Dave Clement
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Thomas Clement | ||
| Date of birth | 2 February 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Battersea, England | ||
| Date of death | 31 March 1982 (aged 34) | ||
| Place of death | England | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1965–1979 | Queens Park Rangers | 472 | (28) |
| 1979–1980 | Bolton Wanderers | 33 | (0) |
| 1980–1981 | Fulham | 18 | (0) |
| 1981–1982 | Wimbledon | 9 | (2) |
| Total | 532 | (30) | |
| National team | |||
| 1976-1977 | England | 5 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Dave Clement (2 February 1948 – 31 March 1982) was a football player. Clement was a right fullback who developed with Queens Park Rangers through the club's youth set-up. He signed professional terms in 1965 and made his first team debut in the 1966-67 season, which was memorable for QPR in that they won the Football League Third Division championship by twelve points and also became the first Third Division side to win a major trophy – the League Cup, beating first division side West Bromwich Albion 3–2 in the first ever final at Wembley Stadium.
The following season, Clement was a regular member of the side, making 34 appearances in another promotion season for QPR. He possessed great stamina and was strong in the tackle but his distribution for a defender was also excellent, as was his ability to come forward at speed to both create and score goals. Over the coming seasons he became a fixture in the team, missing only six league games from the 1970/71 to 1973/74 seasons.
He made his England debut in 1976, and won five caps in total.[1]
In June 1979 he transferred to Bolton Wanderers. After playing 33 league games for them he joined Fulham in October 1980.[2]
He died in March 1982 at the age of 34. Suffering from depression, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with weedkiller.[1]
His son, Neil Clement, who was only three years old at the time, also became a professional footballer and spent the majority of his career playing for West Bromwich Albion.[3] His elder son Paul became a football coach.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dave Clement". England Football Online. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ↑ "Dave Clement: Bolton Wanderers FC". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Spiro, Matt (16 May 2012). "England's French connection at Paris St-Germain". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- Macey, Gordon (1993). Queens Park Rangers - A Complete Record. Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 978-1-873626-40-5.