Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool from 1985 to 1991.
McMahon won three English league championships and two FA Cups at Liverpool. He was twice named in the PFA Team of the Year (1988 and 1990), and in 1988 he came second in the vote for the PFA Player of the Year. McMahon was placed in 42nd position in the '100 Players Who Shook The Kop' poll, which asked Red supporters to name the best 100 Liverpool players of all time. He also played for Everton, Aston Villa and Manchester City, playing in the Premier League for the latter. He was capped 17 times by England.
After his playing career ended, he began his coaching and managing career with Swindon Town, and later managed Blackpool, winning promotion with both of these clubs. He later had a brief spell as manager of Perth Glory in Australia.
Club playing career
Everton Halewood-born McMahon started his career at Everton, playing for them as a teenager after appearing at Goodison Park as a ball boy. He made his league debut on 16 August 1980 in the 3–1 defeat to Sunderland at Roker Park, and he went on to be voted the supporters player of the year by the end of the 1980/81 season. His commanding presence in the Toffees midfield earned him the captaincy of the club. After four seasons, including 100 league appearances and 11 league goals McMahon moved to Aston Villa.
Aston Villa He joined Aston Villa on 20 May 1983 for £175,000, and made his league debut on 27 August 1983 in the 4–3 derby win over West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park. McMahon settled quickly and established himself in the heart of the Villans midfield. However Villa finished 10th in his first season, while his previous club, Everton, finished 3 places above them in 7th spot. The following season, 1984/85, ended up worse than the previous one as Villa finished in 10th spot again, only this time Everton won the title. In the summer of 1985, Manchester United under their manager Ron Atkinson had chased after McMahon's signature, with Villa informing him of their approach. McMahon however bided his time amid reported interest from United's arch rivals Liverpool, and he states: "I turned down Manchester United to join Liverpool, that's how much I wanted to sign for the club. When the opportunity arose to sign for Liverpool, I took it and it was the best decision of my career."
Liverpool
McMahon joined Liverpool on 12 September 1985 for £350,000 thus becoming the first signing to be made by new manager Kenny Dalglish, and filling the void left by Graeme Souness over a year earlier. He made his Liverpool debut two days later in the 2–2 league draw with Oxford United at the Manor Ground. His first goal for the club came a week later on 21 September against his former club, Everton. McMahon's 42nd-minute low, powerful 20-yard strike at Goodison turned out to be the winner as the Reds triumphed 3–2.
He played a crucial role in Liverpool's "double" winning side of his debut season, playing 36 games and scoring 10 goals. However, McMahon's joy at winning a League championship medal was tempered slightly by his omission from the starting line-up for the FA Cup final having been unavailable in the run-in after picking up an injury in the spring—his last appearance in the league was against Manchester City at Anfield on 31 March when he scored both goals in a 2–0 win, and five days later in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton he came off with 10 minutes remaining in what would prove to be his last appearance of the season—which saw Kevin MacDonald come in for him. Having recovered from injury and been declared fit just prior to the final, which was against his former club Everton, the first all Merseyside FA Cup final, McMahon was given the sole substitute's position at Wembley and ended up with a winners' medal when Liverpool won 3–1, though he did not get on to the pitch.
The following season, McMahon started all 50 of the games he appeared in, scoring 14 goals. When Liverpool contested the League Cup final against Arsenal in April 1987, he set up the opening goal for Ian Rush but they ultimately lost the match 2–1. He had earlier scored four goals in Liverpool's record 10–0 victory over Fulham in the same competition. McMahon had also missed a penalty in the same game, which would have made him the only Liverpool player to score five goals in a competitive game that season but scored another hat-trick in the following round against Leicester. In total, he scored nine goals in the League Cup that season, as well as five in the league, although Liverpool endured their second trophyless season in more than a decade.Liverpool Results 1986–87 . Liverweb. Retrieved on 1 June 2011.
Dalglish reshaped the side the following season, incorporating new signings John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, John Aldridge and Ray Houghton, with McMahon a key member in the team as the midfield general with his reputation as one of the best hardmen in the game established. McMahon frequently scored for a man in his position as Liverpool won the 1988 League title. Memorable strikes included a 30-yard shot against Manchester United and the opener in a crucial Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield. When Liverpool reached the FA Cup final again, McMahon was one of the team's two Scousers (along with Aldridge) obliged to perform a localised rap on the official FA Cup final song "Anfield Rap", written in a trend-encapsulating rap and house music style by teammate Craig Johnston. The song got to No. 3 in the UK charts, but Liverpool lost the final at Wembley to Wimbledon.
McMahon was afforded the ultimate respect by Vinnie Jones, who said that if he could stop McMahon, then Wimbledon could stop Liverpool. Jones and McMahon locked horns early on, and Jones fouled McMahon aggressively early on in the game with a two footed tackle. In Jones's autobiography he recounted that he wanted to "take out their top man" and McMahon actually managed to smash Jones in the eye with his elbow on the way down from the tackle, which led to a cut and scar on his face that remained on his face for a while. McMahon clashed with John Fashanu and Dennis Wise frequently throughout the match. In 1988, McMahon came second in the vote for the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the winner being his Liverpool colleague John Barnes.
In 1989 McMahon was again a regular fixture as Liverpool again chased a "double" of League and FA Cup. As one of the local players in the team, he was deeply affected by the Hillsborough disaster during the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April. Liverpool won the FA Cup final against Everton 3–2. McMahon set up the opening goal for Aldridge after just 4 minutes of the final, but they lost the League title in a decider at Anfield against Arsenal.
McMahon again played frequently as Liverpool won back the League title in 1990, and on the day they clinched it against Queens Park Rangers at Anfield he wore the captain's armband for the last 20 minutes, taking over from Alan Hansen who went off injured, and then led the team out against Derby County in the following game the night when the trophy was presented. McMahon said "the proudest moment of my life, the most fantastic honour of my footballing career, was to captain Liverpool". The club lost out on another "double" however when they were beaten 4–3 by Crystal Palace in a thrilling FA Cup semi-final, in which McMahon scored. Souness took over as Liverpool manager in 1991 and he immediately had some disagreements with some senior players including McMahon. In Souness's book, The Management Years, he recounted that several players who were over 30, including McMahon, were looking for bigger contracts at the end of their careers and were prepared to move elsewhere if their terms weren't met. There was also some resentment as new signings like Mark Wright were on bigger salaries, and the senior players wondered why players who had yet to win any trophies at Anfield could be earning more. Souness decided to sell McMahon, Houghton, Beardsley, and Steve Staunton, thus removing some of Liverpool's best players under Dalglish and breaking up a title-winning team. After playing 15 games of the 1991/1992 season, McMahon left Liverpool to join Manchester City for £900,000 on Christmas Eve 1991 after playing 276 games in a stellar career with the Reds, during which time he scored 50 goals.
Souness later admitted that he had sold some key players too soon, when he should have kept them longer until suitable replacements were found. In the end, Souness brought Michael Thomas and Paul Stewart to compete in central midfield, neither of whom were to ever reach the same level as McMahon, as Thomas was beset by injuries and never able to fully replicate the important role vacated by McMahon. Stewart too was blighted with injuries, and only enjoyed anything like regular action in his first season at Anfield, making his final appearance some two years before finally departing in 1996.
Manchester City McMahon made his City debut two days later on Boxing Day in a 2–1 win over Norwich City at Maine Road. During his time for City, McMahon was initially seen as someone who would help raise their game due to his aggression and quality, but unfortunately the quality of the team around him was not the same as at Anfield. Niall Quinn recalled in his autobiography that McMahon reminded him of Roy Keane in his intensity and will to win:
In 1993, McMahon was featured in Vinnie Jones's Soccer's Hard Men video, in which Jones talks about his adoration and respect for other "hard men" from the past and present including Souness, Bryan Robson, Mike Bailey, Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton, Peter Storey, Ron Harris and Nobby Stiles. Jones described McMahon as his "only real rival" in modern-day football for the accolade of "hardest man in football". He described how McMahon got his revenge on him for his early foul in the 1988 FA Cup Final, by kicking Jones to the floor with his studs at Anfield, forcing him to have stitches on a major cut. McMahon played in 87 league matches for the Sky Blues before an offer to become player-manager of Swindon Town tempted him away from Manchester.
International career
McMahon first represented England at senior level on 17 February 1988 in a goalless friendly draw against Israel. There had been widespread clamouring in the press for England manager Bobby Robson to select him, and indeed ITV commentator Brian Moore rapped a verse to that effect on the Cup final song, with the last expression, "Macca can!", repeated in a scratch mix manner to emulate Melle Mel's rap which praised Chaka Khan on her 1984 hit, I Feel For You. He was in England's squad for that summer's European Championships in West Germany, and played in the final group game, which England lost 3–1 to the Soviet Union, failing to progress to the semi-finals.
McMahon played on England's 1990 World Cup squad. In the second half of the first group game against Ireland, with England leading 1–0, McMahon failed to control the ball on the edge of the English 18 yard box. Immediately, Republic of Ireland player Kevin Sheedy pounced and drove a left foot shot beyond Peter Shilton in the English goal. McMahon had just come on to the pitch as a substitute for Peter Beardsley. The game ended up as a 1–1 draw. He made further appearances by starting in England's final group match with Egypt and their second round tie with Belgium though did not play in either England's quarter final or semi final matches where both times he was an unused substitute.
He made his 17th and final England appearance on 14 November 1990 in a 1-1 Euro 92 qualifying match draw against Ireland. He never scored for England at senior level.
Managerial and coaching career
Swindon Town