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Steve McMahon

Full Biography

IN BRIEF

Steve is a former England midfielder who most notably played for Liverpool in the late 1980s and was capped 17 times by his country. A one-time Everton ball boy, Steve went on to captain the Blues during the early eighties before moving to Aston Villa. He was then signed by Liverpool in 1985. Steve moved to Manchester City in 1991 before becoming player-manager of Swindon Town from 1994-1998. That marked the start of his managerial career and he later moved to Blackpool before taking over as head coach of Australian side Perth Glory in 2005.

PLAYING CAREER

EVERTON: Steve started his career at Everton, the club he supported as a boy, playing for them as a teenager after appearing at Goodison Park as a ballboy. He made his league debut in August 1980. His commanding presence in the Toffees midfield earned him the captaincy of the club. After four season however (which included 100 league appearances and 11 league goals) Steve was on the move.

ASTON VILLA: He joined Aston Villa in May 1983 for £175,000 (rejecting a move to Liverpool in order to stay in the good books of the Evertonians). He made his league debut on August 27, 1983 in a thrilling 4-3 Midlands derby win over West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park. Steve settled quickly, but Villa finished a disappointing 10th in his first season at the club. The following season, 1984/85, Villa could only finish in 10th spot again, whilst Everton won the title.

LIVERPOOL: Steve agreed to join Liverpool on September 12, 1985 for £350,000 thereby becoming the first signing to be made by new manager Kenny Dalglish. He made his debut two days later in the 2-2 league draw at Oxford United. He scored his first goal a week later in a 3-2 derby win over Everton.

He played a crucial role in Liverpool's "double" winning side of that season, although he was omitted from the starting XI in the FA Cup Final against Everton. However, he ended up with a winners' medal when Liverpool won 3-1, though he did not get on to the pitch.

The following year, Steve started at Wembley when Liverpool contested the League Cup final against Arsenal. He set up the opening goal for Ian Rush but lost the match 2-1. He had earlier scored four goals in Liverpool's record 10-0 victory over Fulham in the same competition..

THE GREAT LATE 80's TEAM: Dalglish reshaped the side the following season, incorporating new signings John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, John Aldridge and Ray Houghton but McMahon remained in the side. By now his reputation as one of the best hard-men in the game was established. McMahon scored frequently for a man in his position as Liverpool played some of the best club football ever seen and coasted to the 1988 League title. Memorable strikes included a 30 yard shot against Manchester United and the opener in a crucial Merseyside derby against Everton. When Liverpool reached the FA Cup final again, McMahon performed a localised rap on the official FA Cup final song The Anfield Rap. The song got to No.3 in the UK charts, but Liverpool surprisingly lost the final at Wembley to Wimbledon.

In 1989 McMahon was again a regular fixture as Liverpool again chased a "double" of League and FA Cup. As one of the local lads in the team, he was deeply affected by the Hillsborough disaster during the FA Cup semi-final on the 15^th April 1989, when 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives on the Leppings lane terraces. Liverpool went on to reach the Final where they beat Everton 3-2 after extra-time with McMahon setting up the opening goal for Aldridge after just 4 minutes of the final. Liverpool would lose the League title in a decider at Anfield against Arsenal.

McMahon again played frequently as Liverpool won back the title in 1990 but lost out on another "double" when they were beaten 4-3 by Crystal Palace in a thrilling FA Cup semi-final, in which McMahon scored.

ENGLAND: In 1988, McMahon won his first of 17 caps for England - Bobby Robson awarding him his debut in a friendly international with Israel in Tel Aviv. He was then selected by Robson for the England squad which would play in that summer's World Cup in Italy. McMahon was the likely replacement for Paul Gascoigne who - memorably - would have missed the final after his yellow card against the Germans. McMahon did not feature again until the 3rd place play off against Italy.

MANCHESTER CITY: After playing 15 games of the 1991/1992 season, McMahon left Liverpool to join Manchester City for £900,000 on Christmas Eve 1991 after playing 276 games, during which time he scored 50 goals. McMahon quickly established himself and became a firm favourite amongst the City fans who appreciated his no nonsense approach. McMahon played in 87 league matches for the sky blues before an offer to became player-manager of Swindon Town tempted him away from Manchester.

THE PLAYING LEGEND

Steve was placed 42nd in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop poll which asked Liverpool supporters to name the best 100 players of all time.

MANAGERIAL CAREER

SWINDON: When he arrived at Swindon in November 1994, they had recently been relegated from the Premiership and were battling against a second successive relegation. Swindon failed to beat the drop, but they reached the semi-finals of the Coca-Cola Cup. In 1996, McMahon succeeded in getting Swindon back into Division One at the first attempt as Division Two champions. He remained there for two years before quitting in 1998.

BLACKPOOL: His next stop came at Blackpool. He arrived a few months before their relegation to Division Three in the 1999-2000 season, and took them immediate promotion via the play-offs and also won two LDV Vans Trophy in the same year. He left Blackpool following an argument over funds just before the final game of the 2004 season, having resigned midway through the season, only to burst in on the press conference announcing his decision to withdraw the resignation following a talk with chairman Karl Oyston.

PERTH GLORY: He was signed in early 2005 as the manager of Perth Glory F.C. in Australia. However, his tenure at the club proved short. A combination of media speculation, indifferent form and a struggle to win over some of the board saw him leave the club in December 2005.

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Question & Answer with Steve McMahon

Instead of our usual questions, for Steve, we thought it appropriate to highlight Steve's stellar playing career.

PLAYING HONOURS:
LIVERPOOL: 1985-86, 1987-99, 1989-90 Football League Championship
1985-86, 1988-89 FA Cup winners
1986-87, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91 Charity Shield

ENGLAND: 17 Full caps

MANAGERIAL HONOURS:

1995-96 Football League Second Division (Swindon Town)
2000-01 Football League Third Division Play Off Winner (Blackpool)
2001-02, 2003-04 LDV Vans Trophy (Blackpool)

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