Great stuff about 'Stevo' lads. Keep up the good work.
Found this:
From 'The Liverpool Football Book' edited by Derek Hodgson 1970:
'The test was to come in the First [Division] where, as one famous manager put it, 'they don't give you room to spit'. Shrewd observers not blinded by allegiance to the Liverpool flag, had dark reservations about the side's re-entry into the top flight.
Such was the background to the arrival, via Australia, of Willie Stevenson in October 1962, for a transfer fee variously reported at £20,000 and £35,000....whatever the price, it turned out to be a gilt-edged investment....
...Shankly wanted blend - that hard-to-define aspect of every successful side. He found it, possibly to a finer degree than the most successful manager of the Sixties had dared to hope for in one of his most optimistic moods.
Stevenson brought a new element to the side. He gave Liverpool an extra finesse in a hard-working side which allowed him to express his talent and flair for attack from midfield. Often Stevenson took his game to and even beyond that of any midfield player imported from Scotland since the war.....
...A lesser character than Stevenson would have developed permanent doubts about his ability. After two 'glorious years' which saw the Rangers of Glasgow win both League and Cup, Stevenson drifted into a dispute with his club.
He emigrated, perhaps impulsively, to Australia, where he agreed to join the Apia club in Sydney. A wage of £30 for playing and £30 as a storekeeper, plus sunshine, sounded like paradise regained until a technical difficulty over his registration with FIFA...exploded about him.
In three months, Stevenson did not play. He had not kicked a ball in serious competition for six months when he decided to pay his fare of £326 for the 12,000 mile flight and headed back towards Glasgow.
It was time for Stevenson to take stock of himself after what he admits was a 'nightmare experience', now knowing that Liverpool were to be the winners among a horde of English clubs willing to sign him. Shankly had not forgotten the slim youngster whose only club attachment used to be Hibs in Edinburgh.
Life had been good at Rangers....'like walking on air'. The sky was Rangers' blue only to be suddenly clouded. 'I lost form,' recalled Stevenson. 'They dropped me. I was playing terribly. I struggled even in the reserve side. In the end I came to the conclusion that I was burned out by the years at the top as such a young player among so many great names like Jimmy Millar and Ralph Brand, to name but two'.
The talent, however, was still there waiting to be roused. Shankly did it with his own special brand of inspiration and leadership. Despite Stevenson being desperately short of training, Shankly and the Liverpool delegation swooped.
Stevenson repaid the confidence in full, making his debut (in a losing side) at Anfield against Burnley to begin a prosperous reign that lasted until the start of the 1968/69 season when Emlyn Hughes exploded on the scene after his transfer from Blackpool.'