Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa custodian Geoff Sidebottom, Clemence later cited Sidebottom as a crucial early mentor: "I learned a lot from Geoff. He taught me how to look after myself because 'keepers were a lot less protected then." During his time at the club, Clemence lived with Mrs Ruby Duce of King Edward Street in Scunthorpe; in the very same digs which would then immediately be occupied by Ray's future England and Liverpool teammate Kevin Keegan following Clemence's departure to Liverpool. After being reintroduced to the side after they had lost their opening three games in all competitions, Clemence became Scunthorpe's undisputed first-choice goalkeeper in their following 1966–67 Third Division campaign, in which they finished a disappointing 18th. After manager and ex-Busby Babe Freddie Goodwin departed mid-season for the New York Generals in the nascent North American Soccer League, Clemence spent the latter half of his season under the guidance of caretaker player-manager Keith Burkinshaw, who would later also sign the player for Tottenham Hotspur. And despite Clemence himself worrying that a humiliating 7-1 defeat away to arch-rivals Grimsby Town could end his professional career, Scunthorpe's faith in him never waivered and this defeat proved to be the second game in a run of 46 consecutive starts he made to see out all of Scunthorpe's remaining league and cup matches. This run took Clemence's figures to 50 appearances and 12 clean sheets in all competitions for Scunthorpe; but unbeknownst to him, he had been scouted in 12 games by legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly and his coaching staff. This came to fruition later that summer, when Clemence was forced to leave a beachside deckchair-stacking shift early, with the news that an urgent telegram awaited him at home. This was because Liverpool's bid for the now 18-year-old shot-stopper had been accepted, and the Scunthorpe chairman personally drove Clemence to Anfield in his Rolls-Royce the next morning. Looking back on his time with the club, Clemence fondly recalled how Scunthorpe United was: "A club I'm proud to be associated with. While I was there it was like being part of a family. Liverpool Clemence was signed by Liverpool manager Bill Shankly on 24 June 1967 from Scunthorpe United for a fee of £18,000. He made his debut and kept his first clean sheet in a League Cup third round tie at Anfield on 25 September 1968, Swansea Town were the visitors