Steve Heighway

Heighway was born in Dublin, Ireland. His early education took place in Sheffield where he attended Ecclesall Junior School (until 1959), followed by High Storrs School and latterly Moseley Hall Grammar School for Boys in Cheadle, near Stockport. Heighway's early promise as a winger was not spotted by professionals. Instead, he concentrated on his studies in economics and politics at the University of Warwick in Coventry (where he started in 1966) achieving a 2:1.

In 1970, Heighway was studying for his final exams and playing for Skelmersdale United when he was spotted by Liverpool's scouting system. With manager Bill Shankly keen to rebuild his ageing, underachieving team of the 1960s, Heighway was signed up swiftly in May of that year. It was due to Heighway's academic achievements that he got his nickname 'Big Bamber', while teammate and fellow university graduate Brian Hall was dubbed 'Little Bamber' – both after the television programme University Challenge host Bamber Gascoigne. A dynamic left winger with two good feet, Heighway settled into top flight football after making his debut on September 22, 1970, in a League Cup 2nd round replay at Anfield against Mansfield Town (3-2). Heighway opened his goalscoring account in the 51st minute of a 2–0 home league win over Burnley on October 1, 1970. A month later, he scored against Merseyside rivals Everton in a hard-fought 3–2 win, after his team had found themselves 2–0 down not long into the second half. He stayed in…

As a player

Football League First Division: 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80 FA Cup: 1973–74; runner-up: 1970–71, 1976–77 Football League Cup: 1980–81 FA Charity Shield: 1974, 1976, 1977 (shared), 1979 European Cup: 1976–77, 1977–78 UEFA Cup: 1972–73, 1975–76 UEFA Super Cup: 1977

As Academy Director

FA Youth Cup: 1996, 2006, 2007