A native of Norfolk (Clive comes from North Walsham), his footballing successes occurred outside his home county. In seven years at Carrow Road, he made just sixteen appearances as Kevin Keelan and Chris Woods occupied the Number One shirt. One of my earliest footballing memories is the Canaries' FA Cup defeat at Maine Road which saw John Bond's Manchester City put six past Clive without reply.

A move to Barnsley in 1984 resulted in 291 appearances for the Yorkshire side with Clive twice winning the Player of the Year award. In 1991 he joined Coventry as cover for Steve Ogrizovic but made only a single League Cup appearance. The following year saw him join newly promoted Ipswich Town as cover for Craig Forrest. Clive managed to displace his rival and accumulate 48 appearances for Norwich's arch-rivals. Knee injuries forced his retirement at the age of 37.

Mike Davage revealed in his article "Canaries Wingin It Everywhere" in the 1997/98 Norwich City handbook that Clive was signed by Sudbury Town (Jewson Eastern Counties League) as non-contract cover for their goalkeepers. He combines this with work in the insurance industry in London.