William_Stevenson_(goalkeeper)
William Stevenson (goalkeeper)
Scottish footballer (born c.1906)
William Stevenson (born c. 1906; date of death unknown) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He began his senior career at Arthurlie,[2] being loaned to Beith within Scotland then allowed to pursue an opportunity in the United States, where he spent a season with Providence Clamdiggers[3] – they finished in mid-table in both parts of the 1927–28 American Soccer League season. He then returned across the Atlantic Ocean, spending one year with Third Lanark[2] before settling at Clyde,[4] where he was the regular goalkeeper from 1929 until 1936 when he was displaced by Jock Brown.[2] The closest Stevenson came to a trophy during his time at Shawfield was a defeat to Rangers in the 1933 Glasgow Cup final,[5] coming six months after losing the semi-final of the 1932–33 Scottish Cup to Motherwell.[6] In 1938 he transferred to lower division Dunfermline Athletic,[7] spending one standard season in Fife and one more under unofficial conditions after the outbreak of World War II before retiring.[2]
At representative level, Stevenson was selected once for the Glasgow FA's annual challenge match against Sheffield in 1932,[8] and was a member of the Scottish Football Association's tour of North America in the summer of 1935,[9] playing in every match (he was the only goalkeeper in the party) and conceding only 10 goals in 13 fixtures as the tourists returned home with a 100% record – the SFA does not regard any of these matches as full internationals,[10] although two are counted as such by the United States Soccer Federation.[11][12] He had earlier represented his country at Junior level while with Strathclyde at the start of his career.[13]