Willie Stevenson

Willie Stevenson
Personal information
Full name William Stevenson[1]
Date of birth (1939-10-26) 26 October 1939[1]
Place of birth Leith, Midlothian, Scotland[1]
Playing position Left half
Youth career
– Edina Hearts
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1962 Rangers 73 (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 375 (21)
National team
1959 Scottish League XI 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

William "Willie" 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

Stevenson was born in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland. He played for Edina Hearts, Dalkeith Thistle and Rangers before Bill Shankly paid £20,000 to bring him 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.[2] Willie had just lost his place to Jim Baxter in the Rangers side and was just settling down in Australia when both Liverpool and Preston North End put in bids to sign him, Liverpool got their man out bidding Preston in doing so. 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.[2]

Willie played a major role in winning of Liverpool's first ever FA Cup in 1965, he played in all of the ties and scored the all important 2nd goal from the penalty spot in the 2–0 semi-final victory over Chelsea at Villa Park.[2] Leeds United stood in Shankly's team's way and after a hard fought 0–0 draw in 90 minutes, goals from Hunt and St John were enough to beat the Elland Road club by 2 goals to 1 and see the famous trophy go to Anfield after a 72-year wait.[2] The following campaign, again, saw silverware head North-West 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. Willie 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.[2] Shankly had bought the 19-year-old Emlyn Hughes from Blackpool in the February 1967 and selected him ahead of Stevenson at the beginning of the 1967–68 season, this proved to be 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.[2]

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, for Third Division Tranmere Rovers where he made 27 appearances.[1]

In 1974, Willie travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia, to join the Vancouver Whitecaps in the newly formed North American Soccer League (NASL). He played in Vancouver for one season before ending his career. In 1975, he acted as assistant coach before returning to the UK in 1976. Willie is now retired, after his retirement in spent time as a publican and then ran a contract cleaning company in Macclesfield where he still lives.

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rangers 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 17000000080250
1972–73 First Division 200010000030
Total 945524000801117
Tranmere Rovers 1973–74 Third Division 20020500000270
Total 20020500000270
Career Total 3742143318035215048526
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Glasgow Cup, FA Charity Shield and Texaco Cup.

Honours

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 4 5 6 "Willie Stevenson". LFC History. Retrieved 12 February 2013.

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