Neil Clement
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Clement | ||
| Date of birth | 3 October 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Reading, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| ?–1995 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–2000 | Chelsea | 1 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | → Reading (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 1999 | → Preston North End (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | → Brentford (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2000 | → West Bromwich Albion (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2000–2010 | West Bromwich Albion | 256 | (21) |
| 2008 | → Hull City (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| Total | 293 | (22) | |
| National team | |||
| 1994–1995 | England U16 | 8 | (0) |
| 1996 | England U18 | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Neil Clement (born 3 October 1978) is an English former professional footballer who spent the majority of his career playing for West Bromwich Albion. He participated in a club record three promotions. His customary position was in defence, but he was also a versatile player who occupied several different positions for Albion. Clement made 300 appearances for Albion in all competitions, the most of any Albion player in the 2000s and more than any other Albion player in the 21st century thus far. He was also known as a set piece specialist, having scored several goals from free-kicks and penalties. Later in his career, Clement was affected by knee injuries and was forced to retire in January 2010.
The son of Dave Clement, the former QPR and England full-back of the 1970s, Neil Clement was born in Reading, Berkshire but later attended Dorridge Junior School and Arden School in the West Midlands. His brother is football coach Paul Clement. As a teenager, Clement obtained a place at The Football Association's School of Excellence at Lilleshall. He had played as a centre-forward up until the age of 14, and only switched to left-back to improve his chances of getting into Lilleshall. He started his career at Chelsea, making his professional début in a 3–1 Premier League win over West Ham on 21 December 1996. This was to be his only league appearance and only start for Chelsea. He failed to make a single appearance during 1997–98, and the following season his contribution to Chelsea was restricted to just two substitute appearances in the League Cup. To gain first team experience, Clement was loaned out to Reading in November 1998, making his début in a 1–0 win at Northampton on 21 November 1998. A week later, on 28 November, he scored his first goal in professional football as Reading beat Lincoln 2–1. He remained with Reading until February 1999, but the following month started another loan spell, this time at Preston North End. He was sent off on his North End début in a 1–0 defeat to Colchester on 2 April 1999.
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