Gary Stevens (soccer player, 1963)

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Gary Stevens
Personnel
Surname Michael Gary Stevens
birthday March 27, 1963
place of birth Barrow-in-Furness ,  England
size 180 cm
position Right full-back
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1981-1988 Everton FC 208 (8)
1988-1994 Glasgow Rangers 187 (8)
1994-1998 Tranmere Rovers 127 (2)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1985-1992 England 46 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Michael Gary Stevens (born March 27, 1963 in Barrow-in-Furness , England ) is a former English football player and was part of the successful team of Everton FC in the 1980s.

Athletic career

Stevens, a right full-back with strengths in the combat-oriented style of play, ran through the youth teams of Everton FC until coach Howard Kendall called him to the professional team. At that time, Kendall built a new team with young players who should be equal to the local rivals Liverpool FC , who dominated English football in the 1970s . The last English title for Everton in 1970 was long ago by then.

Stevens made his debut in 1982 and was one of the top performers in his first season, unlike many aging long-time teammates, both in the team and in the English elite league. After further commitments and proven young players, Everton was able to reach the final of the FA Cup in 1984 , in which they faced Watford FC after they had previously lost to Liverpool FC in the league cup final.

Stevens was instrumental in the goal of the 1-0 at Wembley Stadium , when he sprinted a ball cleared from the defensive and Graeme Sharp was able to set the goal. Everton won the game 2-0 in the end.

The following year, Stevens was an integral part of the team that played for the triple of the English Championship, FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup . After winning the championship, Everton was initially defeated by the Manchester United team , which for a long time only played ten in the game. After an eventful and successful course of the competition, the final in the European Cup Winners' Competition followed, in which Everton and Stevens Rapid Vienna were able to defeat 3-1. The disillusionment followed a short time later, when after the disaster in the Heysel Stadium and the resulting ban for all English clubs in relation to European club competitions, Everton was denied the opportunity to defend its title the following year.

The sporting successful season Stevens rounded off with his debut for the English national team when he was used by coach Bobby Robson on June 6, 1985 in the game against Italy . There, too, he established himself from then on, as in the club, as a regular player in the position of right-back.

Stevens was also in the following season 1985/86 regular player in a team that had good chances to defend the English championship until the end, but was then ousted by a young Liverpool team from the top. The two clubs then faced each other in the final of the FA Cup and Liverpool FC won 3-1, which enabled them to double. Stevens was heavily criticized after the final after he played a crucial bad pass, which was intercepted by the opposing Ronnie Whelan and led to the intermittent 1-1 equalizer by Ian Rush .

He was then appointed to the squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico , as was, curiously, the eponymous Gary Stevens (* 1962) from Tottenham Hotspur . Oddly enough, Gary Stevens (* 1962) from Tottenham Hotspur of the same name was also part of the line-up, which is why a popular song among fans of the national team was: “Two Gary Stevens! There's only two Gary Stevens! "

Stevens played all the games in the tournament in which England reached the quarterfinals and then lost to the eventual world champions from Argentina in a memorable game . He was not one of the players who were dribbled around by Diego Maradona in his spectacular World Cup goal of the century , but tried in vain to fend off the shot on his own post.

Back in Everton, Stevens was able to win the English championship again in 1987. The negative highlight of the season, however, was his momentous foul on Jim Beglin , then left defender of Liverpool FC. Although he was considered a mostly fair-playing footballer throughout his career, he injured Beglin so badly in the knee in this tackle that he was never able to fully recover from it later.

In the same year England qualified with Stevens for the 1988 European Championship in Germany . In the meantime, the criticism of Stevens' performance increased, mainly dealing with the positional play and the distribution of the ball. Still, his position as a regular at both the club and England was not questioned by the coaches.

1988 was not a particularly successful year for Everton, but Stevens scored an exceptional goal to win 1-0 against Liverpool in the League Cup at a time when Liverpool were unbeaten in the championship. Everton could not win a title and Stevens then took part in the European Championship.

The tournament was very unfortunate for both England and Stevens. After the surprising opening defeat against Ireland , England needed a victory in the difficult second game against the Netherlands . Stevens was very weak in the game and lost the ball on the sideline against Ruud Gullit , who prepared the first goal for Marco van Bsten's hat-trick . Even the speed of Stevens, which almost meant that Van Basten's shot was still blocked, could not prevent the goal and the eventual elimination of England from the tournament without winning a point.

After the tournament, Stevens moved to Scotland for the Glasgow Rangers for a fee of 1.25 million pounds . He was able to maintain his place in the national team, especially after the end of the national team career of long-time rival Viv Anderson in 1988. In addition, however, Paul Parker of the Queens Park Rangers appeared a new competitor for the right full-back position.

The Glasgow Rangers found themselves in the midst of a sporting revolution at the time Stevens signed on, after local coach Graeme Souness first began adding non-Scottish players (including many English footballers) to his team. In his first season Stevens won the championship in the Scottish Premier Division and later had five more championship titles, two Scottish Cup wins and three league trophies follow.

After England qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy , Stevens was called up again, despite strong public criticism for his performance during the European Championship two years earlier. The first game with Stevens in the ranks of England, which ended 1-1 against Ireland, then showed that the English team had problems in tactical and personal areas. So Robson decided to make some changes in the team and replaced Stevens with Parker, who should henceforth draw attention to himself with good performances, although he usually held the position of central defender at his club. Parker then played every other game until the dramatic defeat on penalties in the semifinals against the eventual world champion from Germany . Stevens returned to play for third place against hosts Italy, which England lost 2-1.

After the good performances of Parker and additional competitor Lee Dixon from Arsenal FC , Stevens' future after the World Cup appeared in doubt on the national team, which was made worse when his longtime English coach Robson moved to club football. Nevertheless, he was also used sporadically under Graham Taylor , both from the start and as a substitute.

England qualified for the European Championship in Sweden in 1992 , with Taylor usually preferring Dixon over Stevens. After Dixon was injured and the nomination date approached, Stevens was called to the squad. But when he injured himself, Stevens had to cancel his participation in the European Championship. England then completed the tournament without a real right defender and was eliminated after the preliminary round. Stevens should then no longer play for England after 46 internationals in which he failed to score.

Stevens played for the Rangers until 1994 when he returned to Merseyside to join the Tranmere Rovers for £ 350,000 .

He ended his career as a football player in 1998 and became a coach for fourth division Chester City . In a vote among supporters of Everton FC, Stevens was voted into the best Everton team of all time in the right-back position. In addition to Stevens, the team also included six other players from the team from the 1980s.

successes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stevens, Gary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stevens, Michael Gary (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Barrow-in-Furness