Stevenson Alex Image 5 Everton 1938

Description

Dublin born Alex Stevenson could play both inside right and inside left. Diminutive of stature, Stevenson proved the old saying – “the player who is good enough is big enough.” He stood just 5’ 5” and weighed little over 10 stone but he built a successful career playing in the higher echelons of both the Scottish and English Leagues utilising his “rare box o’tricks” from either the left or right of attack.

Stevenson started out with St Barnabas before joining Dolphin in his native Dublin in October 1931, earning his first cap for the Irish Free State in a 2-0 away win against The Netherlands as a 19 year old in May 1932. His performances alerted Glasgow Rangers who brought him to the professional game in August 1932. He played in two Scottish Championship winning seasons for Rangers, albeit making only one appearance in the first, 1932-33, his Scottish League debut coming against Partick Thistle at Ibrox in September 1932. In 1933-34 he made a further 11 appearances, scoring seven goals as Rangers retained the Championship and he developed a reputation as a highly intelligent player. He spent just a season and a half at Ibrox, during which he played his first match for Ireland in a 2-1 away victory over Scotland in September 1933, winning two further Ireland caps while at Ibrox.

Signed by First Division Everton for £37,000 in January 1934, he made his Football League debut against Arsenal on 3rd February. Described as “nimble as a mountain goat” and renowned for his ball-juggling skills, during his time at Goodison Stevenson was a great ‘supplier’ to goalscoring legends Dixie Dean and Tommy Lawton and regular goalscorer himself. Also part of the Toffee’s attack at that time was Ireland international colleague, Jackie Coulter, with whom he formed an excellent understanding on the left-wing. In 1938-39 Everton picked up the final League Championship title before the outbreak of the Second World War, Stevenson scoring 10 goals in 36 appearances. During the War years Stevenson served with the RAF while continuing to appear regularly for Everton and occasionally as a guest for other Lancashire/Merseyside clubs. He also played in 3 unofficial Ireland internationals against The British Army and Combined Services.

At international level Stevenson was part of an excellent inside-forward partnership with Peter Doherty as Ireland went through a period of relatively consistent results, with Stevenson’s name regularly appearing on the score-sheet. In total he scored 5 goals in 17 appearances for Ireland between 1933 and 1947, After the War he appeared in a Victory International against Scotland and was one of just a handful of players who returned to the Full Ireland side when the British Championships resumed after eight years. He also re-established himself in the Eire team after a fourteen year absence, making his final international appearance at the age of 36 and winning 6 further caps for Eire through to December 1948.

A regular in the Everton side right up to his final League appearance on 7th May 1949, he scored a total of 90 goals in 274 appearances for The Toffees. He continued to pull on his boots for a number of seasons with Lancashire Combination club Bootle and remained involved in international football as manager of the Republic of Ireland from 1953 to 1955.