Players - Steve McMahon

Steve McMahon
Birthdate: 20 August 1961
Birthplace: Liverpool, England
Other clubs: Everton (1977-83), Aston Villa (1983-85), Manchester City (1991-94), Swindon Town (1994-98)
Signed from: Aston Villa
Signed for LFC: £350,000, 06.09.1985
International debut: 17.02.1988 vs. Israel
International caps: 17/0 - 14.11.1990
Liverpool debut: 14.09.1985
Last appearance: 21.12.1991
Debut goal: 21.09.1985
Last goal: 14.12.1991
Contract expiry: 24.12.1991
Win ratio: 60.65% W:168 D:73 L:36
Games/goals ratio: 5.54
Games/assists ratio: 10.26
Honours: League Championship 1985/86, 1987/88, 1989/90; FA Cup 1986, 1989
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 14 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 204 / 29 / 16
Total games / goals / assists: 277 / 50 / 27

Player Profile

"When Steve McMahon plays well, I always think that Liverpool will play well." This ultimate compliment from Bob Paisley's bear testament to McMahon's capabilities. McMahon started out as a ball boy at Goodison Park and eventually joined his boyhood heroes Everton. He was a regular for the Blues for three seasons and voted the supporters' player of the year in his debut campaign. When he felt it was time was to move on he chose Aston Villa in a £300,000 deal over Liverpool. He confessed that he didn't dare to do the virtually impossible to move straight from the blue half of Liverpool to the red. His transfer turned out to be a step down as Everton were a club on the rise, winning the League Championship two years after his move while Aston Villa struggled to follow their 1980/81 league triumph. Before McMahon eventually joined Liverpool he had certainly had his tussles with their players. "They set me up. Kenny got me booked and Souey got me sent off," says McMahon of their Anfield battle on 17 September 1983. "They certainly set out to wind me up and they succeeded. They were crafty. I was wound up anyway going back to Merseyside and they did me a treat." Since Souness left Liverpool for Rome in 1984, a playmaker of some force was needed as the Reds lost the title to Everton. When Liverpool came in for McMahon again in September 1985 he wasn't going to reject them again.

Kenny Dalglish took over before the 1985/86 season and McMahon was his first signing. In only his third game McMahon faced Everton at Goodison Park and scored Liverpool's third with a thumping shot that proved to be the winning goal. McMahon was ruthless in the middle of the park putting in strong tackles to say the least. He contributed to the goalscoring as well and displayed sorely-missed leadership qualities in the engine room. McMahon got injured at a crucial stage of the season and the only Englishman in Liverpool's troops at Wembley had to settle for the bench when the Reds beat the Blues in the FA Cup final. He played 50 games in his second season in comparison with 36 in his first and scored no less than 14 goals, but Everton recaptured their crown. McMahon's game prospered in 1987/88 and he came third in the vote for Footballer of the Year as Liverpool shattered their opposition. He was a perfect workhorse for the more glitzy talents of Barnes and Beardsley, though he could conjure up magic on his own. On 16 January 1988 with the score at 0-0 late in the first half a promising Liverpool move appeared to have finished when a pass from Ray Houghton was misdirected and seemed to be heading for the paddock. McMahon was having none of it and chased a seemingly lost cause. At full speed he put his foot on the ball to prevent it from going out of play before careering towards the paddock supporters. Somehow he contrived to stop himself from toppling into the crowd, regained his balance and control of the ball which he then took down the right wing before sliding a brilliant pass across to the onrushing Aldridge who scored the first in a 2-0 victory over Arsenal. 

McMahon picked up his third League Championship in the 1989/90 season. Despite his tough demeanour on the field McMahon escaped a sending-off at Liverpool until he received two reds in a seven month period in 1991. The first one came when he put in a late tackle on Liverpool old boy Howard Gayle receiving a second yellow in an ill-tempered FA Cup clash against Blackburn Rovers in January. The following month McMahon injured his knee after a clash with John Ebbrell in the fifth round of the FA Cup which meant an early end to his season just a few days before Dalglish's resignation. McMahon's second dismissal came in only his third game of the 1991/92 season when he elbowed Luton Town's Philip Gray when preventing him from taking an early free-kick. Later Vinnie Jones claimed McMahon was his "only real rival" in modern day football for the accolade of "hardest man in football". McMahon was never the most popular teammate in the dressing room, but once on the field he had your back.

In November 1991 thirty-year-old McMahon left for Manchester City. McMahon was used to higher standards than were on offer at City at the time yet remained at Maine Road for three years before he was tempted away to become the player-manager of Swindon Town. Although unable to save Town from a second successive relegation, he did steer them to the semi-final stage of the League Cup, where they were defeated by Bolton Wanderers. Swindon won the Division Two title in 1996 but the manager left after a dreadful start to the 1998/99 season, losing five of the opening nine matches. In January 2000 McMahon signed an 18-month contract to manage Blackpool and that contract was later extended. Halfway through the 2003/04 season he tendered his resignation but then bizarrely interrupted the press conference that had been arranged to announce his departure and claimed that he had withdrawn his resignation having talked to his Chairman. He did eventually resign for real just before the end of the 2003/04 season. McMahon became the manager of Perth Glory in Australia early in January 2005 but that job lasted less than a year. Since then like so many other former Liverpool players, he has got involved in what can be called 'media and punditry work' including working for the ESPN Star Sports channel. In September 2011 McMahon was hired to expand Liverpool's brand and scouting into India. The former midfielder is head coach at the facility as a part of the club's ambition to leave its footprint in every continent in the next three years.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 204 30 27 5 11 277
1985-1986 23 4 5 0 4 36
1986-1987 37 1 9 0 3 50
1987-1988 40 7 2 0 0 49
1988-1989 29 6 3 0 2 40
1989-1990 38 8 2 0 1 49
1990-1991 22 4 2 0 1 29
1991-1992 15 0 4 5 0 24
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
20 1700 Everton
15 1279 Manchester United
14 1256 QPR
14 1249 Arsenal
14 1232 Norwich City
13 1119 Southampton
12 1068 Nottingham Forest
12 1062 Wimbledon
12 1020 Coventry City
11 951 Luton Town
11 927 Sheffield Wednesday
11 891 Tottenham
10 843 Manchester City
9 755 Chelsea
8 720 Aston Villa
8 650 Charlton Athletic
7 629 Watford
7 601 West Ham United
7 588 Derby
5 469 Crystal Palace
5 450 Millwall
5 433 Oxford United
5 423 Newcastle United
4 360 Stoke City
4 321 Leicester City
3 236 Oldham Athletic
3 235 Blackburn Rovers
2 210 Brighton & Hove Albion
2 180 Swansea City
2 180 Sheffield United
2 180 Port Vale
2 180 Fulham
2 180 Kuusysi Lahti
2 180 Auxerre
2 166 Portsmouth
2 101 Middlesbrough
1 90 Sunderland
1 90 Hull City
1 90 Leeds United
1 90 Birmingham City
1 90 Carlisle United
1 90 Brentford
1 90 WBA
1 90 Swarovski Tirol
1 90 Wigan Athletic
1 77 Crewe
Total Started/substitutions
275 Started
5 On the bench
2 Substitute
42 Substituted
Total Venue
133 Away
132 Home
12 Neutral
Total Competition
204 League
30 FA Cup
27 League Cup
6 Screen Sport Super Cup
5 UEFA Cup
4 Charity Shield
1 Centenary Trophy
Total W D L Win % Manager
253 156 65 32 61.7% Kenny Dalglish
24 12 8 4 50% Graeme Souness
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 29 7 13 0 1 50
1985-1986 6 1 3 0 0 10
1986-1987 5 0 8 0 1 14
1987-1988 9 0 0 0 0 9
1988-1989 3 3 1 0 0 7
1989-1990 5 1 0 0 0 6
1990-1991 0 2 1 0 0 3
1991-1992 1 0 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 16 6 5 0 0 27
1985-1986 3 0 1 0 0 4
1986-1987 4 0 3 0 0 7
1987-1988 3 0 0 0 0 3
1988-1989 2 2 0 0 0 4
1989-1990 2 4 1 0 0 7
1990-1991 2 0 0 0 0 2
1991-1992 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 14.09.1985 Oxford United Manor Ground League
50 07.10.1986 Fulham Craven Cottage League Cup
100 04.11.1987 Wimbledon Plough Lane League
150 26.12.1988 Derby Baseball Ground League
200 01.01.1990 Nottingham Forest City Ground League
250 19.01.1991 Wimbledon Anfield League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 42 21.09.1985 Everton Goodison Park League
50 16 14.12.1991 Nottingham Forest Anfield League
Related Articles
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That's the best yet, says boss

Match report from British Soccer Week on Liverpool - Nottingham Forest on 14.12.1991.

McMahon once a Blue, always a Red

Steve McMahon once turned down Liverpool, but didn't made that mistake again.

Molby shows the way against Watford

Match report from The People on 07.09.1985.

Focus on Steve McMahon in Shoot! in 1985

Shoot! profiled new Liverpool player Steve McMahon in 1985.

Related Quotes

"I suppose it's inevitable to wonder what might have happened if I had gone to Liverpool. They won three trophies last season while Villa had a difficult time. But you have to make the decision at the time, and I felt that going across Merseyside was the hardest move in football. In the same circumstances I would have made the same decision."

Aston Villa player Steve McMahon reflecting on his decision to snub Liverpool in favour of Villa in May 1983

"I'd kick my own brother if necessary... it's what being a professional footballer is all about."

Hard man Steve McMahon

"Ince should keep his mouth shut and get on with his new job of playing for Boro. Criticising Gerard Houllier was a bad thing for him to go and do. Someone of his experience should know better. It is players like Ince who have got Liverpool into trouble in the first place. Gerard has had a hard job to do at Anfield taking over a poor team and trying to rebuild it. He was right to get rid of Ince and get in Dietmar Hamann."

Steve McMahon jumped to the defence of Houllier and Phil Thompson after Paul Ince's outspoken attack

They set me up. Kenny got me booked and Souey got me sent off. They certainly set out to wind me up and they succeeded. They were crafty. I was wound up anyway going back to Merseyside and they did me a treat.

Steve McMahon was sent off playing for Aston Villa vs Liverpool on 17th September 1983

"I'd kick my own brother if necessary... it's what being a professional footballer is all about." And that determination was reflected in his play. One goal, scored by John Aldridge against Arsenal in 1988, sums up McMahon. The ball was cleared and ran towards the Main Stand touchline, seemingly destined to roll out of play for a Liverpool throw which would allow the Arsenal defence to regroup. But McMahon refused to let that happen, chasing down the ball, backheeling it right on the line to keep it in play and making a scrambling turn pitchside to get back on the ball. Then he drove past two defenders to play the ball into Aldridge's path for a magnificent goal. Why Everton, who McMahon supported and where he came through the youth system, ever let him go - to Aston Villa - defies logic. As for kicking your brother, you would if he was an Evertonian, wouldn't you?

Tony Evans from Times online on Steve McMahon

Scrapbook
Big Shoot! poster of Steve McMahon - 1985
Big Shoot! poster of Steve McMahon - 1985
Centre stage - 16 May 1989
Centre stage - 16 May 1989
Centre stage - LFC match programme 1991
Centre stage - LFC match programme 1991
Everton's Steve McMahon in profile 1982
Everton's Steve McMahon in profile 1982
Focus on Aston Villa's Steve McMahon
Focus on Aston Villa's Steve McMahon
LFC Official Matchday Magazine interview 2000/01
LFC Official Matchday Magazine interview 2000/01
Mac's magic is above the rest - 29 October 1986
Mac's magic is above the rest - 29 October 1986
Magic Memories of a battle royale! - 17 September 1983
Magic Memories of a battle royale! - 17 September 1983
Match cover on 2 December 1989
Match cover on 2 December 1989
Match poster 1989/90
Match poster 1989/90
Match poster of England's Steve McMahon
Match poster of England's Steve McMahon
McMahon certain to leave Everton - 11 April 1983
McMahon certain to leave Everton - 11 April 1983
McMahon on his cup-final teammates - Match 1989
McMahon on his cup-final teammates - Match 1989
McMahon's gamble paying off - September 1983
McMahon's gamble paying off - September 1983
Pages from Arnie's scrapbook (editor of LFChistory.net)
Pages from Arnie's scrapbook (editor of LFChistory.net)
Poster of Steve McMahon - 1985
Poster of Steve McMahon - 1985
Record-breakers -23 September 1986
Record-breakers -23 September 1986
Shoot! focus on Everton's McMahon - 1981
Shoot! focus on Everton's McMahon - 1981
Shoot! poster of Everton's McMahon
Shoot! poster of Everton's McMahon
Steve blows his top! - 17 September 1983
Steve blows his top! - 17 September 1983
Steve McMahon on the cover of Shoot! 20 July 1991
Steve McMahon on the cover of Shoot! 20 July 1991
Steve McMahon's view in fan club magazine - September 1983
Steve McMahon's view in fan club magazine - September 1983
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Everton 1980-1981 England First Division 34 5 42 5
Everton 1981-1982 England First Division 32 2 36 4
Everton 1982-1983 England First Division 34 4 42 5
Aston Villa 1983-1984 England First Division 37 5 49 5
Aston Villa 1984-1985 England First Division 35 2 39 2
Aston Villa 1985-1986 England First Division 3 0 3 0
Manchester City 1991-1992 England First Division 18 0 19 0
Manchester City 1992-1993 England Premier League 27 1 31 1
Manchester City 1993-1994 England Premier League 35 0 40 0
Manchester City 1994-1995 England Premier League 7 0 8 0
Swindon Town 1994-1995 England First Division 17 0 17 0
Swindon Town 1995-1996 England Second Division 21 0 30 0
Swindon Town 1996-1997 First Division 3 0 3 0
Swindon Town 1997-1998 First Division 1 0 1 0
Total 304 19 360 22