STEVIE NEEDED SOME SPAIN RELIEF
Stag party helped ease the anguish of relegation
His Benidorm stag do helped get Stevie Lawless back on track after the crushing misery of relegation with Partick Thistle.
Now, after weighing up a host of offers from different clubs he’s hoping he and Livingston can be perfectly matched.
The 27-year-old winger was utterly devastated when the Jags lost a Premiership play- off to his future employers back in May.
After six years at Firhill, he endured his biggest low in football.
But with a stag party and a wedding to prepare for, he had little time to mope around or worry about what might have been.
Instead, Lawless had the time of his life in Spain before tying the knot with new wife Lucy.
Now he’s hoping a fresh start at Almondvale with Livi under gaffer Kenny Miller can kick-start his career.
Lawless was gutted to leave Thistle but wasn’t short of suitors.
In the end, the chance to work alongside ex-Rangers and Scotland ace Miller was the deciding factor.
He’s just grateful that he had plenty to occupy his mind over the summer following Thistle’s horror season.
He said: “It was a hectic time for me because I was getting married, so I couldn’t think about the relegation too much.
“I actually went on my stag do to Benidorm the day after we lost to Livingston in the play-offs.
“When I was away I had a few missed calls from unknown numbers but didn’t read too much into it. When I got back my agent said it had been clubs trying to get hold of me.
“It was probably best that I didn’t answer them while I was drunk on my stag do anyway!
“Seriously, going away helped me. The day we got relegated was the worst feeling I’ve ever had in football, 100 per cent. I’ve never felt like that before.
“I hate getting beaten anyway. Any defeat affects me. Other boys can brush it off but I can’t.
“If I had the choice, I wouldn’t have gone on the stag so soon after the game.
“But once I got to the airport with 18 of my pals, I didn’t have a chance to get down. I’d have got slaughtered if I turned up depressed. I put on a brave face and once I had downed a few beers I realised there was nothing I could do to change it.
“If I hadn’t gone away, I’d have sat around the house thinking about it. I’m like that after any game I lose.
“For a few days into the Monday and Tuesday, I’m still annoyed about it. So that could have lasted a long time if my stag do had been later.”
Lawless has revealed he’d have considered staying at Thistle if they’d made him an offer, but it never came.
Relegation to the Championship was not the legacy he wanted to leave but he’ll never forget the support he received from the club and Alan Archibald – especially when he was hit with a six-game betting ban back in 2015.
He said:“The manager knew I had a young family so maybe he thought I’d have far better offers.
“But if there had been an offer there, it’s something I’d have definitely thought about.
“Thistle means a lot to me. I spent so much time there, six seasons. I experienced the joy of promotion, then the disappointment of going down.
“There are boys there who I’ll speak to for the rest of my life. You rarely get that in football.
“When I got the ban, it could have gone either way. I was doing well at the time and Archie could have pulled me out of the team. “Instead, he threw me in the game after the ban ended and that was the best thing he could have done for me.” Lawless wants to strike up a similar relationship with player- manager Miller at Livi. He said: “The gaffer’s experience as an attacker at the top level can only help my game. “Archie and Scotty Pater son helped me massively on the defensive side. I’m sure he’ll have a positive impact on me.”