'The core of Stoke's team was made up of local lads but they made me feel like one of them'

PETE SMITH looks back on the career of former Stoke player Willie Stevenson, who has died at 85

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WILLIE Stevenson knew the secret for being a great manager wasn’t just about being a superb tactician.

Stevenson, who has died at the age of 85, won titles and cups north and south of the border and was with Stoke City in a golden age of top flight football under Tony Waddington.

He was a stylish wing-half, comfortable on the ball, and known for his passing ability.

He made his name at Rangers rather than boyhood club Hibernian when they took a chance on his talent and he joined Bill Shankly’s Liverpool for £20,000 in 1962.

The left-half would be league champion twice at Anfield, help lift the club's first FA Cup and take part in their first European final when they lost to Borussia Dortmund in the 1966 Cup Winners’ Cup final.

When Shankly signed a young Emlyn Hughes from Blackpool, Stevenson signed for Waddington’s Stoke.

He would stay at Stoke for six years, during which time the club picked up its first major trophy too - the 1972 League Cup.

Stevenson later told The Sentinel: “Shankly was a nutcase, but a nice nutcase. His life was utterly dominated by football.

“I liked him because he was honest and straight. There weren't an awful lot of tactics, he just said go out there and told you one or two things about the opposition.

“His greatest strength was his ability to lift you whenever you were down. That’s why you wanted to play for him so much.”