I thought Lew must be joking
LEWIS STEVENSON was dropping his daughter off at gymnastics when his mobile rang and turned his football world turned upside down.
It was the morning after the night before – his worst performance of the season in the Edinburgh derby – and Stevenson thought it was a post-mortem call from a diehard Hibee.
The Hibs full-back heard the name Riley and thought it was the ex-chairman of the Easter Road supporters association, Mike.
Instead, it was Scotland liaison officer Frank Reilly, on to ask about availability for the forthcoming tour of Peru and Mexico.
It was a call he never expected and the experience and memories of the next 10 days with Alex McLeish’s squad will be stored for a lifetime.
Stevenson said: “It took me five minutes to figure out which Reilly it was and that it was a serious phone call. You get to the age of 30 and think a call-up to the seniors will never happen.
“I was as surprised as anyone when I got a call, especially after the Hearts match. I thought someone was at the wind-up.
“I’ve never really thought about playing for Scotland since I was in the Under-21s. “I’d watch Scotland games as a fan rather than thinking, ‘I could get in that squad.’ “When we played Canada at Easter Road I took my wee boy to his first game. “Louie’s six and when I told him I’d been called up for Scotland he looked at me a bit weird. He thinks I’m going just to help out.”