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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Trevor McGregor Steven | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-09-21)21 September 1963 (age 62) | ||
| Place of birth | Berwick-upon-Tweed, England | ||
| Positions | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1983 | Burnley | 74 | (11) |
| 1983–1989 | Everton | 210 | (48) |
| 1989–1991 | Rangers | 55 | (6) |
| 1991–1992 | Marseille | 28 | (3) |
| 1992–1997 | Rangers | 77 | (10) |
| Total | 444 | (78) | |
| International career | |||
| 1982 | England Youth | 1 | (0) |
| 1984 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 1985–1992[1] | England | 36 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Trevor McGregor Steven (born 21 September 1963) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as a right-sidedmidfielder. He progressed through the ranks atBurnley, making his debut in 1981 regularly scoring over the next two seasons.Everton bossHoward Kendall, who was building a new team based on youth, decided to make a bid for him. He became known as a member of the successful Everton side of the 1980s and went on to be part of theRangers '9-in-a-row' team. Steven was also successful with France'sMarseille and gained 36 international caps forEngland. He works as a presenter forRTÉ Sport in Ireland.
Steven began his career withBurnley upon leaving school in the summer of 1980, and broke into the first team on 14 April 1981 when he made his debut as substitute in a 4–2 win overHuddersfield Town atTurf Moor. During the1981–82 season, whilst still a teenager, his first appearance in the starting XI came atBristol Rovers in September. Steven then went on to score three goals in 36 league games to help Burnley win promotion to theSecond Division as Third Division champions. He managed eight goals in the1982–83 season, but was unable to prevent Burnley from going straight back down to the Third Division.[2]
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Burnley accepted £300,000 for the 19-year-old Steven who joinedEverton in the summer of 1983.[3] He made his debut at the beginning of the following season, which proved awatershed campaign for Kendall's men. Despite finishing in 7th position in theFootball League Championship, the season – and Kendall's job – was saved by two excellent cup runs. Steven was not selected by Kendall for the1984 Football League Cup Final (a defeat to local rivalsLiverpool after a replay), but by the time Everton lined back up atWembley for the1984 FA Cup Final two months later, he was in the team.Watford were the opponents, and Steven played his part in the second goal of Everton's 2–0 success. As he ventured down the flank, Steven sent in an early, high and very awkward ball towards the Watford penalty area, which Evertoncentre forwardAndy Gray and WatfordgoalkeeperSteve Sherwood challenged for together. Though Sherwood seemed to get two hands on the ball, Gray's challenge certainly involved contact with his head and the goal was given. Steven had played his part and anFA Cup medal was his.[4]
The following season, Steven further established his right-flank partnership with full backGary Stevens, which was a strong and creative link-up. Kendall had completed his team-building process and Everton went from strength to strength, winning the First Division title for the first time in 15 years and reaching the FA Cup final again. Steven established himself as one of the best midfield players in Europe with his ability to take players on with his attacking skills combined with defensive duties when needed. The domestic"double" chances evaporated whenManchester United, despite being down to ten men,won at Wembley in extra time, but there was consolation for Everton when they defeatedRapid Vienna 3–1 in the final of theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup inRotterdam. Steven scored the second goal with a close-range volley after Rapid failed to clear a corner. He had also scored a crucial goal in the semi-final againstBayern Munich. In the league, he managed 12 goals from 40 games and was among their top scorers.[2]
Next season, Everton again challenged for First Division and FA Cup honours but were unable to compete in Europe due to the post-Heysel Stadium disaster ban on English clubs. Everton ended the season without a trophy – they lost the League title to Liverpool on the last day of the season, and then Steven suffered FA Cup heartbreak for a consecutive season when Liverpoolbeat Everton 3–1 at Wembley.[5]
A year later he enjoyed another title triumph as Evertonfinished as champions with Steven scoring 14 goals – the most league goals he scored in a season for the club. In 1988 his right flank partner Stevens left Everton to joinRangers in Scotland and Steven struggled to form a similartelepathy with replacementNeil McDonald. Everton ended the season without a trophy – losing the1989 FA Cup Final to Liverpool.[6]
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Graeme Souness, then manager of Rangers, offered Steven the chance to pair up with his friend Gary Stevens and reform their partnership down the right. Offers came in from other big clubs, includingManchester United, whereAlex Ferguson was rebuilding his midfield aroundBryan Robson, but Steven choseIbrox when he exitedGoodison Park in the 1989 close season. His main reason for doing so seemed to be the attraction of European football, as the ban on English clubs was ongoing and Steven had been denied the chance to play in theEuropean Cup with Everton as a consequence. So, after 299 appearances and 60 goals, he left Everton in a £1.5 million deal and went toGlasgow.[7]
Despite being the latest in a sequence of high-profile England internationals signed by Souness, Steven's arrival at Ibrox was relatively low-key, principally because it coincided with the controversial signing ofMo Johnston – thefirst high-profile, established Roman Catholic player to be signed by Rangers in the post-war period. Steven rapidly became a solid member of the Rangers squad, securing a league championship in his first season, and another title plus theScottish League Cup in the second.[8]
In August 1991, Steven moved for £5.5 million[9] – the joint-highest fee involving a British player at the time, shared withDavid Platt ofAston Villa, who had been transferred to Italian clubBari for the same amount a month earlier – toOlympique Marseille where he stayed for one season, winning the French league title.
However, his future in the south of France had looked uncertain within months of his arrival. In December 1991, it was reported that the financially troubled club were prepared to sell Steven back to Rangers to cut their heavy losses.[10] However, he stayed with the club until the end of the season. Despite reports on 22 July 1992 that Steven had agreed to sign for English league championsLeeds United,[11] he returned to Rangers four days later for a fee of £2.2million.[12]
Steven's second period at Ibrox was undermined by a succession of minor injuries, although they were league champions in each of the next five seasons (one of them astreble winners and two as double winners) before Steven retired from playing in 1997. He was a regular player in the first of his seasons back at Ibrox, but managed just 11 appearances in the1994–95 season (when Rangers won their seventh successive title and their fifth that Steven had been involved in) and with the arrival ofPaul Gascoigne he managed only six league appearances.[8] His final season,1996–97, brought eight league appearances and one goal as Rangers matched Celtic's record ofnine successive Scottish league titles.[13]
A very successful season at club level for Steven was completed when, in February 1985, he was called up by England coachBobby Robson to make his debut in a qualifier for the1986 World Cup againstNorthern Ireland. He stayed in the side for the next three games, scoring his first goal in a friendly win over theRepublic of Ireland and contributing to a brace of drawn qualifiers versusRomania andFinland.
When he was awarded his fifth cap againstItaly at the beginning of a summer mini-tournament in North America, he was joined behind him by his Everton teammate Gary Stevens, therefore transferring an effective partnership to the international stage. However, Steven soon had a rival for the right flank as Robson began to explore various combinations for his wide men.Chris Waddle was a more flamboyant and explosive player than Steven, but Robson often preferred the consistency and team play of Steven on the right wing and he became a frequent choice as a result.
Steven scored his second England goal in a 5–0 thumping of theUSA in Los Angeles at the conclusion of the summer tour. In January 1986 he scored the opening goal in a 4–0 win overEgypt inCairo and continued to be selected as the World Cup neared, and was selected by Robson for the squad which would represent England inMexico at the World Cup.
Robson preferred Waddle as his one orthodox wide man for the opening game againstPortugal, but England played poorly and lost 1–0. No changes were made, despite this defeat, and England suffered a nervy and embarrassing goalless draw againstMorocco, meaning they had to win their final group game or they were out. As a consequence, Steven got his World Cup chance as Robson ditched Waddle and went for the creative but disciplined pairing of Steven on the right andSteve Hodge on the left. It paid dividends, as Steven combined down his flank with Stevens to set up an opening goal forGary Lineker; Hodge then set up Lineker's second, and Steven delivered a corner which went uncleared, allowing Lineker to complete his hat-trick. Steven played as England thrust asideParaguay in the second round but in the quarter-final, with England 2–0 down againstArgentina, he was sacrificed midway through the second half by Robson to giveJohn Barnes his first run-out. Barnes single-handedly destroyed the Argentine defence but could only set up one goal and England were eliminated.
The next year he played a full part in a robust qualification campaign for the1988 European Championships. By the time the tournament came around in the summer of 1988, Steven had a healthy 22 caps. The competition was a major disappointment, as England succumbed to tiredness to lose all three of their group games. Steven missed the opening defeat to the Republic of Ireland, but played in the 3–1 defeat by theNetherlands when Dutch centre forwardMarco van Basten scored a memorable hat-trick. Steven stayed in the team for the final group game in the 3–1 defeat againstUSSR, although he was unlucky not to give England the lead when his header hit the underside of the crossbar when the score was still 1–1.
His form at Rangers persuaded Bobby Robson to retain him in the England squad. After playing in the end-of-seasonRous Cup against Scotland, which England won, Steven made the final cut of 22 players for the1990 FIFA World Cup tournament in Italy when Robson announced it, edging outDavid Rocastle. He did not feature in the tournament until the quarter-final againstCameroon when he came on as asubstitute as England found themselves behind in the second half. He did the same thing again in the semi-final – again replacing his Rangers teammateTerry Butcher – as England chased the game againstWest Germany, ultimately forcing a draw and apenalty shootout. Steven did not take a penalty and England went out. He finally started a game when Robson put him in the team for the showpiece third-place play-off against Italy, which England lost 2–1.
Robson's successorGraham Taylor selected Steven for a number of friendly internationals but he did not play in any of the qualifying games for the1992 European Championships. England later suffered a major injury crisis prior to the tournament in Sweden and Taylor put Steven in his squad, selecting him on the right flank in an England side which looked unrecognisable from the one which had reached the World Cup semi-final two summers earlier. Steven played in the group games againstDenmark andFrance, both of which ended goalless, but was dropped for the final game against the hosts on 14 June 1992, in which England lost 2–1, ensuring their elimination. Steven's England career ended there, with 36 caps at senior level and four goals.[14]
Since he retired, Steven has worked in the media. In his early career, he worked as a co-commentator for theBBC during their coverage of the2002 FIFA World Cup.
Steven now acts as a pundit forRTÉ Sport in Ireland, having covered the2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany for the broadcaster. He is also a regular contributor to RTÉ's coverage of thePremier League andUEFA Champions League, acting both as analyst and co-commentator. He contributed to RTÉ Sport's coverage of the2010 FIFA World Cup and the2014 FIFA World Cup.[15][16]
Backed by local sports stars, Trevor Steven is spearheading a new charity encouraging construction workers to talk about mental health.[17] The Mindflow initiative has been endorsed by football legendsGary Lineker,Robbie Fowler,Stuart Pearce,Ally McCoist,Peter Reid andViv Anderson.
The initiative was launched at the National Football Museum in Manchester earlier this month, and attended by Mindflow Ambassadors: Manchester City’s David White, Paul Dickov and Paul Lake, Tottenham Hotspur’s Paul Stewart, and Sheffield United’s Curtis Woodhouse. Through Mindflow’s ‘Talk Football Talk Mental Health’ programme, current and ex-football players will visit construction sites to deliver mental health awareness sessions, encourage conversation, and recruit volunteers from each session to train as mental health first aiders. The Ambassadors have all publicly shared their challenges around mental health and have firsthand experience to support the construction industry.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 March 1985 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  Republic of Ireland | 2–1 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 16 June 1985 | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, US |  United States | 5–0 | Friendly | |
| 3 | 29 January 1986 | International Stadium,Cairo, Egypt |  Egypt | 4–0 | Friendly | |
| 4 | 29 April 1992 | Lenin Central Stadium, Moscow,CIS |  CIS | 2–2 | Friendly |
Burnley
Everton
Rangers[8]
Marseille
England squads | |||||||||||||||||||||
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