Clement Stephenson (6 February 1890 – 24 October 1961) 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 ...

whose 20-year career at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

included success in both the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and League Championship. Stephenson's place in history as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

was assured when Herbert Chapman targeted him as the man to lead Huddersfield Town's challenge for three consecutive Football League titles in the 1920s, he also made a single appearance for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in that period.

Playing career

Aston Villa

Born in Blyth Northumberland, Stephenson originally played for

in 1910 as an

. His career at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

comprised 216 matches, in which he scored 85 goals. He was brought to Villa Park as Harry Hampton's career was nearing its end and soon acquired a reputation for intuitive play: his passes were said to be "as sweet as stolen kisses". His first silverware came in the 1913 FA Cup Final alongside Hampton and the England international Joe Bache in a victory over the League champions,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Stephenson claimed before the 1913 FA Cup final to have dreamt that Villa would beat Sunderland with a headed goal from Tommy Barber. Villa did indeed win the final with a headed goal from Barber. Stephenson played in the semi-final the following year and was a winner in the FA Cup final in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

in his swansong for the club. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Stephenson had guested for Leeds City, managed by Herbert Chapman, who saw qualities beyond Stephenson's well-renowned lack of pace. As a result of making irregular payments to wartime guest players such as Stephenson, Charlie Buchan of

, Franny Walden of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and Billy Hampson of

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, Chapman's career at Leeds City came to a questionable end and led to the dissolution of the club in 1919.

Huddersfield Town

However, when Chapman took over the reins at

(in August 1920) one of his first tasks was to secure Stephenson in a £4,000 move from Villa Park. This caused controversy at a time and at a club where money was scarce but within two seasons, Stephenson was playing inside-left in the narrow FA Cup victory over Preston North End at Stamford Bridge becoming the first player in the 20th century to win three winners' medals in the

and eventually took the captain's armband from Tommy Wilson. The Final was notable for the controversy surrounding the penalty decision that decided that match when Hamilton brought down Huddersfield's W.H. Smith. Ivan Sharpe, writing in the Sunday Chronicle, stated: "It was certainly a close thing. I had a fairly good view of the incident and my impression was 'Penalty!' The kick was to be taken by the victim, Smith. The goalkeeper Mitchell decided on the manoeuvre of dervish leaps in the air while the act was brewing, the intention obviously to put the Huddersfield marksman off his shot. 'Ne'er mind the devil-dances' seemed to be the tenor of Town captain Clem Stephenson as he advised Smith: 'Just shove it in the net.' In another two seasons Huddersfield had won the first of three consecutive League Championships and Chapman was moved to write to Stephenson: "I want to thank you personally for your play, your wholehearted efforts both on and off the field. I have never had such confidence in any captain of a team I have been associated with." It was later written: "Chapman bought perceptively, welded his assets together astutely and soon sent out one of the most successful League sides of all time. It was stubborn, disciplined and highly mobile with Clem Stephenson, once of Aston Villa, at the heart of everything. He was a stocky tactician without much pace but his passes were as sweet as stolen kisses.

Chapman brought in the free scoring George Brown (footballer, born 1903), George Brown and Alex Jackson and between 1924 and 1925 led the side to two consecutive League titles before departing for fame and fortune with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Without his guile the brio was gone and whereas Stephenson led Cecil Potter's team to a third straight League title in 1926 Huddersfield have never since won either the League Championship or the

instead finishing in second place in the League in 1927 and 1928 became the first side to have "Double Horror" and losing the 1928 FA Cup Final to Blackburn Rovers and finishing second to Everton by 2 points. They lost the semi-final to Bolton Wanderers the following year and Stephenson played his last game for the club that year, becoming manager in May 1929 taking over from Jack Chaplin.

Career statistics

Management career

Stephenson went on to become Huddersfield's longest-serving manager from 27 May 1929 until 8 June 1942 overseeing club records: *The record 10–1 victory over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in December 1930 at

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home ...

. *The record attendance at

67,037 attended in the FA Cup quarter-final versus a Herbert Chapman led

. But his League and Cup exploits were fraught with irony leading Huddersfield to second place in 1933–34 losing to

by 3 points in the season Herbert Chapman died, and reaching two FA Cup Finals and losing both: the first to a Herbert Chapman led Arsenal and the other to Preston North End in an exact reversal of the 1922 final, and the semi-final to Portsmouth the following year. Huddersfield have never reached the FA Cup semi-final since 1939.

Honours

Aston Villa * First Division runners-up: 1910–11, 1912–13, 1913–14 *

winners:

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

Huddersfield Town (Player & manager) * First Division champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26 **Runners-up: 1926–27, 1927–28, 1933–34 *

winners: 1922 **Runners-up:

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

, 1930,

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

winners: 1922

References

External links

Aston Villa career summary
at Aston Villa Player Database
Added to Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Clem 1890 births 1961 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Aston Villa F.C. players Leeds City F.C. wartime guest players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players England men's international footballers English football managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers English Football Hall of Fame inductees English Football League representative players West Stanley F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Footballers from Northumberland 20th-century English sportsmen