Dave Worley

Neil Clement… A True Albion Hero.

There’s a lot I’ve wanted to write about since new year. More retail stuff, a blog about the FA Cup, the usual ideas of world politics. But today I discovered something that I couldn’t consign to the depths of laziness.

Today I found out that centre-half Neil Clement has retired from professional football at the age of 31. In most ways, he was one of English Football’s old guard – crunching, dominating, fiercely loyal and horrendously determined. In other ways, he epitomised everything about Albion’s progression from struggling division one side to a Premiership club… and back and forth between the top two tiers.

Clement joined the club on loan from Chelsea on Transfer Deadline Day in 2000, and after being an integral part of Albion’s successful survival bid that year, moved in a permanent deal worth around £100,000. For the next 10 years, he would be a central player in the club’s trials and tribulations, taking Albion to the Premiership and riding the rollercoaster that came with three promotions and three relegations.

But that’s what you’d see in the newspapers. That’s the story you’ll hear from pundits up and down the country, if they choose to write about it.

I’m not a pundit. I don’t write for newspapers. But I am an Albion fan. And I am one of the new Albion fans that have grown up around this new era of success. Once upon a time, finishing in the top twelve of division one was something to shout about. The year I moved into high school was the year Gary Megson took my underachieving football club and delivered a highly unlikely playoff spot. After throwing away a two goal lead at home to Bolton, the result was never in doubt – and they went on to seal promotion and have never looked back.

Clement was one of the central figures of the miracle that was our promotion season in 2002. He is one of the Albion New Order. He was one of the giants that carried thousands of Albion fans on their shoulders into the promised land. When Michael Appleton retired, it was sad. A great player had his career taken from him. But this is different. It is a player that was moving towards the last years of his career with battles and wars behind him. And he had the medals on his chest to prove it. And this is why it is so heartbreaking – he was denied a final crack at the Premiership through injury. One of Albion’s most loyal, one of Albion’s finest, has had his career cruelly cut short. This was one of Albion’s best. 300 appearances don’t come out of nowhere, and for the best part 0f eight years Clement was one of the first name’s on the teamsheet.

I was gutted to hear Clem has been forced to retire. And no doubt Albion fans everywhere will agree. He knew how to put a shift in and battled and battled. I do hope the club offer him a post in the backroom, and that they give him a well-deserved testimonial… He was only two months away from 10 years service.

And probably most of all, cheers Neil. You were one of the reasons Albion are challenging to establish themselvse in the Premiership, and you were one of the reasons my interest in football didn’t die. All the best.

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Football.