Alex Stevenson

Name: Alexander Ernest Stevenson
Born: 9 August 1912, Dublin
Died: 2 September 1985, Liverpool (ENG) [aged 73]
Height: 5.05 ft
Weight: 10.00 st
Position: Inside-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 17 Full Caps / 5 Goals (1933-1947), 3 War-Time Caps / 1 Goal (1941-1944), 1 Victory Cap (1946); Irish Free State/Eire: 7 Full Caps (1932-1948), Junior (1931); Wales/Ireland XI (1935).
Club Honours: (with St Barnabas) Leinster Junior Cup Winner 1929/30; (with Dolphin) Irish Free State Cup Runner-Up 1931/32; Leinster Senior Cip Winner 1931/32; (with Rangers) Scottish League Champion 1933/34; (with Everton) Football League Champion 1938/39.

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	War-Time	Other
St Barnabas	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dolphin	31/2	Oct-31	-	-	?/ 2	-	-
Rangers	32/3-33/4	Aug-32	£250	12/ 7	-	-	3/1
Everton	33/4-48/9	Jan-34	£2,750	258/82	16/ 8	202/89	?/2
Tranmere Rvrs	40/1	-	Guest	-	-	1/ 0	-
Blackpool	40/1-41/2	-	Guest	-	-	2/ 1	-
Bootle	49/0-51/2	-	Free	(Lancashire Combination)
Shamrock Rvrs	53/4-54/5	Feb-54	Free	-	-	2/ 1	-
TOTALS		£3,000		270/89	16/10	205/90	3/3

Biography:
Diminutive inside-forward Alex 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 Dolphin in his native Dublin, earning his first cap for the Free State as a nineteen year-old in May 1932. His performances alerted Rangers who brought him to the professional game in August 1932. He spent just a season and a half at Ibrox, during which he played his first match for the IFA and played in two championship winning seasons. Although he made just twelve appearances in the Scottish League, he managed seven goals and he developed a reputation as a highly intelligent player.

Signed by Everton for £37,000 in January 1934, he made his 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 net-finder himself. Also part of the Toffee’s attack at that time was international colleague, Jackie Coulter, with whom he formed an excellent understanding on the left-wing. In 1938/39 Everton picked up the final League 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.

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. 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.

A regular in the Everton side right up to his final League appearance on 7th May 1949. He continued to pull on his boots for a number of seasons with Bootle and remained involved in international football as manager of the Republic of Ireland from 1953-1955. He also managed St Pat's and Waterford.

Alex Stevenson – solving a football mystery?

Ireland Cap Details:
16-09-1933 Scotland... A W 2-1 BC [aged 21 years 38 days]
14-10-1933 England.... H L 0-3 BC
04-11-1933 Wales...... H D 1-1 BC
20-10-1934 Scotland... H W 2-1 BC
06-02-1935 England.... A L 1-2 BC 1 goal
13-11-1935 Scotland... A L 1-2 BC
11-03-1936 Wales...... H W 3-2 BC 1 goal
18-11-1936 England.... A L 1-3 BC
17-03-1937 Wales...... A L 1-4 BC 1 goal
23-10-1937 England.... H L 1-5 BC 1 goal
16-03-1938 Wales...... H W 1-0 BC
08-10-1938 Scotland... H L 0-2 BC
16-11-1938 England.... A L 0-7 BC
15-03-1939 Wales...... A L 1-3 BC
27-11-1946 Scotland... A D 0-0 BC
16-04-1947 Wales...... H W 2-1 BC 1 goal
04-10-1947 Scotland... H W 2-0 BC [aged 35 years 55 days]

Summary: 17/5. Won 6, Drew 2, Lost 9.

Ireland War-Time/Victory Cap Details:
13-09-1941 British Army..... H L 1-4
11-09-1943 British Army..... H W 4-2 1 Goal
09-09-1944 Combined Services H L 4-8
02-02-1946 Scotland......... H L 2-3 VI

Summary: 4/1. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 3.

Irish Free State/Eire Cap Details:
08-05-1932 Netherlands A W 2-0 FR
30-09-1946 England.... H L 0-1 FR
02-03-1947 Spain...... H W 3-2 FR
04-05-1947 Portugal... H L 0-2 FR
23-05-1948 Portugal... A L 0-2 FR
30-05-1948 Spain...... A L 1-2 FR
05-12-1948 Switzerland H L 0-1 FR

Summary: 7/0. Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 5.