Keith Henry Stevens (born 21 June 1964) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, spending his entire career with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

Career

Stevens made his debut with

in a Third Division fixture against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

in April 1981, when still only 16 years old. Stevens was nicknamed "

Rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

" by his teammates, although it is unclear if this was due to his fearless tackling style or the size of his nose. He gained a regular first team place two seasons later and helped Millwall reach the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1985 and the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

(for the first time) in 1988. He helped them finish 10th in their first top division season, and even after their relegation the following year he was able to bolster their defence and ensure that they were at least a match for most other second-tier teams. In 1994, he was ever-present in the league as they finished third, but lost out on a place in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

due to a playoff defeat at the hands of

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in the semi-finals. Millwall were relegated to Division Two in 1996, and although Stevens was no longer a regular first team player after this stage he continued as a player for another three seasons. Stevens was appointed player-manager of Millwall in May 1998 on the dismissal of

Billy Bonds William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...

, and named teammate Alan McLeary as his co-manager. They remained in charge until their controversial dismissal on 17 September 2000 after failing to get Millwall promoted back to Division One, a feat which was achieved eight months later under successor

Mark McGhee Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. A former forward, McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and had spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, ...

, with the team that Stevens and McLeary had built. Despite no longer being with the club, in April 2001 Millwall awarded Stevens a testimonial, culminating in a friendly with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in August 2001. Stevens later managed non-league Fisher Athletic until resigning in July 2002. Keith Stevens and his family

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to Australia. He was assistant coach of the inaugural championship winning club

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

in the Australian women's W-League. Keith is currently working with the Sri Lanka national team

References

External links

Keith Stevens' profile at Millwall History site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Keith 1964 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Millwall F.C. players English football managers English football coaches Millwall F.C. managers Fisher Athletic F.C. managers Footballers from the London Borough of Merton

Career

See also

References

External links