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Eddie Clamp

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Eddie Clamp
Personal information
Full name Harold Edwin Clamp[1]
Date of birth (1934-09-14)14 September 1934[1]
Place of birth Coalville, England[1]
Date of death 14 December 1995(1995-12-14) (aged 61)
Place of death Wolverhampton, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Right half
Youth career
Coalville Schools
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1953–1961 Wolverhampton Wanderers 214 (23)
1961–1962 Arsenal 22 (1)
1962–1964 Stoke City 50 (2)
1964–1965 Peterborough United 8 (0)
1965–1967 Worcester City
Total 294 (26)
International career
1958 England 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Harold Edwin Clamp (14 September 1934 – 14 December 1995[3]) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Arsenal, Peterborough United, Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Through his career he was renowned for his 'take no prisoners' style of play and was nicknamed 'Chopper Eddie'.[1]

Career

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Clamp joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1950, turning professional in April 1952, before breaking into the first team to make his debut on 6 March 1954, away at Manchester United. He made one further appearance that season as he club won their first league title. He later became an integral part of the first team and won League Championships in (1957–58 and 1958–59) and the 1960 FA Cup. He played over 200 matches for Wolves before signing for Arsenal for £34,000 in November 1961. The last signing made by George Swindin, he made his debut against Nottingham Forest on 18 November 1961 but stayed only ten months. His tough tackling style had failed to find favour with his former teammate, now Arsenal manager, Billy Wright, and so he was sold to Stoke City in September 1962 for £35,000.[4][5]

At Stoke, he won the Second Division title in 1962–63, playing alongside Stanley Matthews.[1] After Ron "Chopper" Harris had poleaxed Matthews in one game Clamp threatened Harris, only to be admonished by the referee, an angry Clamp said "Thats the trouble with you referees. You don't care which side wins!" Matthews said in his autobiography that this was one of the greatest lines ever said on a football pitch.[6] He was described as 'mad' by Stoke trainer Frank Mountford and on more than one occasion he would headbutt an opponent whilst the referee's attention was diverted.[1] He played 28 times for the "Potters" in 1963–64 helping Stoke to reach the League Cup final. But with Clamp again suspended Stoke lost 4–3 over two legs.[1]

He finished his league career at Peterborough United, before dropping into the non-league with Worcester City and Lower Gornal. He retired from football in 1969 to run a building and decorating business in Wednesfield and later became a bricklayer. Clamp also played four times for the England national football team, including three matches in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, after making his debut just before the tournament in a friendly draw in Russia on 18 May before 102,000 spectators.[4][5]

His mother, Sarah, was Wolverhampton Wanderers' laundry lady for some 30 years beginning in the 1950s before retiring in the 1980s. She outlived her son by 11 years, dying in November 2006 at the age of 94.[7][5]

Career statistics

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Club

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Source:[8]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1953–54 First Division 2 0 0 0 – – 2 0
1954–55 First Division 10 0 0 0 – 1 0 11 0
1955–56 First Division 27 1 1 0 – – 28 1
1956–57 First Division 13 1 0 0 – – 13 1
1957–58 First Division 41 10 4 0 – – 45 10
1958–59 First Division 26 3 0 0 – 2 0 28 3
1959–60 First Division 38 8 7 2 – 6 0 51 10
1960–61 First Division 40 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 46 0
1961–62 First Division 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
Total 214 23 14 2 0 0 13 0 241 25
Arsenal 1961–62 First Division 18 0 2 0 0 0 – 20 0
1962–63 First Division 4 1 0 0 0 0 – 4 1
Total 22 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 24 1
Stoke City 1962–63 Second Division 32 0 1 0 1 0 – 34 0
1963–64 First Division 18 2 4 0 6 0 – 28 2
Total 50 2 5 0 7 0 0 0 62 2
Peterborough United 1964–65 Third Division 8 0 0 0 0 0 – 8 0
Career Total 294 26 21 2 7 0 13 0 335 28
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield and European Cup.

International

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Source:[9]

National team Year Apps Goals
England 1958 4 0
Total 4 0

Honours

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Wolverhampton Wanderers

Stoke City

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ Maurice Golesworth (1965). Soccer Who's Who. The Sportsmans Book Club.
  3. ^ a b c d Ponting, Ivan (19 December 1995). "OBITUARY: Eddie Clamp". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Eddie Clamp". Spartacus Educational.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Eddie Clamp". Arsenal.com.
  6. ^ Matthews, Stanley; Scott, Les (2000), The Way It Was, Headline, p. 529, ISBN 0-7472-6427-9
  7. ^ "Tributes to Wolves legend mum". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 7 November 2006. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012.
  8. ^ Eddie Clamp at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  9. ^ Clamp, Eddie at National-Football-Teams.com
  10. ^ "Wolves Cubs And Best of Mates". WolvesHeroes.com. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
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