969-1970 season Cruijff won his second league and cup "double", but at the beginning of the 1970-1971 season Cruijff suffered a long-term groin injury. He made his comeback on 30 October 1970 against PSV. In this game he did not wear his usual number 9 which was in use by Gerrie Mühren, but instead used number 14. Ajax won the game 1-0. Although it was very uncommon in those days for the starters of a game not to play with numbers 1 to 11, from that moment onwards Cruijff's number was 14, even using the number with the Dutch national team.[7] There has even been a documentary on Cruijff titled Nummer 14 Johan Cruijff[8] and in his native Holland there is a magazine by Voetbal International titled "Nummer 14".[9]

In a league game against AZ '67 on 29 November 1970 Cruijff scored no less than six goals in an 8-1 victory. After winning a replayed KNVB Cup final against Sparta Rotterdam (2-1), Ajax won in Europe for the first time. On 2 June 1971 in London they won the European Cup by defeating Panathinaikos 2-0. In spite of speculation that Cruijff would move to another club (Feyenoord and Barcelona were interested) on 12 July 1971 he signed a seven-year contract at Ajax. At the end of the season he became not only the Dutch, but also the European Footballer of the Year for 1971.

1972 was a particular successful year for Ajax and Cruijff. Ajax won a second European Cup, beating Internazionale 2-0 in the final, with Cruijff scoring both goals. This victory prompted Dutch newspapers to announce the demise of the Italian style of defensive football in the face of Total Football. Soccer: The Ultimate Encyclopaedia says: "Single-handed, Cruijff not only pulled Internazionale of Italy apart in the 1972 European Cup Final, but scored both goals in Ajax's 2-0 win." Cruijff also scored in the 3-2 victory over FC Den Haag in the KNVB Cup final. In the league Cruijff was the topscorer with 25 goals as Ajax became champions. In the autumn Ajax won the Intercontinental Cup beating Argentina's Independiente (1-1 and 3-0) and then in January 1973 they won the European Super Cup by beating Rangers 3-1 away and 3-2 in Amsterdam. Curiously Cruijff's first (and last) own goal came on 20 August 1972 against FC Amsterdam. A week later against Go Ahead Eagles (6-0) Cruijff scored four times for Ajax. The 1972-1973 season was concluded with the another league championship victory and a third successive Europe Cup.

In the summer of 1973 Cruijff was sold to FC Barcelona for 6 million guilder (approx. US$ 2 million, c.1973)

Barcelona

At Barcelona, Cruijff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at their home of Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year at club.

During his time at Barcelona Cruijff scored one of his most famous goals, The 'Phantom' Goal. In a game against Atlético Madrid Cruijff leapt into the air, twisted his body so he was facing away from the goal and kicked the ball past the Atlético Madrid goalkeeper with his right heel (the ball was at about neck height and had already travelled past the far post), the goal was featured in the documentary En un momento dado in which fans of Cruijff attempted to recreate that moment, the goal has been dubbed Le but d'Imposible de Cruyff (The Impossible goal of Cruijff).


United States

At the age of 32 he signed a lucrative deal with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He had previously been rumoured to be joining the New York Cosmos but the deal did not materialise. However, he did play exhibition games for the Cosmos. He stayed at the Aztecs for only one season, but was voted NASL Player of the Year in that time. The following season he moved to play for the Washington Diplomats; he played the whole 1980 campaign for Washington, leaving soon after the start of the 1981 season.


Back in the Netherlands

After his spell in the USA and a short-lived stay at Levante in Spain Cruijff returned to play in his homeland, rejoining Ajax in 1981. One notable incident from this era was a famous goal he scored against Helmond Sport in 1982 while playing for Ajax. Cruijff put the ball down as for a routine penalty kick, but instead of shooting at goal, Cruijff nudged the ball sideways to his Ajax teammate Jesper Olsen who in return passed it back to Cruijff who tapped the ball into the empty net, as Otto Versfeld, the bemused Helmond goalkeeper, looked on. At the end of the 1982-83 season Ajax decided not to offer Cruijff a new contract. This angered Cruijff, who responded by signing for Ajax's archrivals Feyenoord.[10] Cruijff's season at Feyenoord was a successful one, in which the club won the Eredivisie for the first time in a decade, part of a league and cup double.

International football

As a Dutch international he played 48 matches, scoring 33 goals. In his second Dutch national team match, a friendly against Czechoslovakia, Cruijff was the first Dutch international to receive a red card. He received a one-year suspension from the Dutch KNVB.

Accusations of Cruijff's 'aloofness' were not rebuffed by his habit of wearing a shirt with only two black stripes along the sleeves, as opposed to Adidas' usual design feature of three, worn by all the other Dutch players. Cruijff, however, had a separate sponsorship deal with Puma.

Cruijff led the Netherlands to a runners-up medal in the 1974 FIFA World Cup and was named the player of the tournament. Thanks to his team's mastery of Total Football, they coasted all the way to the final, knocking out Argentina (4-0), East Germany (2-0) and Brazil (2-0) along the way. Cruijff himself scored twice against Argentina in one of his team's most dominating performances, then he scored the second goal against Brazil to knock out the defending champions. The Netherlands faced hosts West Germany in the final. Cruijff kicked off and the ball was passed around the Oranje thirteen times before returning to Cruijff, who then went on a rush that eluded Berti Vogts and ended when he was fouled by Uli Hoeneß inside the box. Teammate Neeskens scored from the spot kick to give the Netherlands a 1-0 lead, and the Germans had not even touched the ball. Only during the latter half of the final was his playmaking influence stifled by the effective marking of Berti Vogts, while Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeneß and Wolfgang Overath dominated the midfield, enabling West Germany to win 2-1.[11]

Cruijff retired from international football in October 1977, having helped the national team qualify for the upcoming World Cup. He refused to participate in the tournament finals in Argentina because it had suffered a military coup only two years earlier, and he refused to play in a country where he believed torture and murder to be perpetrated by the junta.[12] Without him, the Netherlands finished runners-up in the World Cup again.