Robert is only the second inductee to the British ice Hockey Hall of Fame to follow his father as a fellow Hall of Famer.
Although small in stature, he was an outstanding centre-ice during the 1960s and early 1970s for Paisley Mohawks and Glasgow Dynamos, ‘Stevie’ was an ‘All-Star in each of the four seasons between 1967 and 1971. He represented Great Britain in four World Championships (3 in Pool ‘B’; 1 in Pool ‘C’) between 1963 and 1971 (captaining the side in ’71), scoring 18 goals.
Robert Alexander Stevenson was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 20th February 1939, but grew up in Glasgow’s southside on Langside Road, a 15-minute walk from the old Crossmyloof rink. He was involved in the sport from the age of 7 as his father, Sam, had played pre-war at Crossmyloof and was team manager of the post-war Glasgow Mustangs and later coached Glasgow Mohawks.
A left-hand shot, and a prodigious talent, Robert made it into the Glasgow Mohawks as a 13 year-old, where his talent was nurtured by Canadian Jim Kenny, who came to Glasgow as a player in 1934 and remained as Icemaster of the Crossmyloof rink until his untimely death in 1965.
Educated at Calder Street Secondary and Strathbungo Senior Secondary Schools in Glasgow, ‘Stevie’ was also a promising pianist as a youngster, sitting exams for a place at the prestigious London Royal Academy of Music. (He hated practising scales, however, and left school to become an apprentice joiner – music’s loss was hockey’s gain!)
While ‘Stevie’ cites Jim Kenny as the coach who developed his stick-handling and basic hockey skills, he recognises fellow Hall of Famer Billy Brennan, who took over coaching the then Glasgow Mohawks in 1959, as the man who instilled aggression and a competitive edge into his game, which saw ‘Stevie’ emerge as one of the finest ever home-developed players.
The Glasgow Mohawks had moved their base from Crossmyloof to Paisley in 1958, and when the pro Paisley Pirates folded in 1960, the Glasgow Mohawks became the Paisley Mohawks.
Although granted practice facilities at Paisley’s East Lane rink, it would be four years before Mohawks were allowed to stage home games, and the intervening years meant all games on the road: at Altrincham, Ayr, Brighton, Durham, Kirkcaldy, Murrayfield, Southampton, Wembley and Whitley Bay. Under the tutelage of experienced campaigners in player-coach Billy Brennan, Bill Crawford, Dave Ferguson and Joe Brown, Robert blossomed during his time with Paisley into a fine all-round player and prolific goalscorer, representing Great Britain in three World Championships at Pool ‘B’ level – 1963 in Sweden; 1965 in Finland and 1966 in Yugoslavia – and assisting Paisley to the Scottish League Play-Off title in 1964-65 and the prestigious BBC Grandstand Trophy in 1965-66. (He even top-scored in helping Ayr Rangers to lift the Peter Keenan Challenge Trophy in August 1965.)
In 1966 he moved back to Crossmyloof as Player-Coach of the newly-formed Glasgow Dynamos, who were to compete in a new ‘Intermediate League’, which evolved into the Northern League – which was to be the UK’s top league for the next 16 years. ‘Stevie’ was awarded the ‘Earl Carlson Trophy’ (as the league’s leading points scorer) in each of the first four consecutive seasons (1966-70) and was also an ‘All-Star’ for four successive years (1967-71.)
During his five seasons spearheading Glasgow’s Northern League challenge, Robert amassed 253 goals and 168 assists - an average of just under four points - per game, well ahead of his nearest rivals, Lawrie Lovell and Derek Reilly.
Over his five years as Player-Coach of a relatively young and inexperienced Dynamos’ side, he led them to both ‘Icy’ Smith Cup and Championship Play-Off triumphs (also being losing finalists twice in the ‘Icy’ Smith Cup – the country’s major knock-out competition of the time) with an overall league record only bettered by the era’s twin powerhouses of Murrayfield and Paisley. His coaching was a major factor in the development of talented young forwards in John Hester and Martin Shields.
His swan-song was the captaincy of the Great Britain side which re-entered World Championship competition in 1971, after a five year absence, at Pool ‘C’ level. ‘Stevie’ centred GB’s first-line alongside future fellow Hall of Famers Jackson McBride and Les Lovell. He led the team to a creditable fourth place, behind Romania, France and Hungary. His GB World Championship scoring record stands comparison with the best (31 points from 26 games), considering that the regular opposition included Norway, Switzerland, West Germany, East Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Denmark, Yugoslavia etc.
Robert had worked as a ‘chippy’ in John Brown’s Shipyard in the late 1960s, helping to build the famous QE2 liner (as did Paisley and GB team-mate Jackson McBride.) ‘Stevie’ subsequently set-up his own heating installation company in Glasgow but, in April 1971, at the age of 32, Robert, wife Eleanor and their four children, upped sticks and emigrated to Melbourne, Australia. ‘Stevie’ was to take up a semi-professional player-coach role with the Melbourne Tigers, on the recommendation of his Glasgow team-mate, Dave Sinclair.
He has enjoyed a successful second hockey career ‘down under’ for the past 40 years. He won the league’s Goal Scoring Trophy in 1971, 1972 and1979, and was awarded The President’s Medal (for the League’s Most Valuable Player) in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974. He was also MVP in the 1971 Goodall Cup inter-state competition, when he led Victoria in the defeat of rivals New South Wales. ‘Stevie’ was also Player Coach of three Championship-winning sides: Hakoah (1973) and Ringwood Pirates (1975 and 1976). At the age of 72, he is still playing every week with the Melbourne Niteowls.
Robert's sons, Dougie and Allen, continued the family's hockey tradition, having started as youngsters at Crossmyloof before moving to Australia. Dougie Stevenson represented Australia in the 1979 Pool 'C' World Championships in Barcelona and went on to play in the Heineken League of the mid-1980s with Glasgow Dynamos, Ayr Bruins and Dundee Rockets. Allen Stevenson played for Great Britain Under-19s at the 1983 European Junior Championships in Sarajevo.
Written by David Gordon
Read More
