The Ex-Files: Jamie Clapham Wednesday, 25th Sep 2013 16:45 In the ninth part of our regular series, The Ex-Files, Blair Ferguson catches up with Jamie Clapham, a key man in George Burley’s side which won promotion to the Premier League and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Having come through Tottenham’s youth system Jamie Clapham, like many youngsters at Premier League clubs, found his first team opportunities limited, in his case to one substitute appearance in the Intertoto Cup, and so went out on loan. Leyton Orient was his first port of call in January 1997. "The path to get through at Tottenham was difficult because of the players that were there and I was young and the best thing to do is to go and get experience and play football at a professional club," he explains. "Leyton Orient were happy for me to and play for them and I enjoyed that, and then [later that season] again it was difficult for me to breakthrough and this time I went to Bristol Rovers. I really enjoyed my time there with Ian Holloway and I played five or six games.” The Lincoln-born player’s initial loan move to Town in January 1998 happened as a result of Tottenham having a poor season and the then-manager looking to experienced players to dig them out of trouble. "The following year Christian Gross was in charge and they were at the bottom of the table, bottom three, bottom four and struggling. He felt he needed senior players in order to get out of that mess and he said I wouldn't play for Tottenham at that particular time.
"Then the opportunity to go on loan at Ipswich came about and I had a month or two there and they wanted me, offered to buy me and Tottenham accepted the bid. Then it was my decision so I went to Ipswich.” Having decided to leave the club he supported as a boy Clapham arrived at Ipswich and found it a good fit. "I think Ipswich Town’s style of football suited me,” he recalled. “It was a passing club, it was good football and George did really well at getting relatively unknown players and getting the best out of them. I mean, no one will have really heard of me when I went to Ipswich as a Tottenham reserve player. "I went to Ipswich and played and I like to think that my time there was pretty successful and I would have a good relationship if I ever went back. “I think that the club suited me, it was a lovely family club, well run and the players and their families were treated with the utmost respect. “You could see it in the way that all the club dos were put on and it was all about the families and getting together and it was a good atmosphere to be involved in." During his time at Town Clapham endured two unsuccessful play-off attempts and was the unlucky scorer of an own goal against Charlton in 1997/98. “In my first year I unfortunately scored an own goal against Charlton in the home leg and lost the second leg so that was that year done. “The following year we played in the play-offs again and you start to think ‘Well, we get so far, have we got what it takes to progress?’. At that time we weren’t overhauling the squad of players that were there we were just adding one or two.” The following season, 1999/00, the Blues finally made it: "We had a great year. But unfortunately we made the play-offs again. “We had such an amazing play-off game at Bolton which was 2-2 or something ridiculous and Stewy scored a good goal. It was a roasting hot day, a terrific game of football and I think I needed about two days off as I got heatstroke during the game. "And then we obviously played in the home leg which was a terrific night with Jim getting a hat-trick and me scoring a penalty, I was buzzing.
“Then going to Wembley, it was one of those occasions where you could win it or lose it and it was our day and I think it was probably our time." Following on from this we begin to discuss the first season in the Premier League and one stand out moment in particular, his goal against Tottenham, but he reveals a regret. "I think it was Christmas or New Year, I came on as a sub and it literally came across to me and it was a tap in from one-yard out,” he remembers. “All goals are special, I wouldn’t put any against each other, but I wish I’d scored against Norwich because it would have meant so much." Next up is the question that is always most intriguing when discussing that period of Town’s history: what exactly went wrong in the second season that saw a team which finished fifth the previous year relegated? The line of questioning honed in on the effect of the new additions on team spirit.
Clapham starts off with a laugh, "You’ve put me on the spot a bit there! The personnel did change and it might have had a factor but team spirit, I wouldn’t say it was affected by that. I just think it was one of those things. “We tried to enhance the squad, so to speak, with the players were brought in, but perhaps they didn’t enhance the squad. "I didn’t think I played as much in that season compared to the first season and was a sub most of the time, which I found frustrating and disappointing but for whatever reason we got relegated and that was it." The conversation then moved on to a special moment, captaining Town in the UEFA Cup in the Blues’ second season in Europe — courtesy of the Fair Play League — following the drop out of the Premier League, Clapham wearing the preliminary round tie against Avenir Beggen in Luxembourg. "It’s a great honour to captain any side that you play for. I don’t know the reason why, I’m not sure who wasn’t playing or what was the case, but I captained the side that day and it was great honour to do that and obviously part of a great experience that we had with Ipswich playing in Europe."
The lows of not playing regularly during the latter stages of Town’s spell in the Premier League vanished when Joe Royle took over from Burley, a period that Clapham speaks of fondly. "The time under Joe Royle was a different period in my career. Obviously I got a move when Joe Royle was there and I left to go to Birmingham, but he was a great character, him and Willie [Donachie] and obviously Tony [Mowbray] at that time was coaching. "Joe was always out there on the pitch but he didn’t really take coaching as such, it was more about his man management and he was out there and if he wanted to say anything about the session or make a point it seemed that more important because you didn’t hear his voice day in day out. “So, when he spoke you felt it was an important part of it and you were like ‘Right, this is something that really has to be done’." Clapham's time at Ipswich came to an end in January 2003 when he moved on to Birmingham for a fee of £1.3 million. Despite Town being a club he loved, the lure of the Premier League was too great to turn down for an ambitious footballer. "It’s funny how it comes around but I just had a phone call from Joe saying the club had had an offer for me, which they had accepted and I could have a chat with them. “He said if it’s not right don’t feel any pressure to sign anything, come back and you’ll be playing in the team on Saturday. "Obviously the Premier League, I was never going to turn that down, unfortunately for Ipswich. You never know, maybe they were delighted to see the back of me! year relegated? The line of questioning honed in on the effect of the new additions on team spirit.
“It was a sad time because I’d had great times at Ipswich, I have some really fond memories, but I moved to Birmingham and had another three and a half years there." The next step in Clapham’s career was a short journey from Birmingham to Wolves, where current Town manager Mick McCarthy would be his boss. A hard worker described as having “three lungs” by Royle, he would seem an ideal McCarthy player, but that wasn’t the case. “I didn’t play that much under Mick McCarthy," explains Clapham. "Mick brought me in and I thought I was going to be playing left midfield, it was Lee Naylor who was the left-back then, but he moved on and I played at left-back. “But it was just one of those things, I wasn’t a Mick McCarthy type of player and yet he did sign me. Ultimately he didn’t fancy me as a player and I found myself not playing from Christmas onwards.
"I was disappointed, I only played under him for three months and there was a couple of times I feel I wasn’t treated particularly fairly. I was a senior player training with the kids and the youth team and on a pre-season tour they went away and left me training with kids. “But it happens and I was just strong enough carry on and train as hard as I could and when I left there it was fine and if we see each other, I haven’t seen him since, I’d have no problem speaking to [him or] any of the managers that I’ve worked for or played for. Whether they would say the same I’m not sure!" Having spent the first few months of 2007/08 on loan at Leeds, he was told by Dennis Wise that he didn't want to sign him.
Despite Wise’s successor Gary McAllister wanting him to sign, the decision was made to reunite with Ian Holloway in at Leicester in the January. "I would never ever foreseen the circumstances at Leicester. We ended up getting relegated, I just couldn’t believe what happened. Ian Holloway left and I had a three-month contract to the end of the season and I found myself out of work."
This was a tough time for Clapham who was a free agent until September when future Ipswich coach Ian McParland, a man he speaks about with high regard, signed him for Notts County. "Ian McParland was really good and played a style of football that suited me. I had two years there and got promoted and won the league title with them. “But Ian McParland left and Sven-Göran Eriksson came in. It was sort of an exciting time, it was all going on at Notts County!" Clapham's departure from Notts County came about in an unusual manner, which is perhaps not entirely surprising when you look at how the club was run during that period. "Steve Cotterill ended up coming in at the end of that time for two months", he explains, “and he made decisions on players and then left a week later. I couldn’t believe they allowed him to do that.
“As far as we were concerned he was offered the manager’s job and didn’t sign a contract, didn’t sign it and didn’t sign it, made decisions on all the players and then left and went to Portsmouth, so it was crazy for them to have done that." Just like at Leeds he was offered a way back before the season started, but it was a difficult time in his career. "Craig Short took over and he rang me up about going back in to train so I went in and trained and then that afternoon the assistant manager rang me up and said that they were going to go a different route, they were going to sign John Harley who [Short] had worked with at Sheffield United or somewhere before. "[Short] never rang me to say anything. I asked if he could ring back but he never did so I was a bit disappointed with how he treated me in that situation. Again, I’ve seen him since and we’ve talked normally, that’s football." Clapham's next club would be his hometown side, Lincoln City. With his advancing years he hoped for a differing role. "I was really looking forward to it, I’d played with the manager Chris Sutton at Birmingham and at that stage it was coming towards the end of my career and I was already looking at doing coaching. I went in as a player and I was hoping at that time he would bring me through as player-coach.
"It wasn’t something we spoke about but I felt it might have been a progression for me within that contract. He was only there for 10 games and then left and it was like, ‘Hang on a minute, what’s happened here?’. He left and then Steve Tilson came in and he managed the club." The introduction of Steve Tilson wasn't the first time the two had met, with the first encounter having been less than favourable. "Myself and Steve Tilson’s paths had crossed before when I was out of contract from Leicester and I needed a game. “I was training at West Brom at the time, which was purely because I knew Tony [Mowbray, then the manager at the Hawthorns] and [his assistant] Mark Venus, so I went and did pre-season with them and Steve Tilson [ then the boss at Southend] got in touch with them. “They needed a left-back but it was made pretty clear that I wasn’t what they were looking for and I said that that was no problem. "They told me what they were looking for which was a big six foot such and such left-back who could go up and down. I said that was fine and good luck finding that player because there’s not many of them about. “But they made a big thing on their website and on Sky saying ‘Jamie Clapham’s going for a trial at Southend’ and I said ‘Why have you done this? You’ve made it clear you’re not going to take me’. "A couple of days later I’d played in the game and done well and he’d said you’ve done really well but it said [on their website], ‘Jamie Clapham does not get contract at Southend’. It just kills you, things like that. I was fuming and I got in touch and they put a little retracted statement on their website but that doesn’t go across the little videprinter on Sky. "I know a lot of managers sit in their office and watch Sky Sports News and say ‘He hasn’t got a club, why hasn’t he gone there?’. So I wasn’t happy with Tilson and to then find out he was coming into Lincoln I thought that my time was pretty much limited," he laughs. "I played a couple of games and he made me captain and I think it was to appease me because I was a local lad. “And then he left me out totally and again I was training separately, wasn’t part of the group. It was poor the way he treated me really, and his man management. “Ultimately, the club got relegated, I hardly played but when I came in I gave it everything I could and I played well. I think he was under pressure to play me really because people were asking why I wasn’t playing." When Lincoln were relegated Clapham found himself, once again, without a club. After playing a few games for Kettering in non-league in 2011/12 he felt that football was no longer fun and that it was time to call it a day. He considered himself ready for coaching but knew he needed experience, so he returned to Lincoln City. "I went to Lincoln when Steve Tilson got the sack and helped out by taking the youth team when the youth team manager took the first team, so that’s how I got into it. "David Holdsworth came in and wanted to keep me as a coach and I said I’d do it for nothing as I needed the experience and I wanted to help out. “I did it for the year and went in every day and got used to that side of it, preparing and doing the sessions and matches and I really enjoyed it." After the year was up Clapham decided the time was right to progress so embarked on a familiar path for most, going for job interviews. "I went for a couple of interviews and then I went for one at Sunderland as an U18s coach and got to the last four but didn’t make it. Then I got a phone call in the summer to say that they would like to offer me a post as U18s assistant manager at Sunderland, which was an incredible opportunity. "But Tony Mowbray is someone I’ve spoken to throughout my career for advice and things like that, so I rang him because I would have had to move up to the North-East and would have been doing it for nothing again, but in a better situation at a better club. Obviously, the prospects were a lot greater than where I was. “And he said ‘I think there is an opportunity that could arise here and I think you would be ideal for the role’. I went and had an interview with his academy manager and now I’m the U21 manager at Middlesbrough. “it’s gone full circle and now, I’m on the other side of the fence and I know what it’s like for all these managers I’ve slagged off in the past, saying ‘What’s he doing!’. I’m now the one that doesn’t know what he’s doing!" As the interview begins to draw to a close, Clapham, now 37, explained how things work within the corridors of power at Middlesbrough under his old Town team-mates Mowbray and his assistant Venus. "I’m really enjoying it, I’m still learning that side of it but I think you should be experimental with the coaching at that level, you need to make sure you know the detail of every system if you want to play it and let the players know. "It’s really great to be at a club where it’s so open and there’s communication from the first team down to the youth team. We are all in the same office talking football, football, football so there’s no closed doors, there’s no hidden agenda it’s just the whole club likes talking football. "I think they’ve done a terrific job and really turned it around from where the club was and what they’ve been asked to do. They’ve stabilised the club, so to speak, and now they have the opportunity to build a team and push the club forward." You can read all the previous Ex-Files here.
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