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 Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

Career

Stevens made his debut with

in a Third Division fixture against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

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

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

" 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 (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 (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

due to a playoff defeat at the hands of

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

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 Alan McLeary (born 6 October 1964) is an English football former defender. He spent the majority of his career at Millwall, but also had spells at Charlton Athletic and Bristol City, as well as loan spells at Sheffield United and Wimbledon. I ...

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, 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 Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in August 2001. Stevens later managed non-league

Fisher Athletic Fisher Athletic F.C. were a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based ...

until resigning in July 2002.Stevens quits Fisher
/ref> 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 an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

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 footballers Association football defenders English Football League players Millwall F.C. players English football managers Association football coaches Millwall F.C. managers Fisher Athletic F.C. managers

Career

See also

References

External links