Steve McMahon

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…

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…

Swindon Town

When he arrived at Swindon Town in November 1994, they had recently been relegated from the Premier League and were battling against a second successive relegation. McMahon joined them as they were preparing for a League Cup match with Derby County. Caretaker manager Andy Rowland picked the team, and the Town progressed to the next round. McMahon took full control for the next game – a league match at Southend – and he picked himself in the starting line-up. The Town lost 2–0, and McMahon was sent off. His first victory came with a 2–1 scoreline against top-of-the-table Middlesbrough. As transfer deadline day approached, rumours were rife that leading goalscorer, Jan Åge Fjørtoft, would be leaving the club – most sources quoting a fee of between £3m and £4m. When the day finally came, Fjørtoft was sold for £1.3m – McMahon saying that no other offers were on the table. After Fjørtoft left, the goals dried up. The Town failed to score in six of the next eight matches, and were relegated to Division Two. The Town bounced back the following season, winning the Second Division championship. McMahon won three manager of the month awards, and the manager of the year. The two top scorers that season were McMahon signings: Wayne Allison, arriving from Bristol City, and Steve Finney, from Manchester City, and the only real problems the Town had were breaking down the opposition's stubborn defence, with most sides playing for a draw. The next two seasons followed…

In early February 2006 through 2007, McMahon signed an initial eighteen-month contract to work as a television pundit for Asia-based ESPN Star Sports, and subsequently extended his contract by three years. There, he worked alongside the likes of John Dykes as commentators, written his own blog, and is based in Singapore. He has also been responsible for recruiting other former English football stars such as Les Ferdinand and fellow ex-Liverpool players, Ian Rush and Steve McManaman.