The Liverpool FC Forum > The History Board - 1892 to 1994
#SHANKLY100 Forgotten Heroes, part 3: Willie Stevenson
royhendo:
When I was picking my side for the All Time Draft, I was lucky enough to pick up this fella. This was my little write-up.
Left Wing/Mid: Willie Stevenson
Already a European Cup semi finalist with Rangers before arriving at Anfield, he was ahead of his time. A tactically intelligent player's player whose defensive graft and offensive silk was key to our passing and movement. Won everything and then some in the strongest Scottish League of all time, then won the league for us in 64 and 66. Arguably the key player in our 65 Cup Final win, and a standout in the club's first big assault on Europe. ---
[Please check out the draft thread, and vote now or Sarge will Roger Hunt you down and kill you - that's Roger you, and then Hunt you... and then kill you.
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=236236.0 ]
---
So what's the big deal with Willie Stevenson?
Well, let's see. If you get a bunch of old men in a room and ply them with a few whiskies, no matter where you are in the world (save for maybe an AA meeting) it's likely that talk is going to turn to the beautiful game, and the beautiful play they've witnessed over the years.
That's a memory I have of my formative years, being at my cousin's wedding, and listening to my Dad chewing the cud with his brothers and their mates over some of the players they'd admired over the years.
Now this was the early 1980s, and I was a sat on my old boy's knee listening without much of a clue who most of these people were, but when they compared the older players with a Davie Cooper, or a Kenny Dalglish, you'd get a handle on what they meant, and you'd build up a long list of questions in your head for the next day.
One of the main themes I remember was the 'great wingers' debate. Naturally talk turned to Jimmy Johnstone before all others - such is life north of the border - but then inevitably people would trot out the names of greats like Slim Jim Baxter, Willie Henderson, and, as mentioned above, Davie Cooper.
But one player my Dad and Uncle insisted on namechecking was Willie Stevenson.
This largely led to blank looks around the table as I recall, but they were insistent. He was a class act, and it was a disgrace more people didn't realise it.
You see, Stevenson, long before his call from Shanks, had been a first team regular at Glasgow Rangers.
He played 73 first team games between 58 and 62 under Scott Symon, which seems pretty nondescript... but then you realise that two of those seasons saw the emergence of a young Jim Baxter. Baxter in his day was a mercurial talent. A player with extravagant swagger whose talents are lauded to this day in Scotland much like Johnstone's are from the other side of the sectarian divide.
His rise saw Willie Stevenson become gradually marginalised at Rangers, but that said, he'd started out as a first team regular. In his time there, Rangers won the League in 1959, Scottish Cup in 1960, the League and League Cup in 61 (the year Jock Stein's Dunfermline side won the Scottish Cup), and both domestic cups in 62. They reached the European Cup semi finals in 1959-60, only to lose to Eintracht Frankfurt... who then went on to face Puskas and Di Stefano in a nondescript contest at Hampden.
It's easy to dismiss Scottish football these days but at that time it was one of the strongest leagues in Europe. Rangers got to the final of the Cup Winners Cup and the semis of the European Cup, and in 63 Dundee got to the semi final of the European Cup under a certain Bob Shankly - formerly of Glenbuck, Ayrshire.
Willie Stevenson held his place in the most successful side in the country at a time when Hibs were just falling into decline after their 'famous five' years, and Hearts, Dundee, Kilmarnock, and Dunfermline were all fighting for trophies. Celtic were having a hard time of it and ended up nabbing the young whippersnapper who was in charge of Dunfermline. It turned out that fella was ahead of his time aswell though, and Celtic promptly went on to win 9 leagues in a row, and some diddy trophy in Lisbon.
So it's probably safe to say Stevenson was an accomplished player at the time... a first team regular in the strongest team in what was, at the time, a very strong league.
But he was an enigma. He wasn't your archetypal left winger - he was a modern left half - and there wasn't much scope for his talents in Symon's plans. Symon wanted little skilful lads who could beat their man and get a cross in. His was a team that, like most other teams of the era, favoured two traditional wingers who'd get paint on their boots and not concern themselves with the finer points of the tactical game.
Here's a quote from Willie himself on the subject...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2001/sep/18/guardianobituaries.brianglanville
--- Quote ---"When you look back at that year, our lack of knowledge was laughable. Alex Scott, for instance, had tremendous ability to beat a man, but he was not allowed to stray from his touchline and intrude on other people's territory."
--- End quote ---
He eventually tired of not getting first team football and headed off on loan to Australia of all places - a strange footballing choice in those days.
The trip wasn't really suiting him, however, and as it happened, Shanks saw his chance and he took it. He rustled up £20,000 out of the men in the grey suits and in October 1962, Willie Stevenson became a Red.
So what did Shanks buy, and how did he fit into the jigsaw?
Well, as mentioned above, he wasn't a left winger - he was a 'modern left half'. Possibly that hints at aspects of his play that defied traditional 'pigeonholing' in those days. You might say he was ahead of his time.
First of all, his movement with and without the ball. When good football writers talk about Stevenson, they use words like "glide" and "silk".
You get the impression of a player who fits the bill as the archetypal old-fashioned left half, but also a modern midfield player with the defensive strength and tactical cuteness to complement and improve the game of those around him. He could use the ball, his passing was excellent, and he also got forward in support of his forwards with intelligent movement.
He seems to have been the kind of player, in short, who Rafa would like in the squad. A Level 3 player, if you'll excuse me the tag.
The point of these threads is to cajole you guys into letting us into your memories of these players, but before we do that, here are a few sample descriptions from some of RAWK's finest.
--- Quote from: WOOLTONIAN on January 1, 2003, 10:54:33 am ---The team of Lawrence, Lawler, Byrne, Milne, Yeats, Stevenson, Callaghan, Hunt, St John, Smith and Thompson was the finest group of players ever assembled in my life so far and we were capable of winning everything. My personal favourite at this time was Willie Stevenson, he was pure class, he played the role that in later years Ray Kennedy made his own. But Stevenson's distribution of the ball was second to none. If you consider rolling Souness and Kennedy into one, you would have what Willie was.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: JonnyCigarettes® on October 12, 2004, 11:49:33 am ---Willie was strong in the tackle, but he was also a classy player with a sweet left foot. The arrival of Peter thompson in the 63/64 season saw Willie's form improve further, and most observers made him man of the match in the '65 cup final with Leeds when, after a wait of over 70 years, the F.A. cup finally made its way into Liverpool's trophy-cabinet for the first time. Willie was known as the dressing room joker and did a lot for the morale of the side. Willie won a second championship medal in 1966 and was also a regular member of the side in the first few exciting years of European club competition...
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: WOOLTONIAN on December 10, 2004, 12:15:26 pm ---A Thompson cross from the left was deflected by Harris, straight into the path of the forward running Stevenson. His delicate lob left Mae West totally flat footed. The blue fans fell silent...
...Another run by Thompson led to the fourth. He had done Wright twice again, before he pulled back the ball to Stevenson. Willie's cross was met by a stooping Sir Roger. 4-0 and the Kop decided to raise the noise levels even more. ?We want five, we want five? echoed around the ground.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Redsnappa on January 27, 2009, 01:54:28 pm ---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.'
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: WOOLTONIAN on January 29, 2004, 12:04:01 pm ---Willie Stevenson would be another choice of mine.
While all around him received praise, it was rare to hear Willie's name being called from the kop in the early days.
Hunt and St John took all the praise from the kop.
If I had to compare him with a more recent player, he was at least equal to Ray Kennedy.
Wiilie was a very cultured player, he had a grace about the way he strolled around the left flank, supplying deadly through passes for the strikers or wingers of the day.
In my opinion, which some may doubt or knock, Willie Stevenson won us the FA Cup in 1965.
If you ever get a chance to watch the game, concentrate of Stevo's performance, it was awesome.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: McMahon on January 28, 2009, 02:44:20 pm ---Stevenson was the silent type of player. Never got flustered, rock solid and rock hard. Was know as the granite kin, being from Aberdeen. Had a rocket like shot, but could also place a ball into the back of the net from outside the box. Great tackler and passer of the ball. Very really did Willie give away stray passes.
Being the quiet type he never received the credit he often deserved.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: FAT SCOUSER on January 27, 2009, 11:12:52 am ---There's a few clips on youtube that are worth watching. Some of his movment and passing around the box is fantastic. Cliche... but it looked well ahead of it's time, just simple give and go some of it but so effective and practically impossible for the other team to counter.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: FAT SCOUSER on January 27, 2009, 10:49:16 am ---I've watched him in the FA Cup final countless times. He was pure class in that game.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: yorkykopite on January 27, 2009, 11:57:31 am ---I think it's the Inter game as well when he stands out. It's funny. When I fell in love with Liverpool in the early 70s and swotted up on its lore and legends, Willie Stevenson's name didn't loom very large. His photos didn't appear in Topical Times or Football Monthly and he couldn't compete in the fame stakes with Yeats, St John, Hunt, Smith, Thompson, Callaghan, Lawler. Just writing those names sends a shiver down the spine. They were phenomenal players in a phenomenal team. But I wonder if Stevenson wasn't up there with them. When you see old footage of that team it's Stevenson's beautiful, economical glide across the turf that catches the eye. He looks supremely comfortable on the ball and quick to do things.
I've got a pal who made his Kop debut in '58 and thinks Stevenson was the best of the lot. (I occasionally try and get him to post on RAWK but he's a lurker not a poster!). But I'd love to hear from anyone who saw Willie Stevenson in his pomp.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: ALPH1217 on January 27, 2009, 12:09:34 pm ---I can tell you that Willie was the best player on the pitch in the '65 Final without question.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Manila Vanilla on January 27, 2009, 10:39:50 am ---Yes, he was a great player but you don't hear much about him now as we were never on TV those days. He was the one who slipped it through to Gerry Byrne for the first goal in the 1965 Cup Final, if I remember right. He was also one of the best penalty takers we ever had. Can't remember him missing many.
He was my granddad's favourite player too. It took him a long time to appreciate Emlyn Hughes. He didn't see boundless energy as a substitute for pure class!
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: longtimered on May 11, 2006, 08:46:48 am ---Willie Stevenson brought a special touch of class
--- End quote ---
---
Anyway - please take it from here fellas. I can't do him nearly the justice you guys can. Before finishing off though, check this out - it's a nice read.
--- Quote from: NeilMac on July 10, 2005, 12:33:25 am ---It is probably worth quoting from The Shankly Years for those who do not know the story remembered by Barry Farrell.
Negotiations were complete and Shanks was showing Willie (Stevenson) around Anfield. One incident sticks in my memory. Shanks stepped out of a car with Willie and they were about to enter the players' entrance. There was a small group of wide-eyed Liverpool kids waiting by the entrance pens ready, hoping to obtain the autographs of any of their heroes who might happen to pass by. Willie went to walk into the entrance when Shanks exclaimed, 'Willie, son! You've forgotten something.' Liverpool's latest acquisition looked bemused as he wondered what his new boss was talking about. 'You've forgotten something, son,' Shanks repeated. Willie was still none the wiser. 'Willie, son, go and sign the children?s books,' Shanks quietly ordered. Willie looked relieved and was only too happy to comply with his manager's wishes. It may appear an insignificant incident, but it gives an example of how Shankly was eager to display to a new signing that the Anfield brethren, whether young or old, come first.
--- End quote ---
More a reflection on Shanks than Willie himself... but a nice one eh?
royhendo:
Did I mention that you can vote on the All Time Draft thread? Did I?
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=236236.0
:wave ;D
rednich85:
Cheers Roy, as per usual, great read.
Never knew nothing about him (bar the name)
Thankks
Phil M:
Nice one Roy, another excellent piece on a forgotten Red hero.
El Denzel Pepito:
Great read mate :thumbup
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