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 le ...

whose 20-year career at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

included success in both the

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 ...

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

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

was assured when

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in that period., Retrieved 4 October 2018

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 football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

totalling 216 matches, from which he scored a reasonable 85 goals. He was brought into Villa Park as Villa legend 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 The 1913 FA Cup Final was contested by Aston Villa and Sunderland on 19 April 1913 at London's Crystal Palace. Playing as the home side, Aston Villa won 1–0 on a goal by Tommy Barber on a crossed ball from Charlie Wallace. Wallace had ear ...

alongside Hampton and England national team player

Joe Bache Joseph William Bache (8 February 1880 – 10 November 1960), was an English footballer who played for Aston Villa. Joe Bache was a prolific centre forward for Aston Villa between 1900 and 1919. He played for the England national team seven ti ...

in the victory over League Champions

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

; the only occasion in English football history when the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

was contested between the top two clubs in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. 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 that final with a headed goal from Tommy Barber. Stephenson was to play in the semi-final the following year and was a winner in the FA Cup final in 1920 in what proved a fitting swansong for the club. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Stephenson had guested for

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

, a club managed by

, who, typically, saw qualities, beyond Stephenson's well-renowned lack of pace, that would serve the player in his later career. It was as a result of making irregular payments to such Wartime guest players as Stephenson (Chapman had secured the services of

Charlie Buchan Charles Murray Buchan (22 September 1891 – 25 June 1960) was an English footballer, sporting journalist and commentator. Buchan started his career in 1909 with Woolwich Arsenal (later renamed Arsenal F.C.). He is known for his career with Su ...

, Franny Walden of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, and

Billy Hampson Billy Hampson (26 August 1882 – 24 February 1966) was an English football player and manager. Hampson was born in Radcliffe, Lancashire and was the brother of footballers Tommy and Walker Hampson. He played for Rochdale, Bury and Norwic ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

) that 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 Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

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 WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

. Ivan Sharpe, writing in the

Sunday Chronicle The ''Sunday Chronicle'' was a newspaper in the United Kingdom, published from 1885 to 1955. The newspaper was founded in Manchester by Edward Hulton in August 1885. He was known for his sporting coverage, already publishing the ''Sporting Chron ...

, 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 The 1928 FA Cup Final was contested by Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. Blackburn won 3–1, with goals from Jack Roscamp (2) and Tommy McLean.Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

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 resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

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 of ...

. *The record attendance at

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

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

died, and reaching two FA Cup Finals and losing both: the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

to a Herbert Chapman led Arsenal and the

other Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

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 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

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

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

winners:

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

**Runners-up:

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

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 Le ...

winners:

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 footballers 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 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 FA Cup Final players