Stevenson: William Byron (Byron)

1973-1982 (Player Details)

Midfield/Defender

Born: Llanelli: 07-09-1956

Debut v Sheffield United (a): 01-04-1975

6’1” 11st 0lb (1977)

Stevenson was recruited as a youngster and turned professional in September 1973. Initially he was earmarked as a replacement for Norman Hunter as the Don Revie Leeds team started to break up. Stevenson actually had to wait until April 1976 before he got a meaningful run of games when he made six successive League appearances replacing Paul Reaney at right back. He had a good run at centre half in 1979 and in midfield in 1981 but found he was being used in a variety of defensive positions as the situation arose. His most prolific season was 1979/80 when he made thirty appearances and scored two goals. He represented Wales at Youth level and won three Under-Twenty-one caps before going on to win fifteen full caps after making his Wales debut at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, in the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in the British Championship in May 1978. A moment of madness in Izmir against Turkey in November 1979, when he allegedly fractured Buyak Mustafa's cheekbone, certainly cost him several Welsh caps. He was sent off for violent conduct and was banned by UEFA fron the European game for over four years, although the sentence was later reduced on appeal. In March 1982 Leeds found they were in desperate need of a striker as they fought against relegation, so Stevenson was traded for Birmingham City forward Frank Worthington. At Birmingham Stevenson resumed his International career before going to Bristol Rovers in July 1985. At St Andrews’ he made sixty-nine starts and five substitute appearances in the League and scored three goals. Because of persistant injuries he decided to retire at the end of the 1985-86 season at the age of only twenty-nine. He scored three goals in thirty League starts and one game from the bench at Eastville. He returned to Leeds when his playing career ended and in 1988. He assisted Garforth Town in the Northern Counties East League and ran the Angel Hotel at nearby Rothwell. He was also involved with Corpus Christie FC in Leeds, and later ran the Golden Lion in Pudsey, The Two Pointers in Woodlesford and finally the New Inn at Churwell before returning to Llanelli to look after his father, who had Parkinson’s disease, in 1996. He died of throat cancer on 6th September 2007, a day short of his fifty-first birthday.