Gary Stevens (footballer, born 1962)

Gary Andrew Stevens (born 30 March 1962) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth.[2] He won seven caps for England.

Gary Stevens
Personal information
Full name Gary Andrew Stevens[1]
Date of birth (1962-03-30) 30 March 1962
Place of birth Hillingdon, England
Playing position(s) Defender
Youth career
Ipswich Town
1977–1979 Brighton & Hove Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1983 Brighton & Hove Albion 133 (2)
1983–1990 Tottenham Hotspur 147 (6)
1990–1992 Portsmouth 52 (3)
Total 332 (11)
National team
1983–1986 England U21 8 (0)
1984–1986 England 7 (0)
Teams managed
1992–1992 Petersfield Town
2010–2011 Gabala (Assistant Manager)
2013–2014 Sligo Rovers (Assistant Manager)
2014–2015 Army United
2015-2015 Port
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Stevens was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex,[2] and attended Thurston Upper School in Suffolk.[3] He joined Brighton & Hove Albion in 1977. Stevens made his debut as a 17-year-old on 15 September 1979, in the First Division as Brighton won 2–0 at home to Ipswich Town, the club which had released him as a schoolboy.[4][5] A versatile defender who could also play in midfield, he made 26 appearances in his first season, scoring once, and remained a regular in the side.[5]

In 1983, Brighton, already relegated to the Second Division, played in the FA Cup Final for the first time in their history.[6] Losing to Manchester United 2–1 with three minutes of normal time remaining, Stevens equalised, and teammate Gordon Smith missed an easy chance to win the game at the end of extra time, remembered for the commentator's line "And Smith must score..."[7][8] Brighton lost the replay 4–0, and Stevens joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of "about £350,000".[9]

Stevens made his Tottenham debut at the start of the 1983-84 season, again against Ipswich, but this time was on the losing side. He was a first team regular that season, making 40 league appearances and scoring four goals,[10] and played on the winning side in the 1984 UEFA Cup Final, scoring his penalty in the shootout against Anderlecht.[11] He was also in the side that suffered an unlikely 3–2 defeat to Coventry City in the 1987 FA Cup Final.[12][13]

He was also capped seven times by England, and was included in the squad for the 1986 World Cup squad – as, confusingly, was the unrelated Everton player Gary Stevens.[14] He later joked that Sir Bobby Robson picked them both to make sure he got the right one. He made two substitute appearances in the tournament.[1] He also won eight caps for England under-21s.[15][16]

Stevens left Spurs for Portsmouth in 1990 but persistent injuries forced him to retire in 1992. He had never fully recovered from a knee injury suffered in November 1988 when heavily tackled by Vinnie Jones. At the time of the challenge, Gary Stevens was contesting possession of the ball with John Fashanu near the touchline when Jones slid into him.[17]

Following retirement he worked as a presenter for Sky Sports, and for Talksport radio in the UK, although he has since left the station. Gary also became Manager of Wessex league side Petersfield Town in 1992–3 season but resigned 6 months later.

At the start of the 2010–11 Azerbaijan Premier League, Stevens joined Gabala as assistant to Tony Adams. Stevens stayed on as assistant after Adams left in November 2011, until April 2012 when he also left the club.[18]

In January 2013 he became the assistant coach at Sligo Rovers.[19]

Gary currently works as a presenter on Astro SuperSport in Malaysia with former England teammate Steve McMahon.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

  • UEFA Cup winner: 1984
  • UEFA U21 winner: 1984 with England
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References
  1. "Gary Stevens". Englandstats. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  2. "Gary Stevens". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  3. "About Gary Stevens". The Ball School. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  4. Jones, Stuart (21 May 1983). "Ringmasters of United can crack the whip over Brighton tumblers". The Times. p. 19.
  5. "Gary Stevens Brighton & Hove Albion FC". Football Heroes. Sporting Heroes Collections. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  6. "Brighton & Hove Albion". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  7. Jones, Stuart (23 May 1983). "United should turn Wembley tide". The Times. p. 21.
  8. Shaw, Phil (28 November 1996). "The Wembley miss that has become a myth". The Independent. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  9. "Stevens goes to Spurs". The Times. 27 June 1983. p. 21.
  10. "Gary Stevens Tottenham Hotspur FC". Football Heroes. Sporting Heroes Collections. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  11. "UEFA Cup glory...25 years on!". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  12. Fort, Didier (15 February 2006). "England - FA Cup Finals 1946-2000". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  13. Struthers, Greg (18 May 2003). "Caught in Time: Coventry win FA Cup, 1987". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  14. "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico England squad". FIFA. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  15. Courtney, Barrie (10 January 2004). "England - U-21 International Results 1986-1995 - Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  16. Courtney, Barrie (10 January 2004). "England - U-21 International Results 1976-1985 - Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  17. Samuel, Martin (16 September 2009). "Diving? We must leave it to the ref". Daily Mail. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  18. "Gary Stevens leaves Gabala". Gabala. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  19. "Gary Stevens has signed a one-year deal to become assistant manager at Sligo Rovers". RTÉ Sport. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
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