A book about Clive

I walked into a Barnes and Noble today and saw this on a table of new books:

East End Heroes, Stateside Kings, by Brian Belton

I thought, "that looks like Clive on the cover." I picked it up and looked at the synopsis: "Oh my gosh, it IS Clive!" (He's the one on the left.)

Clive, along with two West Ham teammates, made history by being part of the first lineup in an English league to feature three black players. There is an entire chapter about Clive's time at UP. It's just wonderful and brings back a lot of great memories of the man for me. Though it was published in 2008 the English author only mentions the Pilots winning the 2002 Cup (there's a team picture and the Oregonian front page shot of Christine after the game winner in the photo section). Oh, and he refers to Loren Wohlgemuth (former SID) as..."she" (give him a break; he lives in Britain).

Before I run off to order this, I'll leave you with this episode from the book that really summarizes what Clive was about: The men were playing Indiana in the '88 College Cup semis. Coming into the locker room after a scoreless first half, Clive asked for silence. The team then eavesdropped as the IU coach ranted and raved next door. Clive then said, "Keep doing what you're doing. Go out there and have fun."

Priceless.

A portion of what was written in this new book was posted on this forum in the sticky section awhile back (the post disappeared with the start of the new season); Belton has written a number of books about West Ham and conducted the interview which was the basis for story that was previously posted here, which then became the basis and beginnings for this new book.

Oh and Belton also said he called Clive at his home "in Maine" in one of his first interviews. It seems like New Yorkers aren't the only ones who need to be reminded there is a lot of other land in this country beyond the Hudson River. Hahaha.

Remembering what was posted previously, it was fantastic, a great read in regards to Clive. Highly recommend this... in fact may purchase a copy myself... thanks.

KFTC wrote:A portion of what was written in this new book was posted on this forum in the sticky section awhile back (the post disappeared with the start of the new season); Belton has written a number of books about West Ham and conducted the interview which was the basis for story that was previously posted here, which then became the basis and beginnings for this new book.

Oh and Belton also said he called Clive at his home "in Maine" in one of his first interviews. It seems like New Yorkers aren't the only ones who need to be reminded there is a lot of other land in this country beyond the Hudson River. Hahaha.

The posts didn't disappear, the just got unstickied, so they are filtering down the hierarchy of recent posts. To find them, just put "Clive" in the search box at the upper right and click on the eponymous post that comes up as a result.

The other book Belton wrote is The Black Hammers and has a picture of Clive's brother John on the cover. The fronstspiece has a dedication to John Charles and to Clyde Best, and he's the other face in the background. I guess I need to run out and get the new book.

Thanks.

Before I run off to order this, I'll leave you with this episode from the book that really summarizes what Clive was about: The men were playing Indiana in the '88 College Cup semis. Coming into the locker room after a scoreless first half, Clive asked for silence. The team then eavesdropped as the IU coach ranted and raved next door. Clive then said, "Keep doing what you're doing. Go out there and have fun."

Thanks PPT. I hadn't heard that story before! Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:I walked into a Barnes and Noble today and saw this on a table of new books:
East End Heroes, Stateside Kings, by Brian Belton

I thought, "that looks like Clive on the cover." I picked it up and looked at the synopsis: "Oh my gosh, it IS Clive!" (He's the one on the left.)

Clive, along with two West Ham teammates, made history by being part of the first lineup in an English league to feature three black players.

In the United Kingdom, October is Black History Month, and Clive's old team, West Ham United, has chosen to run a piece about Clive as a "trailblazer, not only at West Ham United, but throughout the wider football world."

https://www.whufc.com/news/clive-charles-true-west-ham-united-trailblazer

DoubleDipper wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:I walked into a Barnes and Noble today and saw this on a table of new books:
East End Heroes, Stateside Kings, by Brian Belton

I thought, "that looks like Clive on the cover." I picked it up and looked at the synopsis: "Oh my gosh, it IS Clive!" (He's the one on the left.)

Clive, along with two West Ham teammates, made history by being part of the first lineup in an English league to feature three black players.

In the United Kingdom, October is Black History Month, and Clive's old team, West Ham United, has chosen to run a piece about Clive as a "trailblazer, not only at West Ham United, but throughout the wider football world."

https://www.whufc.com/news/clive-charles-true-west-ham-united-trailblazer

Clyde Best, another one of the trio mentioned in the West Ham piece,  was just honored at halftime of the recent Timbers- Colorado game with a standing ovation. A mural of Clyde was recently commissioned for the North End concourse at Providence Park.
As well as his stint with West Ham, Clyde played with Clive on the USL Timbers in Portland from 1977 to 1981,scoring 38 goals and registering 27 assists and played 3 years on the Timbers indoor team before moving on to other teams in the Netherlands and the USA and Canada - the latter in indoor leagues. The 38 Timbers goals was good for second place in the USL era.
After that he made a stab at coaching, first as an assistant with the USL San Diego Sockers and then managing his native Bermuda National Team before retiring.

https://www.timbers.com/news/timbers-legend-clyde-best-returns-to-portland-to-be-honored-by-the-club



Clyde came to Portland a year before Clive, and may have been one of the reasons Clive showed up in Portland.