As a kid, I used to caddy at Sudbury Golf course at weekends to get some extra pocket money. The advantage of Sudbury, was that each year, the club hosted the London football clubs golf competition.
I asked the club pro if I could act as the referee in the group Clive was playing in. He agreed, but when I turned up in a QPR shirt, the wisdom of the decision was questioned.
Clive was and still is, one of my all time fave QPR players. He was a great goal scorer and of course, a scorer of some great goals. He also just happened to be, a genuinely nice fella.
At the time, my father and I had season tickets right by the players' entrance at Loftus Road, so he recognised me a bit and it was without doubt, one of the more enjoyable afternoons I had walking around a golf course.
At the end of the event, we were all having a drink in the club house and I mentioned that we had a six year old neighbour who was a Clive Allen fanatic and if it would be ok to bring the boy down to meet him at the training ground at Birkbeck? Clive said of course it was and so the lad's mum let me bring him to the training ground.
Back in 1981, Clive was hot property so my little neighbour, who was loud for a six year old, was up and knocking on my door at 8am with excitement. We ambled down to the training ground and I brought the kid into meet Clive. "Hello Barry how are you?" opened the free scoring hoop.
He had remembered the little lad's name which meant so much to him. Barry stood there mute and unable to compute what had just happened. Clive kept talking to him but Barry remained in a trance. I interjected by saying, "Barry I think you're Clive's biggest fan and until now, his loudest!"
The poor kid was awestruck, rendered utterly useless. Clive chatted away to us, signed everything Barry had brought for signing. We walked back up the Oldfield Road to home and when I brought him to his mum, Barry was still quiet.
Shortly after that, I was with school mates at the London Fives and if you ever went then you'll recall that the teams would warm up under the stands. The five of us we walking round the arena trying to suss which server looked most likely to serve a group of 15 year olds some ale when from nowhere, I hear 'Hey John?"
I walked back to my mouth-opened chums having had a quick chat to Clive, and left them with the "Oh it's Clive, a mate of mine from QPR!"
Three goals Clive scored I was privileged to have been in the stadium to see. The one at Cambridge, Manchester United and West Ham. Class finishes that showed what a natural goal scorer he was.
While Bobby's late, late winner last May will live long in the memory, I guess Clive's goal at Highbury remains for me, the goal that saw the biggest out-pouring of emotion and volume of any goal scored by QPR in the forty odd years I have supported the club. The fact that it was scored by someone I knew, made it that little bit more special.
So much so, that even when he did rattle in a couple against us up at the Lane and gave us the v-sign, I wasn't quite able to reciprocate.
It remains a mystery to me why he never got more of a chance with England. Sure he lacked the pace of Lineker, but Clive was too naturally gifted as a goalscorer to have been so overlooked.
Great memories, of just the best and most natural goal scorer I think QPR have ever had. And the very best of luck with this excellent campaign.
JH
Memory added on March 2, 2015
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