Born at Tranent on 16 April 1943 Stevenson joined Motherwell at the start of the 1960-61 season from local side Cockenzie Star, making twelve league appearances for the ‘Steel men’ over two seasons, scoring three goals.
In the summer of 1962 the skilful and pacey inside forward was signed by the Hibs manager Walter Galbraith, making a scoring debut for his new side in the opening League Cup game of the season, a 4-1 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox on 11 August. He made his European debut that same year in a Fairs Cup tie against Copenhagen Staevnet at Easter Road 3 October, scoring once in Hibs 4-0 victory, one of three he would score for the club in five Fairs Cup outings.
Morris Stevenson HibsA first team regular during a season in which the fixture list was decimated by the extremely harsh winter that saw very few games played for almost three months. He would score his last competitive goal for the club during a 2-0 Scottish Cup victory at Brechin on 26 January, the only game that Hibs would play during this period.
A 3-1 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox on 11 April 1963 would see him lose his place in the side and he was amongst the free transfers announced at the end of that season. A more than competent player, Stevenson was perhaps unfortunate to have played in a struggling Hibs side that would escape relegation only on the final day of the season.
He was quickly snapped up by Second Division Morton where he would remain for the bulk of his career. During his first season in Greenock, Morton would not only win promotion, but they would also create possibly one of the biggest shocks of the entire campaign when defeating Hibs after a replay in the semi final of League Cup at Hampden only to lose heavily in the final to Rangers.
A first team regular during his six years at Cappielow, during the 1968-69 season he was transferred to Luton Town. He failed to make an impact with the Third Division side however, managing only one league appearance, before returning to Scotland to sign for Dundee united in 1970.
He ended his playing career with Berwick Rangers in 1973.
During his one season at Easter Road, Stevenson made 20 league appearances scoring four goals plus another three goals in eight in cup ties. He made a further five appearances for the club in the Fairs Cup scoring three times
Published with the kind permission of the Hibernian Historical Trust.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
