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Post by Eggybread on Apr 20, 2020 16:18:01 GMT
Im currently reading Mr Nice by Howard Marks albeit I have read the book before for some reason I missed a Stoke connection in the book. Howard states that Eddie Clamp and one of his mates did a drugs run to Ireland for him and got busted.Is this common knowledge amongst older Stokies,and if so how bizarre if true?
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Apr 20, 2020 19:00:57 GMT
Never heard that story before. But I do remember Eddie playing for us. Hard man doesn't even begin to describe him. Even by the standards of the day - he was hard as nails. I remember him giving away a penalty (I think against Blackburn) at the Boothen End - he knew it was a red before the ref reacted and was half way off the pitch (laughing) before the ref sent him off. The other team scored the penalty but I can't remember the result. The player fouled MIGHT have been Ronnie Clayton?
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Post by somersetstokie on Apr 20, 2020 20:29:27 GMT
I did once hear that our Eddie was a one time enforcer for the Krays.
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Post by Gods on Apr 20, 2020 20:52:42 GMT
I'm too young to remember him but by the sound of it his name says it all!
I mean players are just not called 'Eddie Clamp' anymore!
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Post by tpholloway1 on Apr 20, 2020 21:28:43 GMT
I was always told that Tony Waddington signed him as Matthews minder. I used to watch if anyone kicked Stan and sure enough, Eddie Clamp would make a beeline for them. Very few kicked Stan twice. Didn't he flatten I think, the Burnley winger Connelly and then just walk off without waiting to be sent off. (No red card in those days, just the ref's finger). When you see some of the tackles back then it must have taken GBH to get sent off.
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Post by nott1 on Apr 21, 2020 6:42:38 GMT
The perfect defensive midfielder(destroyer)! He owned a scrapyard in Womborne(Wolverhampton).
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Post by chad on Apr 21, 2020 7:12:38 GMT
He was a thug
But he was our thug
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Post by raythesailor on Apr 21, 2020 7:19:37 GMT
I was always told that Tony Waddington signed him as Matthews minder. I used to watch if anyone kicked Stan and sure enough, Eddie Clamp would make a beeline for them. Very few kicked Stan twice. Didn't he flatten I think, the Burnley winger Connelly and then just walk off without waiting to be sent off. (No red card in those days, just the ref's finger). When you see some of the tackles back then it must have taken GBH to get sent off. One of my all time favourites . He did indeed flatten Connelly down near the Boothen End. He actually dropped the nut on him and he went down like a sack of spuds. At the time they were virtually the only players in that half of the pitch as we were in mass bombarding the Burnley goal at the Stoke end.. As Eddie walked off the crowd erupted when the Referee awarded a penalty to Burnley
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Post by eddyclamp on Apr 21, 2020 9:13:41 GMT
The bloke was a legend , I have heard the tales of him still being in the pub with supporters about an hour before kick off.
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Post by OldStokie on Apr 21, 2020 9:55:28 GMT
I saw all his career at Stoke. He was a legend even during the time he wore the red and white stripes. You'll hear and read about his hard-man reputation but very little of it is true. That's because you can double the intensity of his hardness in real life. He was indeed Sir Stan's minder. If anyone came near to taking out Stan unfairly, you can guarantee the offending player would end up in one of the paddocks within a few minutes. As for the anecdotal evidence of him being a drug runner, I just don't see it. I'm pretty certain it wouldn't have been during his time as a player. Drug running wasn't something that was happening back in those days. He ended his career at Peterborough in '65 and the regular stuff in those days was LSD. You could get it anywhere so why would he be smuggling it around? Maybe he did it later. He died in 1995 aged 61 so maybe he was doing it later in life, if he did it at all. I also remember him putting the nut on Connelly. It was brilliantly executed. OS.
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Post by lawrieleslie on Apr 21, 2020 9:56:05 GMT
I was always told that Tony Waddington signed him as Matthews minder. I used to watch if anyone kicked Stan and sure enough, Eddie Clamp would make a beeline for them. Very few kicked Stan twice. Didn't he flatten I think, the Burnley winger Connelly and then just walk off without waiting to be sent off. (No red card in those days, just the ref's finger). When you see some of the tackles back then it must have taken GBH to get sent off. One of my all time favourites . He did indeed flatten Connelly down near the Boothen End. He actually dropped the nut on him and he went down like a sack of spuds. At the time they were virtually the only players in that half of the pitch as we were in mass bombarding the Burnley goal at the Stoke end.. As Eddie walked off the crowd erupted when the Referee awarded a penalty to Burnley The Burnley game was my first ever match ended 4-4 after we’d mullered them 1st half to take 3-0 lead. 2nd half Eddie got sent off and they pulled it back. Seem to remember Tony Allen scored an own goal as well. Strangely the next home game was also 4-4 vs Sheff Wed after similar 1st half where we were 3-1 up.
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Post by chad on Apr 21, 2020 10:16:59 GMT
One of my all time favourites . He did indeed flatten Connelly down near the Boothen End. He actually dropped the nut on him and he went down like a sack of spuds. At the time they were virtually the only players in that half of the pitch as we were in mass bombarding the Burnley goal at the Stoke end.. As Eddie walked off the crowd erupted when the Referee awarded a penalty to Burnley The Burnley game was my first ever match ended 4-4 after we’d mullered them 1st half to take 3-0 lead. 2nd half Eddie got sent off and they pulled it back. Seem to remember Tony Allen scored an own goal as well. Strangely the next home game was also 4-4 vs Sheff Wed after similar 1st half where we were 3-1 up. Definitely remember them back to back 4 4 draws at home
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Post by raythesailor on Apr 21, 2020 10:47:26 GMT
One of my all time favourites . He did indeed flatten Connelly down near the Boothen End. He actually dropped the nut on him and he went down like a sack of spuds. At the time they were virtually the only players in that half of the pitch as we were in mass bombarding the Burnley goal at the Stoke end.. As Eddie walked off the crowd erupted when the Referee awarded a penalty to Burnley The Burnley game was my first ever match ended 4-4 after we’d mullered them 1st half to take 3-0 lead. 2nd half Eddie got sent off and they pulled it back. Seem to remember Tony Allen scored an own goal as well. Strangely the next home game was also 4-4 vs Sheff Wed after similar 1st half where we were 3-1 up. The award of the Penalty when the ball was at the other end of the pitch incensed not only me but the whole crowd. As a result it inspired me to take a Refereeing course. I was about 20 at the time and continued to Referee and line for many years. That is probably why I remember the incident so well.
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Post by murphthesurf on Apr 21, 2020 11:59:16 GMT
I was always told that Tony Waddington signed him as Matthews minder. I used to watch if anyone kicked Stan and sure enough, Eddie Clamp would make a beeline for them. Very few kicked Stan twice. Didn't he flatten I think, the Burnley winger Connelly and then just walk off without waiting to be sent off. (No red card in those days, just the ref's finger). When you see some of the tackles back then it must have taken GBH to get sent off. One of my all time favourites . He did indeed flatten Connelly down near the Boothen End. He actually dropped the nut on him and he went down like a sack of spuds.At the time they were virtually the only players in that half of the pitch as we were in mass bombarding the Burnley goal at the Stoke end.. As Eddie walked off the crowd erupted when the Referee awarded a penalty to Burnley I can still see it now in my memory - Clampy 'did the deed' and then turned round and walked straight off. And he definitely did watch out for Sir Stan. Great stuff!
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Post by OldStokie on Apr 21, 2020 12:04:34 GMT
The Burnley game was my first ever match ended 4-4 after we’d mullered them 1st half to take 3-0 lead. 2nd half Eddie got sent off and they pulled it back. Seem to remember Tony Allen scored an own goal as well. Strangely the next home game was also 4-4 vs Sheff Wed after similar 1st half where we were 3-1 up. The award of the Penalty when the ball was at the other end of the pitch incensed not only me but the whole crowd. As a result it inspired me to take a Refereeing course. I was about 20 at the time and continued to Referee and line for many years. That is probably why I remember the incident so well. Bastard in the black! OS.
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Post by raythesailor on Apr 21, 2020 12:20:27 GMT
The award of the Penalty when the ball was at the other end of the pitch incensed not only me but the whole crowd. As a result it inspired me to take a Refereeing course. I was about 20 at the time and continued to Referee and line for many years. That is probably why I remember the incident so well. Bastard in the black! OS. Don’t blame me. It’s Eddy Clamps fault😏
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Post by raythesailor on Apr 21, 2020 12:26:36 GMT
One of my all time favourites . He did indeed flatten Connelly down near the Boothen End. He actually dropped the nut on him and he went down like a sack of spuds.At the time they were virtually the only players in that half of the pitch as we were in mass bombarding the Burnley goal at the Stoke end.. As Eddie walked off the crowd erupted when the Referee awarded a penalty to Burnley I can still see it now in my memory - Clampy 'did the deed' and then turned round and walked straight off. And he definitely did watch out for Sir Stan. Great stuff! The famous story is when we were playing Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge. Chopper Harris reputed to be the hardest man in football at the time was bragging about wheat he was going to do to Matthews. He did indeed foul Stan in the first few minutes of the game. Clamp went totally out of position and the first time Harris got the ball, Eddy put him in the paddock! Harris never went near Sir Stan or Eddy again for the entire match. 😀
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Post by future100 on Apr 21, 2020 12:34:05 GMT
I can still see it now in my memory - Clampy 'did the deed' and then turned round and walked straight off. And he definitely did watch out for Sir Stan. Great stuff! The famous story is when we were playing Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge. Chopper Harris reputed to be the hardest man in football at the time was bragging about wheat he was going to do to Matthews. He did indeed foul Stan in the first few minutes of the game. Clamp went totally out of position and the first time Harris got the ball, Eddy put him in the paddock! Harris never went near Sir Stan or Eddy again for the entire match. 😀 He used to run down the tunnel to the pitch stop and stub his fag out before running on the pitch.
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Post by Mr_DaftBurger on Apr 22, 2020 9:20:04 GMT
My dad told me he'd always have a handful of mud to throw at people! He sounds ace!
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Post by stokiejoe on Apr 22, 2020 11:53:44 GMT
Best memory of Clamp was him trying to take a throw in. Dennis Law was jumping up and down in front of him( it was allowed then) Clamp swung the ball forward and hit Law in the face with the ball. Law pulled his fist back but didn't actually swing at him. Clamp went down as if he had been pole axed facing the Boothen End. As the referee was ( wrongly) sending Law off, Clamp raised his head, grinned and did a thumbs up to the fans Huge character.
I can confirm the stories about being Stans minder, when Stan was President he would do a meet and greet around the boxes. Unfortunately he wasn't a great speaker and came across as shy, to get Stan talking I always asked his opinion of Clamp. He always replied that Clamp "was a gentleman and looked after me" that he did but referring to Clamp as a gentleman was pushing credibility too far!
Happy days.
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