Andrew Paul Clements (11 October 1955 – 19 December 2023) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender. He scored six goals in 152 league appearances in an eight-year career 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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, and

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

. Clements died on 19 December 2023, at 68.

Career

Clements began his career with

, who allowed him a two-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell at

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Val ...

in February 1977. He appeared as a substitute on 7 February in a 2–0 defeat to

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

, making his full debut four weeks later in a 1–1 draw with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was a football ground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, serving as the home ground of Shrewsbury Town. Located on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League seas ...

. In total, he featured in just three Third Division games for the "Valiants" at the end of the 1976–77 season. He played one Second Division game at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

for Ian Greaves's "Trotters" in the 1977–78 season, before joining

Charlie Wright Charles George Wright (11 December 1938 – 27 December 2024) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Career Wright signed for junior team Glencairn Thistle to serve an apprenticeship before moving to Rangers. He was selecte ...

's York City. Having survived a re-election vote, the "Minstermen" finished tenth in the Fourth Division in 1978–79. York then finished in 17th place in 1979–80, before finishing bottom of the

in 1980–81 under the stewardship of Barry Lyons. Clements scored eight goals in 163 league and cup games during his four years at

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City F.C., York City Football Club and York City Knights, York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it was near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway sta ...

. He later played in the

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the English football pyramid respectively. ...

for Rowntree Mackintosh and went on to work in the insurance industry.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Andy 1955 births 2023 deaths People from Swinton, Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the City of Salford English men's footballers Footballers from Greater Manchester Men's association football defenders English Football League players Northern Counties East Football League players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players York City F.C. players Rowntrees F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen