.jpg) Stevenson in 1966 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Stevenson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1939-10-26)26 October 1939[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Leith, Scotland[1] | ||
| Date of death | 27 May 2025(2025-05-27) (aged 85) | ||
| Position | 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 (26 October 1939 – 27 May 2025) was a Scottish professionalfootball player andmanager. He played forRangers,Liverpool,Stoke City,Tranmere Rovers[1] and theVancouver Whitecaps.
Stevenson was born inLeith on 26 October 1939.[2] He played for Edina Hearts andDalkeith Thistle before turning professional withRangers.[3] He immediately became a regular in the side, winning theScottish Football League in his first season and theScottish Cup in his second while also being involved in the semi-finals of the1959–60 European Cup[2] and earning selection for theScottish Football League XI,[4] but then lost his first team place afterJim Baxter joined Rangers in 1960.[3]
After he was displaced by Baxter, Stevenson declined to sign a new contract with Rangers and went out to Australia in the summer of 1962, but was still registered with theGlasgow club and was not permitted to play official matches with local clubs, so he returned to Scotland and both Liverpool andPreston North End put in bids to sign him.[5]
Bill Shankly paid£20,000 to bring the 22-year-old toLiverpool in October 1962. He made his debut in the 2–1 home league defeat toBurnley on 3 November 1962, he scored his first goal in a 5–0 victory overLeyton Orient atAnfield, Stevenson managed to hit the net in the 35th minute,Roger Hunt with ahat-trick andIan St John scored the others.[6] Stevenson helped the Reds gain the 1963–64First 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 theleft of the Reds midfield.[6]
Stevenson played a major role in winning of Liverpool's first everFA 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 overChelsea atVilla Park.[6]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 theElland Road club by 2 goals to 1 to take the trophy go to Anfield after a 72-year wait.[6] The following campaign, again, saw silverware head toMerseyside 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 six points over Leeds. He also tasted disappointment, however, asBorussia Dortmund beat Liverpool 2–1 in theEuropean Cup Winners Cup final atHampden Park, the 1st European final the Anfield club had reached.[6]
Shankly had bought 19-year-oldEmlyn Hughes fromBlackpool 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 theFairs Cup. By December 1967 he was on his way, leaving forStoke City.[6]
Stoke managerTony Waddington paid £30,000 for Stevenson as a replacement for the departedCalvin Palmer.[1] He played 20 games in1967–68 and 34 times in1968–69 as Stoke had two poor seasons, narrowly avoiding relegation. A much improved1969–70 campaign saw Stevenson play 23 games as Stoke finished in 9th.[1] He played six matches at the start of1970–71 before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season.[1] He played 25 games in1971–72, including an appearance in an early round during Stoke's path to victory in theFootball League Cup, which was Stoke's only major trophy at the time of Stevenson's death. However, Stevenson was injured when Stoke won theFootball League Cup final.[1][7] He played in just three games in1972–73.[1] At the end of the season he left theVictoria Ground after making 112 appearances and scoring seven goals.[7]
Stevenson joinedThird DivisionTranmere Rovers where he made 27 appearances.[1]
In 1974, he joined theVancouver Whitecaps in the newly formedNorth American Soccer League (NASL). He played in Vancouver for one season.[3]
Stevenson then played forLimerick[6] before returning to the UK to play for non-leagueMacclesfield Town. He also spent a short time in South Africa playing forHellenic.[3]
Stevenson spent time as apublican and then ran acontract cleaning company inMacclesfield.[3]
Stevenson died on 27 May 2025, at the age of 85.[5][7]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[a] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rangers[2] | 1958–59 | Scottish Division One | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 1959–60 | Scottish Division One | 33 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 1 | |
| 1960–61 | Scottish Division One | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 1961–62 | Scottish Division One | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 72 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 106 | 1 | ||
| Liverpool | 1962–63 | First Division | 28 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| 1963–64 | First Division | 38 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 1 | |
| 1964–65 | First Division | 39 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 5 | |
| 1965–66 | First Division | 41 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 5 | |
| 1966–67 | First Division | 41 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 3 | |
| 1967–68 | First Division | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 188 | 15 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 241 | 18 | ||
| Stoke City | 1967–68 | First Division | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 1968–69 | First Division | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 | |
| 1969–70 | First Division | 20 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3 | |
| 1970–71 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1971–72 | First Division | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| 1972–73 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 94 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 112 | 7 | ||
| Tranmere Rovers | 1973–74 | Third Division | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 1974 | North American Soccer League | 19 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||||
| Macclesfield Town | 1974–75[9] | Northern Premier League | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | 42 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 425 | 21 | 45 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 547 | 26 | ||
Rangers
Liverpool
Stoke City