Willie Stevenson

Updated on Nov 28, 2023

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Full name William Stevenson 1958–1962 Rangers Place of birth Leith, Scotland Name Willie Stevenson		Playing position Left half Role Football player Years Team Position Midfielder

Date of birth (1939-10-26) 26 October 1939 (age 76)

Willie stevenson glanton top 5 facts

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 and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Liverpool vs Inter Milan - 1965

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Stoke manager Tony Waddington paid £30,000 for Stevenson as a replacement for the departed Calvin Palmer. 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. He played six matches at the start of 1970–71 before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He played 25 games in 1971–72 and just three in 1972–73. 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.

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.