Willie Stevenson
Stevenson in 1966
Personal information
Full name William Stevenson[1]
Date of birth (1939-10-26) 26 October 1939[1]
Place of birth Leith, Midlothian, Scotland[1]
Position(s) Left half
Youth career
Edina Hearts
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1956–1958 Dalkeith Thistle
1958–1962 Rangers 72 (1)
1962–1967 Liverpool 188 (15)
1967–1973 Stoke City 94 (5)
1971 → Hellenic (loan) 5 (0)
1973–1974 Tranmere Rovers 20 (0)
1974 Limerick 4 (0)
1974 Vancouver Whitecaps 19 (0)
1974–1975 Macclesfield Town 32 (0)
Total 434 (21)
International career
1959 Scottish League XI 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Stevenson (born 26 October 1939) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. He played for Rangers, Liverpool, Stoke City, Tranmere Rovers[1] and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Career

Rangers

Stevenson was born in Leith, Midlothian. He played for Edina Hearts and Dalkeith Thistle before turning professional with Rangers. He immediately became a regular in the side, winning the Scottish Football League in his first season and the Scottish Cup in his second while also being involved in the semi-finals of the 1959–60 European Cup[2] and earning selection for the Scottish Football League XI,[3] but then lost his first team place after Jim Baxter joined Rangers in 1960; Baxter initially played at inside forward before being moved to Stevenson's left half berth.

After two seasons as a reserve (appearing in only 8 matches as the club won another title and watching on as they won three more major cup finals), Stevenson declined to sign a new contract with Rangers and went out to Australia in the summer of 1962, but was still registered with the Glasgow club and was not permitted to play official matches with local clubs, so he returned to Scotland and both Liverpool and Preston North End put in bids to sign him.

Liverpool

Bill Shankly paid £20,000 to bring the 22-year-old to Liverpool in October 1962. He made his debut in the 2–1 home league defeat to Burnley on 3 November 1962, he scored his first goal in a 5–0 victory over Leyton Orient at Anfield, Stevenson managed to hit the net in the 35th minute, Roger Hunt with a hat-trick and Ian St John scored the others.[4] Stevenson helped the Reds gain the 1963–64 First Division title in only their 2nd season back in the top flight of English football, he featured in 38 of the 42 league games thus cementing a starting role on the left of the Reds midfield.[4]

He played a major role in winning of Liverpool's first ever FA Cup in 1965, he played in all of the ties scoring the second goal from the penalty spot in the 2–0 semi-final victory over Chelsea at Villa Park.[4] Leeds United stood in Shankly's team's way and after a 0–0 draw in 90 minutes, goals from Hunt and St John beat the Elland Road club by 2 goals to 1 to take the trophy go to Anfield after a 72-year wait.[4] The following campaign, again, saw silverware head to Merseyside as the Reds took the league title once more. Stevenson missed just the one fixture and scored five times as Liverpool topped the table by a comfortable 6 points over Leeds. He also tasted disappointment, however, as Borussia Dortmund beat Liverpool 2–1 in the European Cup Winners Cup final at Hampden Park, the 1st European final the Anfield club had reached.[4]

Shankly had bought 19-year-old Emlyn Hughes from Blackpool in February 1967 and selected him ahead of Stevenson at the beginning of the 1967–68 season – this proved to be a turning point in Stevenson's career, he got the nod just once in the league and three times in the Fairs Cup. By December 1967 he was on his way, leaving for Stoke City.[4]

Stoke City

Stoke manager Tony Waddington paid £30,000 for Stevenson as a replacement for the departed Calvin Palmer.[1] He played 20 games in 1967–68 and 34 times in 1968–69 as Stoke had two poor seasons, narrowly avoiding relegation. A much improved 1969–70 campaign saw Stevenson play 23 games as Stoke finished in 9th.[1] He played six matches at the start of 1970–71 before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season.[1] He played 25 games in 1971–72 and just three in 1972–73.[1] At the end of the season he left the Victoria Ground after making 111 appearances scoring seven goals.

Tranmere Rovers

He joined Third Division Tranmere Rovers where he made 27 appearances.[1]

Later career

In 1974, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in the newly formed North American Soccer League (NASL). He played in Vancouver for one season.[5]

He then played for Limerick[4] before returning to the UK to play for non-league Macclesfield Town. He also spent a short time in South Africa playing for Hellenic.[5]

After football

He spent time as a publican and then ran a contract cleaning company in Macclesfield where he lived.

Career statistics

Source:[6]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rangers[2] 1958–59 Scottish Division One 26030000000290
1959–60 Scottish Division One 33170509030571
1960–61 Scottish Division One 8010200010120
1961–62 Scottish Division One 501020000080
Total 7211209090401061
Liverpool 1962–63 First Division 28260000000342
1963–64 First Division 38150000000431
1964–65 First Division 39381009110575
1965–66 First Division 41510009110525
1966–67 First Division 41340005010513
1967–68 First Division 110000300041
Total 18815241002623024118
Stoke City 1967–68 First Division 18021000000201
1968–69 First Division 32300200000343
1969–70 First Division 20231000000233
1970–71 First Division 500010000060
1971–72 First Division 17000100080260
1972–73 First Division 200010000030
Total 945525000801127
Tranmere Rovers 1973–74 Third Division 20020500000270
Vancouver Whitecaps 1974 North American Soccer League 190————190
Macclesfield Town 1974–75[7] Northern Premier League 32020——80420
UK & Canada Career Total 4252145319035223054726
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Glasgow Cup, FA Charity Shield and Texaco Cup.

Honours

Rangers
Liverpool

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. 1 2 3 (Rangers player) Stevenson, Willie, FitbaStats
  3. ↑ (SFL player) Billy Stevenson, London Hearts Supporters Club
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Willie Stevenson". LFC History. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Forgotten Hero: Willie Stevenson" thisisanfield.com 10 September 2008
  6. ↑ Willie Stevenson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  7. ↑ "Cheshire League - 1974–75". Silkmen Archive.
  • Willie Stevenson at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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