Eddie Clamp

Eddie Clamp
Personnel
Surname	Harold Edwin Clamp
birthday	September 14, 1934
place of birth	Coalville ,  England
date of death	November 10, 1995
Place of death	Wolverhampton ,  England
position	Outrunner
Juniors
Years	station
1949-1952	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1952-1961	Wolverhampton Wanderers	214 (23)
1961–1962	Arsenal FC	22 0(1)
1962-1964	Stoke City	50 0(1)
1964-1965	Peterborough United	8 0(0)
1965-1967	Worcester City
1967-1969	Lower Gornal
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1958	England	4 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Harold Edwin "Eddie" Clamp (born September 14, 1934 in Coalville , † November 10, 1995 in Wolverhampton ) was an English football player . The "Chopper Eddie", mostly acting as a right wing runner, was seen as a representative of a particularly physical style of play, was the "man for the rough" as a two-time English champion and cup winner in 1960 at the Wolverhampton Wanderers and joined the English national team at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden for use.

Athletic career

Eddie Clamp's career as a professional footballer was marked by his early appearances in the youth teams of Leicestershire and England and so he signed his first contract with first division side Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1952 after joining the club three years earlier as an amateur. He quickly developed into a promising talent under the strict regiment of trainer Stan Cullis and made his first two league appearances late in the 1953/54 season - his debut took place on March 6, 1954 at Old Trafford against the "Busby Babes" from Manchester United held and ended in a 1-0 loss. In the end, the "Wolves" won the English title; Clamp, on the other hand, was not yet allowed to wear his own master's medal due to the small number of games.

The "fighter and ball conqueror" celebrated his breakthrough after ten league games in the following season amid high-profile competition in the half positions ( Bill Slater , Ron Flowers and Billy Wright ) in the 1955/56 season . In an overall very physically oriented team, Clamp still stood out due to his physique. However, his skills were not limited to athletics and his ball and pass security as well as his flexibility in his own team were also appreciated. Two years later, Clamp won his first English championship and also found himself in the squad for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Shortly before the tournament, he made his debut in the English selection against the Soviet Union on May 18, 1958 , but remained without a win at 1-1 as well as immediately afterwards against the same opponent in the first group game, which ended 2-2. After two more World Cup games at the side of his teammates Wright and Slater, which also ended in a draw and resulted in the premature tournament from England, Clamp's national team career was over at the age of only 23, as the more technically gifted Ronnie Clayton from Blackburn would in future be over Rovers was preferred.

In the club, however, Clamps services remained in demand and together with his teammates he defended the English championship title in 1959 . He missed the "master triple" a year later as runner-up behind Burnley FC , but after winning the 3-0 final against Blackburn Rovers at Wembley , winning the FA Cup was a quick compensation. Another season followed without any significant success until Clamp accepted a new challenge in November 1961 and left the Wolves after 241 competitive games and 25 goals. With Johnny Kirkham there was also a replacement for Clamps position in Wolverhampton.

His new club was Arsenal FC in London and the £ 34,000 newcomer was supposed to give the primarily technical talented "Gunners" a more physical touch. The experiment quickly failed and Clamp only had 24 uses. What was particularly spicy was that after six months with Billy Wright, a former teammate from Wolverhampton had become Arsenal's coach and Clamps had pushed Clamps on to Stoke City for just 12,000 . Wright had not been able to come to terms with Clamps' aggressive style of play and particularly resented the tough foul on Charlie Aitken from Aston Villa . In Stoke-on-Trent Clamp played only in the second division from September 1962 , but was in a team with numerous old stars, including Stanley Matthews in particular . Together they were promoted to first class, before Clamp briefly moved to the third division at Peterborough United after a total of two years with the "Potters" . He let his active career end until 1969 outside of professional football at Worcester City and Lower Gornal.

From then on, Clamp did a civic job in Wednesfield , but remained loyal to his old Wolves at fundraising events for the "old men" games. He maintained his great bond until his death in 1995 and so was Clamp, whose mother washed the orange jerseys of the Wolverhampton Wanderers for many years while he was active, a frequent grandstand guest at the Molineux Stadium .

successes

• English champion : 1958, 1959
• English cup winner : 1960

literature

• Tony Matthews: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . Breedon Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-85983-632-3 , pp. 105-106 .

Web links

• Obituary The Independent (English)