Harold Edwin Clamp (14 September 1934 – 14 December 1995) was an English footballer who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Arsenal,

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, Stoke City and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. Through his career he was renowned for his 'take no prisoners' style of play and was nicknamed 'Chopper Eddie'.

Career

Clamp joined

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 Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

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. At Stoke, he won the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title in 1962–63, playing alongside

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

. 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. 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. 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. He finished his league career at

, 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 Wednesfield is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, It is east-northeast of Wolverhampton city centre and about from Birmingham and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was historically wit ...

and later became a bricklayer. Clamp also played four times for the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

, 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. 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.

Career statistics

Club

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield and European Cup.

International

Source:

Honours

;Wolverhampton Wanderers * FA Youth Cup runners-up: 1953 * Football League First Division: 1957–58, 1958–59 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1960 ;Stoke City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clamp, Eddie 1934 births 1995 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players 1958 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players People from Coalville Footballers from Leicestershire People from Wednesfield English Football League representative players Men's association football midfielders