Jump to content

Willie Stevenson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Billy Stevenson)
For other people named William Stevenson, see William Stevenson (disambiguation).

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, Scotland[1]
Date of death 27 May 2025(2025-05-27) (aged 85)
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 (26 October 1939 – 27 May 2025) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played for Rangers, Liverpool, Stoke City, Tranmere Rovers[1] and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Career

[edit]

Rangers

[edit]

Stevenson was born in Leith on 26 October 1939.[2] He played for Edina Hearts and Dalkeith Thistle before turning professional with Rangers.[3] 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,[4] but then lost his first team place after Jim 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 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.[5]

Liverpool

[edit]

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.[6] 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.[6]

Stevenson 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.[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 the Elland 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 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 six 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.[6]

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.[6]

Stoke City

[edit]

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, including an appearance in an early round during Stoke's path to victory in the Football League Cup, which was Stoke's only major trophy at the time of Stevenson's death. However, Stevenson was injured when Stoke won the Football League Cup final.[1][7] He played in just three games in 1972–73.[1] At the end of the season he left the Victoria Ground after making 112 appearances and scoring seven goals.[7]

Tranmere Rovers

[edit]

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

Later career

[edit]

In 1974, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in the newly formed North American Soccer League (NASL). He played in Vancouver for one season.[3]

Stevenson then played for Limerick[6] before returning to the UK to play for non-league Macclesfield Town. He also spent a short time in South Africa playing for Hellenic.[3]

After football

[edit]

Stevenson spent time as a publican and then ran a contract cleaning company in Macclesfield.[3]

Stevenson died on 27 May 2025, at the age of 85.[5][7]

Career statistics

[edit]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[8]
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
  1. ^ Anglo-Scottish Cup, Glasgow Cup, FA Charity Shield and Texaco Cup.

Honours

[edit]

Rangers

Liverpool

Stoke City

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ a b c d (Rangers player) Stevenson, Willie, FitbaStats
  3. ^ a b c d e "Forgotten Hero: Willie Stevenson" thisisanfield.com 10 September 2008
  4. ^ (SFL player) Billy Stevenson, London Hearts Supporters Club
  5. ^ a b Doyle, Ian (27 May 2025). "Former Liverpool midfielder Willie Stevenson dies aged 85". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Willie Stevenson". LFC History. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d "Willie Stevenson, tough and skilful footballer who won silverware with Rangers and Liverpool". The Telegraph.
  8. ^ Willie Stevenson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  9. ^ "Cheshire League - 1974–75". Silkmen Archive.
  10. ^ a b c d Bertram, Chris (28 May 2025). "Liverpool and Rangers title winner Willie Stevenson dies aged 85". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  11. ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 490. ISBN 0354-09018-6.
  12. ^ a b c Players: List of appearances in the Charity Shield by Willie Stevenson
[edit]
  • Willie Stevenson at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willie_Stevenson&oldid=1294052765"