Dave Clements

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For the politician, see David R. Clements. For other people, see David Clements.

Dave Clements
Personal information
Full name David Clements
Date of birth (1945-09-15) 15 September 1945 (age 78)
Place of birth Larne, Northern Ireland
Position(s)
outside left
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1964 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 (0)
1964–1971 Coventry City 230 (26)
1971–1973 Sheffield Wednesday 78 (0)
1973–1976 Everton 83 (6)
1976–1977
New York Cosmos
 18 (2)
1978
Colorado Caribous
 15 (1)
Total 424 (35)
International career
1965–1976 Northern Ireland 48 (2)
Managerial career
1975–1976 Northern Ireland
1978
Colorado Caribous
1981–1982 Denver Avalanche
1982–1985 St. Louis Steamers
1986–1991
Kansas City Comets
1991–1994 University of Denver
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Clements (born 15 September 1945) is a former

NASL
in the United States.

Early days

Clements attended Larne Grammar School and excelled at both football and rugby union, during his time at the school he earned football caps for the national team at schoolboy, youth and amateur level. As a junior, he played for the Larne suburban team of Millbrook before signing for Irish league club Portadown F.C. in 1961. After starring in a 2–0 Irish amateur win over Wales in January 1963 he signed for English Division One club Wolverhampton Wanderers.[2]

Playing career

Clements' spell as an apprentice at Wolverhampton Wanderers lasted for just over a year, however in that time he failed to break into the first team.

Coventry City

Despite this lack of success at Wolves, Clements caught the eye of Coventry City manager

Euro 68 qualifier against Scotland at Windsor Park. Coventry manager Noel Cantwell surprisingly agreed to let Clements move on after six-years at the club and after rejecting a move to Hull City in February 1971, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday in August of the same year as part of a combined deal that also included Brian Joicey and cost the Yorkshire club £100,000.[3][4]

Sheffield Wednesday

Clements played as a

left-back for Wednesday and was a popular and successful player in his time there even though the club was not thriving in Division Two and would eventually drop into Division Three in 1975. His strong, robust style of play earned him the nickname "Tank" from Wednesday fans, he played 87 games for Wednesday in two seasons[5]
but became unsettled at the end of the 1972–73 season when his good form had attracted the attention of First Division clubs. He played just the opening game of the following season before moving to Everton at the beginning of September 1973 for a fee of £80,000.

Everton

Clements made his debut on Saturday, 22 September 1973 in a 1–1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was made club captain for 1974–75, a season in which Everton were well placed to lift the First Division championship before a late slump let in Derby County. In total, Clements made 85 league appearances in his time with Everton scoring six goals (he took over as the clubs penalty taker) and became one of the most respected midfielders in the top flight. During his time at Everton he became player-manager of the Northern Ireland national side for a short time taking over from Terry Neill in 1975 and being replaced by Danny Blanchflower in 1976.[6]

Managerial career

Clements tenure as

Sweden in October 1975 and a loss in Belgrade
to Yugoslavia in the final group qualifier the following month stopped Northern Ireland progressing to the last eight knock out stage.

Clements continued as manager into 1976, however results were disappointing culminating in Northern Ireland losing all three matches in the British Home Championship in May of that year. They lost heavily to Scotland 3–0 in Glasgow and to England 4–0 at Wembley before losing 1–0 to Wales in Swansea. The Welsh defeat was Clements last game as both manager and player for the national team on 14 May 1976.[7]

Clements played his last game for Everton in February 1976 and moved to the United States, having received a lucrative offer to play in the NASL for

New York Cosmos where he played alongside Pelé
. His performances for Cosmos during 1976 ensured that Clements was named in the All-Star Honourable Mention Team for that year, he was also selected for Team America to participate in the Bicentenary Cup against Italy, Brazil and England.

Clements moved to coach the

Kansas City Comets
(1986–87). He was named US Coach of the year in 1982 and 1987.

Clements still lives in the Denver area, he moved out of football and has run his own Irish shop, worked as a salesman in St. Louis, Missouri, and was CEO of a Denver company that manufactured Cotton Candy machines.[8][9][10]

He was also the coach of the University of Denver men's soccer team.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ rsssf.org. Gives international record.
  2. ^ Northern Ireland's Football Greats. Gives details of early days.
  3. ^ www.cwn.org.uk. Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Gives details of Coventry career.
  4. ^ Coventry City Former Players Association.[permanent dead link] Gives details of Coventry career.
  5. ^ SWFC Archive. Gives details of Sheffield Wednesday career.
  6. ^ Career Info www.sporting-heroes.net. Gives career statistics.
  7. ^ www.northernirelandyears.com. Archived 3 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine Gives details of period as Northern Ireland manager.
  8. ^ www.hickoksports.com. Archived 25 January 2013 at archive.today Coach of the year in 1982 and 1987.
  9. ^ Northern Ireland Footballing Greas. Gives details of North American management career.
  10. ^ a b Migoya, David (24 December 2010). "Soccer player becomes cotton-candy vending executive in Denver". The Denver Post.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

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