Meeting Clive Mendonca - Any questions for him?
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Cheers for that info Flash. Genuinely surprised, given how they look so alike.Lordflashheart said:
I know Colonel Mendonca (seriously, I do) and asked the Colonel this question - no they are not relatedStig said:Are you related to Colonel Jorge Mendonca?0 -
My btother met Clive and is still buzzing about it. He will be providing me with answers to your questions, probably today, which I will post on here.5
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The Colonel has a Cedilla under the C in Mendonca (looks like a small hook) - in Portuguese this means the C is pronounced like a K - the Colonel told me that he suspects that Clive’s family dropped the Cedilla at some point to semi Anglicise their surname - his family haven’t done thatStig said:
Cheers for that info Flash. Genuinely surprised, given how they look so alike.Lordflashheart said:
I know Colonel Mendonca (seriously, I do) and asked the Colonel this question - no they are not relatedStig said:Are you related to Colonel Jorge Mendonca?
Furthermore, the Colonel served in the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, and the Colonel and his family are all from Lancashire, with no connections to the North East
The surname Mendonca, whilst not as common as Smith in the UK, is a fairly common surname in Portugal and former Portuguese colonies he told me, particularly in northern Portugal
The Spanish variant is Mendoza, and common in the Basque and Galician regions i.e. adjacent to northern Portugal1 -
Sorry this is late. The reason my brother tried so hard to set this up was because Clive is his footballing hero. He was so chuffed that his hero made him a cup of tea when he visited! His business gave him a reason not to seem like a deranged stalker but he has been trying to do this for a while and found an opportunity to make it happen. Clive, unlike a fair number of ex professionals and indeed current ones isn’t seeking out these opportunities. Geoff Hurst will sign anything that moves! Not a criticism of Hurst, good luck to him, but Clive is a different more private person. Anyway the paragraphs below are from my brother. He is a businessman and he did get some items signed which he has put on his website. I have put more information about that on a CL marketplace thread. He felt Clive enjoyed their conversation and the chance to reminisce, maybe because he doesn’t do it so much.
Clive is a really nice straight up guy. He is living comfortably in Sunderland with his wife and I think, whilst he was happy to talk about his past career, he sees it as a previous life. As for appearing on Charlton TV, I don’t think there is any great desire to do so. He knows he can make money doing these sort of things but he isn’t chasing money. I asked him if he knows how fondly Charlton fans regard him and he said he does and he remembers them fondly too. He said he was sad to see the club’s struggles in recent years. It is important I respect him and give a private man his privacy so I avoided delving further than asking straightforward questions about his career with us. And contrary to what people may have heard, he absolutely likes football and watches it regularly although it is more on TV nowadays and it has been a while since he has been to a Sunderland game. He also is a big boxing fan.
You wanted to know why he signed for Charlton. His answer demonstrated how myths can develop, as it was a more straightforward one than about a house etc... Sunderland didn’t have the money for his transfer fee and it was between Charlton and Birmingham who signed him. Clive decided on Charlton because he felt the way we played suited his game more. I asked him who his favourite strike partner was at the club and he said he didn’t mind who he played with but surprisingly to me he especially mentioned playing with Carl Leaburn who he felt he helped get the best out of his game which helped him get his big money move to Wimbledon. He remembers a 12 game spell when they really clicked together as a pairing, just before Leaburn’s move. I then went into his talent and linked it to the question about what thoughts he had when he was one on one on goal. He said that he didn’t want to sound arrogant, but when he was one on one with the keeper, he just knew he was going to score. It struck me that he didn’t have to think at all, it all came naturally to him which may be what made him such a great goalscorer.
Obviously, you can’t chat to Clive and not talk about Wembley. It leads into his favourite goal, although I was surprised to learn that it was his first goal and not his third. He did mention a goal against Barnsley but scoring at Wembley was special to him. We had a discussion about all three goals which Clive knows were great goals in their own right. Will there ever be a greater Wembley hat-trick? I doubt it. Even the second where he had to control the ball with his studs which can be overlooked. But he thinks the turn for the first and the finish made it the best. I delved into his feelings with Sunderland being his club. He said on a selfish level he was buzzing after scoring a hat-trick at Wembley but he also felt bad as he had lots of Sunderland friends and family in the stands. He said he was ultimately doing his job as a professional footballer. I forgot to ask about his wicket keeper relative although I think it is on record that it is true. It was an honour and a pleasure meeting him.
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Very interesting read, thanks Muttley0
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Great read!
He said to me after a game a Welling when he signed my shirt ( still have today of course ) that not being big headed I will alway score goals !
Love the man - super Clive !0 -
Great!
Just ordered one of the large signed frames. I bought a very costly Lionel Messi signed shirt recently and told myself I’d hold back on anything like that again for a while. But Clive Mendonca…That’s worth every penny.0 -
Love that. Thanks Muttley and brother!0
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Awesome - thanks Muttley!0
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What percentage does Clive get ?
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I honestly don't know mate, I haven't asked and it is between him and Clive. I am not making anything from this if it helps.oohaahmortimer said:What percentage does Clive get ?
BTW, my brother wanted to add to the Clive liking football bit that he still likes it but less so since the introduction of VAR which he thinks spoils the game.1 -
Cheers Muttley, good write up and nice to see Clive doing well.
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Hand delivered by Muttley’s brother this morning. Lovely bloke. Had a good chat with him about what it was like to meet Clive himself.
Looks the business!
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Thanks for posting that MuttleyCAFC. These were the best lines for me: "He is living comfortably in Sunderland with his wife... He knows he can make money doing these sort of things but he isn’t chasing money".
I was under the impression that he was living a miserable life as a loner as a result of gambling debts. So glad to hear that isn't true or, at least, is something that's been massively over egged.3 -
Beat me to it, @Stig. Exactly what I had come on to post. Genuinely pleased for him that he's living comfortably. Seems a private fella just living his life. Good on him.Stig said:Thanks for posting that MuttleyCAFC. These were the best lines for me: "He is living comfortably in Sunderland with his wife... He knows he can make money doing these sort of things but he isn’t chasing money".
I was under the impression that he was living a miserable life as a loner as a result of gambling debts. So glad to hear that isn't true or, at least, is something that's been massively over egged.1 -
Super Clive always came across as an everyday fella who liked a drink and a bet.
Hopefully he'll have a comfortable future and look back on his football career with fondness.0 -
Nice to hear he is happy and well. I'd still love to see him on CharltonTV, and that has nothing to do with him making any money out of it. It would just be good to see him take a trip down memory lane with Curbs and co. and to get him to feel some of the love.4
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100%. Seeing Clive on CharltonTV (before it's shut down) would be a great event.Siv_in_Norfolk said:Nice to hear he is happy and well. I'd still love to see him on CharltonTV, and that has nothing to do with him making any money out of it. It would just be good to see him take a trip down memory lane with Curbs and co. and to get him to feel some of the love.2 -
Chunes said:
100%. Seeing Clive on CharltonTV (before it's shut down) would be a great event.Siv_in_Norfolk said:Nice to hear he is happy and well. I'd still love to see him on CharltonTV, and that has nothing to do with him making any money out of it. It would just be good to see him take a trip down memory lane with Curbs and co. and to get him to feel some of the love.
When Charlton TV goes will there be another way for us to watch the games if we can't go in person?0 -
ifollowMuttleyCAFC said:Chunes said:
100%. Seeing Clive on CharltonTV (before it's shut down) would be a great event.Siv_in_Norfolk said:Nice to hear he is happy and well. I'd still love to see him on CharltonTV, and that has nothing to do with him making any money out of it. It would just be good to see him take a trip down memory lane with Curbs and co. and to get him to feel some of the love.
When Charlton TV goes will there be another way for us to watch the games if we can't go in person?1
