Eddie Clamp
Edwin (Eddie) Clamp was born in Coalville on 14th September, 1934. A talented footballer, he played for England Schoolboys at Wembley and scored a spectacular long-distanced goal. In April 1952 he was signed by Stan Cullis, the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers in April 1952.
Clamp made his debut in the 1953-54 season but it was not until the 1955-56 season that he became a regular in the side. He joined a team that included Peter Broadbent, Eddie Clamp, Ron Flowers, Harry Hooper, Johnny Hancocks, Jimmy Mullen, Roy Pritchard, Bill Shorthouse, Bill Slater, Roy Swinbourne, Dennis Wilshaw, Billy Wright, Bert Williams, Bobby Mason, Norman Deeley, Eddie Stuart and Jimmy Murray.
Wolves won the League Championship in 1957-58 by 5 points from Preston North End. The club scored an amazing 103 league goals that season. Jimmy Murray was the club's leading scorer with 32 goals in 45 games. Clamp, an attacking wing-half scored 10 goals in 41 games. According to Ivan Ponting, "his strength, stamina and all-round efficiency were an important factor in the club's championship triumph".
Clamp won his first international cap for England against the Soviet Union on 18th May 1958. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. He retained his place for the games against the Soviet Union (2-2), Brazil (0-0) and Austria (2-2). He was replaced in the side by Ronnie Clayton of Blackburn Rovers.
Wolves also won the title in the 1958-59 season with 28 wins in 42 games. Once again the forwards were in great form scoring 110 goals. This was seven more than Manchester United and 22 more than third placed Arsenal. Clamp only scored 3 goals that season.
In the 1959-60 season the club was beaten into second placed by Burnley. Once again Wolves were the top scorers in the league with 106 goals. This was 21 more than the champions who won the title by only one point. Clamp managed to score 8 goals in 38 games. He was also a member of the team that beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in the 1960 FA Cup final.
In November 1961 Clamp was transferred to Arsenal for a fee of £30,000. However, Clamp was not a success at his new club and after only playing 22 games he was sold to Stoke City for £15,000 in the Second Division. He joined up with Stanley Matthews and in his first season helped the club to win promotion to the First Division.
In October 1964 he moved to Peterborough United. He only played eight games for his new club before moving to play non-league football for Worcester City. After retiring from football Clamp ran a building and decorating business in Wednesfield.
Eddie Clamp died on 10th November 1995.
Primary Sources
(1) Ivan Ponting, The Independent (19th December, 1995)
Having won international honours as a schoolboy, Clamp turned professional with Wolves in 1952, then developed rapidly under the aegis of Molineux's martinet manager, Stan Cullis. He made his senior debut as a 19-year-old wing-half, against Matt Busby's Manchester United at Old Trafford, as Wolves were closing in on the First Division title in the spring of 1954. And although he did not play enough games to earn a medal that season, there was to be no shortage of honours coming Clamp's way.
By 1955-56 he was a regular member of Cullis's all-action, but undeniably skilful team - a hard man in a hard side - and two years later his strength, stamina and all-round efficiency were an important factor in the club's championship triumph.
Clamp was rewarded by a full international call-up on the eve of the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden, and he formed an all-Wolves half-back line with Billy Wright and Bill Slater. He performed creditably in four consecutive games for his country, all of which were drawn, but widespread disappointment at England's generally sketchy showing in the game's premier tournament cost him his place - which went to the more stylish Ronnie Clayton of Blackburn Rovers - and Clamp was shunted permanently from the international stage at the age of 23.
He continued to prosper at club level, though, helping Wolves to lift a second successive title in 1959 and missing out on a hat-trick when Burnley pipped them by a single point in 1960. That term, however, there was heady consolation in the FA Cup, with Wolves defeating Blackburn 3-0 at Wembley. Sadly, it was a scrappy encounter, labelled the "dustbin final" in the Midlands press, a criticism which rankled with Clamp for the rest of his life.
