Industrious right back Dave Clement had long established himself as a hero to Queens Park Rangers fans (he is pictured above in action for Rangers) when, as QPR came together in 1976 to fight for the League title, he was rightly called up by Don Revie for a friendly against Wales. Clement came on as a sub for fellow debutant Trevor Cherry, then made his first start in the summer's Home Internationals against the same opposition, which England won 1-0. With the likes of Cherry, Colin Todd and Phil Neal also vying for recognition in the No.2 shirt, Clement's international future was unclear and he only managed three more caps with mixed results.
He played in the 3-2 win over Italy in the US bi-centennial celebrations - England had been 2-0 down - but then formed part of an overpacked defence which lost 2-0 to the same opposition in Rome, seriously denting England's hopes of reaching the 1978 World Cup, and then losing 2-0 again to Holland in a Wembley friendly in which the total football utterly ripped apart England's rearguard. Neal and Cherry then became chief fighters for the shirt and Clement returned to a disintegrating QPR outfit. (Matthew Rudd) |