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 and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Career Rangers Stevenson was born in Leith on 26 October 1939. He played for Edina Hearts and Dalkeith Thistle before turning professional with Rangers. 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(Rangers player) Stevenson, Willie, FitbaStats and earning selection for the Scottish Football League XI,(SFL player) Billy Stevenson, London Hearts Supporters Club but then lost his first team place after Jim Baxter joined Rangers in 1960.
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.
Liverpool 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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, 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. He played in just three games in 1972–73. At the end of the season he left the Victoria Ground after making 112 appearances and scoring seven goals.
Tranmere Rovers Stevenson joined Third Division Tranmere Rovers where he made 27 appearances.
Later career In 1974, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in the newly formed North American Soccer League (NASL). He played in Vancouver for one season."Forgotten Hero: Willie Stevenson" thisisanfield.com 10 September 2008
Stevenson then played for Limerick before returning to the UK to play for non-league Macclesfield Town. He also spent a short time in South Africa playing for Hellenic.
After football Stevenson spent time as a publican and then ran a contract cleaning company in Macclesfield.
Stevenson died on 27 May 2025, at the age of 85.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsRangers1958–59Scottish Division One260300000002901959–60Scottish Division One331705090305711960–61Scottish Division One80102000101201961–62Scottish Division One501020000080Total7211209090401061Liverpool1962–63First Division282600000003421963–64First Division381500000004311964–65First Division393810091105751965–66First Division415100091105251966–67First Division413400050105131967–68First Division110000300041Total18815241002623024118Stoke City1967–68First Division180210000002011968–69First Division323002000003431969–70First Division202310000002331970–71First Division5000100000601971–72First Division170001000802601972–73First Division200010000030Total945525000801127Tranmere Rovers1973–74Third Division20020500000270Vancouver Whitecaps1974North American Soccer League190————190Macclesfield Town1974–75Northern Premier League32020——80420Career total4252145319035223054726
Honours Rangers Scottish League: 1958–59 Scottish Cup: 1959–60
Liverpool Football League First Division: 1963–64, 1965–66 FA Cup: 1964–65 FA Charity Shield: 1964,Players: List of appearances in the Charity Shield by Willie Stevenson 1965, 1966 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1965–66
Stoke City Football League Cup: 1971–72
References
External links