Scouse hard-man Steve McMahon was one of those rare players who combined toughness with superior skill. He was a very hard tackler but at the same time he had amazing grace on the ball, he could beat players and he also had one of the best shots from distance too. Steve also holds the distinction of being one of only two players to captain both Liverpool and Everton. The other player to do this was Andrew Hannah in the 1890’s.
Macca grew up in Halewood, Merseyside as a massive Everton fan and as a kid he was a ball boy at Goodison Park. He came up through the ranks at Everton and made his first team debut in a blue shirt in August 1980 just four days before his nineteenth birthday. His command of the midfield led to him being voted the supporters player of the year at the end of his first season and he was awarded the captaincy. After four seasons with Everton he decided to move on because his thirst for success wasn’t being met. Liverpool had been trying to sign him for a while but in May 1983 he decided to join Aston Villa so as not to upset the Bluenoses. Ironically Everton became successful almost immediately after McMahon left the club and went on to win a succession of trophies while he languished in mid table with Aston Villa.
After two seasons in the Midlands where he failed to settle, Steve finally joined Liverpool for £350,000 in September 1985 and in the process became Kenny Dalglish’s first signing. A tough tackler in midfield was something the team had sorely missed since Graeme Souness left in 1984 and he immediately settled into the heart of the midfield as a major part of the team that went on to win Liverpool’s first league and F.A Cup double. Steve’s first goal in a red shirt came in a famous 3 – 2 win in the derby at Goodison Park just a week after he signed. This was the game in which Kenny Dalglish scored an absolute cracker after just 20 seconds. In his first season Steve battled with Kevin Macdonald for his place and he was unfortunate not to be picked for the first ‘all Merseyside’ F.A. Cup Final in 1986 when he was left on the substitute bench in favour of Macdonald.
During the following season he made the number eleven shirt his own as Liverpool had a rare trophy-less season. However McMahon did have two personal highlights that season both occurring in the League Cup. He scored four goals in a 10 – 0 thrashing of Fulham and he made up for missing the F.A. Cup Final by started in the League Cup Final against Arsenal. Unfortunately we lost that game but Steve had a good game and set up Ian Rush for the opening goal. Interestingly this was the first game that Liverpool lost when Ian Rush had scored, and strangely lightning struck twice when it happened again against Norwich City the following week.
The 1987/88 season is regarded by many, including myself, as one of the best ever for Liverpool with some unbelievable performances. McMahon had possibly his best season in a red shirt scoring some stunning long range goals against Man Utd and Everton. He was also involved in one of my all time favourite moments which occurred against Arsenal at Anfield. During a goal scoring chance in front of the Kop the ball was cleared way by an Arsenal defender. Macca and Tony Adams both gave chase and McMahon got there first with his electric pace and trapped the ball on the touchline before running into the advertising boards. Before you could even finish blinking he managed to turn around and get the ball past the oncoming Adams and get into the box passing to Peter Beardsley who crossed for John Aldridge to slide in and tap it into the back of the net.
We also reached the F.A. Cup Final when we met Wimbledon who were only in their second ever season in the top division. A testament to how respected Steve was came from Wimbledon tough guy Vinnie Jones, who said in his autobiography that before the final he decided that if they “stopped McMahon, then Wimbledon would stop Liverpool from playing”. Jones absolutely belted McMahon in the opening minute of the game with a bone-crunching tackle to let him know the score. While Steve later said that this had nothing to do with the shocking result of the match, it has to be noted that he did have a poor game that day, as did the rest of the team.
In the build up to the final, McMahon sang/rapped the lead in his distinctive Scouse accent (with John Aldridge) on the cup final song ‘The Anfield Rap’ written by Craig Johnston. Also contained in the song was a line in which commentator Brian Moore suggested that England manager Bobby Robson should be playing McMahon as a regular.
“Well Steve McMahon sure can rap, it's about time he had an England cap; so come on Bobby Robson, he's your man; 'cause if anyone can, Macca can!”
After a great season for Liverpool there was widespread clamour in the press for him to play for England, which he finally did, making his debut against Israel in February 1988. He went on to play a part in the squad at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, helping England reach the semi-final stage.
The Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 affected us all deeply and Steve was personally affected due to him being a local lad. Along with the rest of the players he attended many funerals and offered comfort to the relatives of those who died. He was later criticised by Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, because of his hard tackling in the replayed F.A. Cup semi final. Clough accused McMahon of insulting the memories of the victims. What he failed to understand was that because Steve is a Scouser it meant so much to him for Liverpool to reach the final that year as a tribute to the victims and was even more important as the opponents were to be Everton. Liverpool went on to win the F.A. Cup 3 – 2 in extra time in a thrilling game with McMahon setting up John Aldridge for the opening goal.
Steve was once again a regular in the side that won Liverpool’s most recent league championship in 1990. He also played a big part in the F.A. Cup semi final when we lost 4 – 3 to Crystal Palace. He scored an absolute cracker to put us into the lead at 3 – 2 and I still remember after that goal my dad (not the tallest fella) jumping so high into the air that his head actually made a small crack in the ceiling, causing plaster from the artex to land in a mess on the living room carpet! It was a very memorable moment and a very memorable game. What made the result so hard to understand was that earlier in the season we had demolished Crystal Palace in a league game 9 – 0, in what was Aldridge’s farewell appearance.
When Graeme Souness became manager in 1991, McMahon was one of the senior players who were wrongly and prematurely moved on from the club. He was sold to Man City for £900,000 on Christmas Eve 1991 and never properly replaced by Souness. He played 87 games over three seasons for Man City before accepting the player manager job at Swindon Town in 1994. Unfortunately when he took on the role Swindon were at the bottom of Division One (now The Championship) and he was unable to help them survive relegation. He was successful in his first full season in his first managerial role. In 1996 he guided Swindon to becoming Second Division (now First Division) champions and reaching the semi final of the League Cup. He was sacked in 1998 after losing a number of games early in the 1998/99 season.
His next job was as manager of Blackpool in 2000 and just like at Swindon, Blackpool were about to be relegated. In another parallel with his job at Swindon, Steve got Blackpool promoted back to Division Two via the play-offs in his first season. I remember watching that play-off final live when I was on holiday in Greece. I was really happy to see an Ex Red doing well and I remember the great scenes after th final whistle as Macca excitedly ran onto the pitch at the Millenium Stadium. Possibly his most famous moment when he was Blackpool manager came away from football when he punched his neighbour in the face during an argument at a barbecue. Unfortunately the neighbour turned out to be a copper and the resultant court case was all over the tabloids briefly.
He left Blackpool just before the end of the 2003/04 season after an argument over funds with the legendary chairman Owen Oysten. After a short spell as a pundit for the BBC and Sky, Steve was back in management again in early 2005. This time he was about as far away from a Northern seaside town as you can get when he became manager of Perth Glory FC in Australia. He was there less than twelve months after he fell out with the board and left the club in December 2005. He currently works as a pundit for ESPN Star Sports which broadcasts football all over Asia. He’s been there since February 2006 and recently extended his contract by a further three years.
Steve McMahon remains a big favourite amongst Liverpool fans for his guts and desire as well as his fabulous skills and memorable goals. This was reflected in his placing of number 42 in the ‘100 Players Who Shook The Kop’ series on the official Liverpool website.
Liverpool FC | Supporters Club | Vancouver, BC, Canada
