Former Saint lifts lid on his days at Chelsea

Former Saints and Rovers star Stevenson lifts the lid on Chelsea upbringing...

From playing with John Terry in Chelsea’s youth ranks to getting the hairdryer treatment from Jim Jefferies at Hearts, ex-st Johnstone man Ryan Stevenson has opened up on his colourful career.

The 35-year-old was in the Blues’ academy before making his senior breakthrough at Saints in 2002.

He’s gone on to play for a number of clubs since leaving Mcdiarmid Park five years later, including Ayr United, Ipswich, Partick Thistle, Dumbarton and Raith Rovers.

Now at Stranraer, Stevenson reflected on his time in the game in a fascinating Open Goal podcast interview with ex-dundee midfielder Si Ferry.

He said: “Looking back on my experience, if I was in my dad’s position, I’d probably have said no (to going to London).

“I was far too young to go down (to London). I went down on my own.

“I was in digs – John Terry was in my digs for three years. He was from the other side of London.

“All the boys went home at the weekend so I’d spend the full weekend in the digs myself. I only had maybe seven or eight flights a year to get back up the road. My mum and dad weren’t in a position where they could fly me up and down all the time.

“JT was amazing. I was a ball boy the day he made his debut against Aston Villa. He was your benchmark of a young guy who’d come through the ranks.

“You knew how good he was, training with him every day, watching him in reserve games. “Two-footed, an absolute unit.” Stevenson – a boot boy for senior stars like Gianfranco Zola, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Jody Morris during his Chelsea days – was less complimentary about Chris Sutton.

Sutton, who entertains and infuriates fans in equal measures with his BT Sport punditry, endured a miserable time at Stamford Bridge after a £10 million move from Blackburn in 1999 before reviving his career at Celtic under Martin O’neill.

“He was at Chelsea when I was there,” says Stevenson.

“He was shocking with Chelsea. He was a bit of a b*w**g.

“You look back though and you think,

Chris Sutton probably wasn’t caring about Ryan Stevenson at the time.”

Stevenson enjoyed two spells in the capital with Hearts, his first during ex-dunfermline boss Jefferies’ second stint as Jambos boss.

He said: “Leaving Ayr for Hearts was massive. As soon as I signed, The Jet (Jefferies) was on me.

“I’d been at Hearts when I was a young kid and I knew what it was all about. But after I signed, outside the main stand at Tynecastle, he said to me, ‘See tomorrow your life will change’. And it did.”

However, agreeing to join Jefferies and his No 2 Billy Brown at Tynecastle meant reneging on an agreement with Derek Mcinnes to return to St Johnstone.

Aberdeen boss Mcinnes, in the Mcdiarmid Park hot seat at the time, was furious at the midfielder.

Stevenson said: “I’m grateful to Jim and Billy for giving me the opportunity they gave me.

“For me to go from Ayr United to Hearts, it was unheard of.

“I kind of fell out with Derek Mcinnes at the time because I was meant to be going back to St Johnstone

“Brian Reid was the manager at Ayr. The deal had basically been done. My agent called me and said Jim Jefferies wanted to take me to Hearts.

“I was basically part-time at Ayr… I’m thinking, ‘This is absolutely mental!’

“I had to speak to Derek and be like, ‘I’m going to go to Hearts,’ and he was like, ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this to me’.

“I ended up going there and Jim and Billy were amazing.”

Stevenson – who’s had four spells at Ayr United – revealed that he didn’t see eye to eye with former Dundee United manager Ian Mccall during his time at Somerset Park.

But he admits personal problems overshadowed his spell working with Mccall, now at Partick Thistle.

The Stranraer veteran, who has pledged to hand back his wages to the League One side during the coronavirus shutdown, said: “He’s a good manager and I think the job he did at Ayr was amazing.

“But I didn’t agree with some of the things he did. See at the time though, I had complete head loss, I had a chip on my shoulder.

“I actually phoned him up to apologise for the way I was when he was my manager at Ayr.

“I probably was a problem – I had a problem with the world.”

Ryan Stevenson, top, was impressed by John Terry, above left, when they were at Chelsea – but he was not the greatest fan of Chris Sutton, now a renowned BT Sport pundit. SNS/PA.