Retaining a place in the first team squad of one of the most famous clubs in the land under nine different managers might seem sufficient to encourage a certain swagger in its longest serving player but nothing could be further from the case with Lewis Stevenson.
The Hibs full-back’s 12 years of service to his club has earned him the relatively rare distinction in the modern game of being honoured with a testimonial season, something that is all the more remarkable because he is still in his twenties and he readily admits that it was something he could not have countenanced when he was starting out on his senior career in a cup tie against Ayr United in 2005.
“I’ve never taken anything for granted and I never imagined I would be at a club like this for so long. I still have to pinch myself sometimes,” he readily admitted.
There seems to have been plenty of room for self-doubt in between times, too, Stevenson admitting that even when he was playing boys club football he was never among the more confident.
“There have probably been a few times I’ve been close to leaving and they’ve been up to me losing form,” said the 29-year-old.
“There have been times, to be honest, when I’ve thought about jacking football in, but I’ve had help from family and friends to stick with it. It’s worked out well, so I’m glad I stuck with it. I don’t know what I would have done outside of football, but there are times when I lost faith. I still don’t know what I’m going to do after football, so there’s no point asking me what I would have done back then.”
To listen to his account of the early part of his career in particular, it has all been something of a lucky accident that he has been around long enough to earn a special place in the affections of Hibs supporters.
“It was probably the worst a couple of years after I came into the team, but, even when I was younger, I never had my heart set on being a footballer,” Stevenson explained.
“It kind of just happened. It was always a pipe dream, not something I ever imagined I’d be able to do. People believed in me more than I believed in myself. There were just times when I wasn’t enjoying it. I didn’t think I was giving enough to the team, didn’t think I was doing myself justice. There are ups and downs of football. I’ve had my fair share.
“In football, all you see is the stuff on the pitch, but there is so much off the pitch that it does take its toll on you. The club have stuck with me, I’ve stuck with them and it’s worked out pretty well.”
It most assuredly has, to the extent that Stevenson can claim a unique place in Hibs history as the only player to have won both League Cup and Scottish Cup winners’ medals with the club, not to mention picking up another major honour when they won the Championship title last season.
“Now, I probably feel better than I ever have,” he said.
“The mental aspect of football is a massive thing and I think that defeats as many people as ability or physicality. It’s probably just a stress thing. Every time you get to the end of your contract, people are asking you what’s happening and your future is right up in the air.
‘Probably the easiest option for me would have been to just turn my back on it all and try something else, but I stuck with it. Two cups and a league title later, I’m happy to have done so.
“I maybe just doubt myself more than other people. The last few years are probably the best I’ve had as a player, though. When you’re enjoying it, that’s when you play your best.”
As he outlines such thought processes it is easy to see why Stevenson’s self-effacing attitude when going about his work has made him popular with so many managers, but he even seems to struggle with their compliments.
“‘It is nice, but it would be quite nice for someone to say I’m a good player who does well for the team, rather than just a good guy,” he laughed
“You need different types of characters in the changing room. I’m never going to be the player who leads everyone, but I see myself as a pretty good follower.”
Which perhaps also explains why he so readily identifies with the club’s supporters, deflecting any praise for his decision to donate to charity half the proceeds from his testimonial in their direction and in doing so making it clear that he is highly appreciative of what they and the sport have given him during his time at Easter Road.
“It’s not really me that’s giving the money away, it’s the fans that are paying for it,” Stevenson observed.
“I think in this time in football, I’m obviously not a Premier League star that earns millions and millions, but you want to give back because it’s the fans that have propped the club up. People are saying it’s a great gesture from me but it’s a great gesture from the fans because at the end of the day it’s them that are actually putting their money in and paying for it.
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