Lewis Stevenson has revealed how a schoolboys’ cup triumph at Raith Rovers helped whet his appetite for a career as a footballer.
The Hibernian legend has returned to his home town of Kirkcaldy to pen a two-year deal with Raith.
Following 19 years at Hibs, where he is the only player to have won both the Scottish Cup and League Cup, there seemed only one place he would end up after leaving this summer.
At 36, it looks likely Stevenson could now finish a long and successful career with Rovers.
And the proud Fifer has spoken of the impact playing at Stark’s Park for the first time had on his motivation to make it as a footballer.
“Honestly, I had the best childhood ever,” he said of growing up in Kirkcaldy. “I loved it, I loved going to school and I loved playing football here.
“I played at the Bevvy (Beveridge Park) a lot and I played at Glebe Park a lot, where I was from.
“Really, I just loved it. I could just never understand why people never liked where they came from.
“Even when I went to Edinburgh I was always proud to say I was a Fifer and proud to be from Kirkcaldy.
‘One of my fondest days’
“It was back in the day when kids would come home and chuck their bag in after school and go out and play football.
“I was lucky to play in the Fife [schools] Cup final here [at Stark’s Park], in 2005 I think. That was the first time I’d played on a proper pitch.
“Playing with your pals on the pitch, we won the cup for Balwearie [High School], and that’s still one of my fondest days playing football.
“Things like that give you a taste for it. We were in the first-team changing room, which has changed a bit, and it was an unbelievable experience.
“And it probably gave me a taste for what being a professional footballer could be.”
Stevenson has confessed his move to Raith has been years in the making and that he came ‘very close’ to joining his hometown team 12 months ago.
With a delay in the offer of a new contract at Hibs last summer, the Scotland cap thought his time was up in the capital.
There were discussions with Rovers technical director John Potter, formerly Stevenson’s coach at Easter Road, and it looked like a return to Kirkcaldy was on the cards.
However, Hibs eventually offered a one-year extension and he was left to watch Raith’s successful season from across the Forth.
“I’m delighted to be here,” he explained in an interview with Raith TV. “It’s obviously my hometown club and even when I was at Hibs I always thought fondly of Rovers and checked out their scores.
‘It was my next option’
“So, it’s nice to actually be here.
“I think it was maybe close to happening a few times over the years, especially last season. That was probably the closest I got to coming.
“I don’t think I got the contract offer from Hibs until the middle of May.
“So, John Potter spoke to me a few times and it was my next option.
“I was very close to coming until Hibs came in with an offer pretty late on.
“I had the target of getting to 600 games and I managed to do that last season.
“It was obviously an honour to be at Hibs for so long but I feel ready to move on and ready to go and kick on for the last part of my career.”
Raith’s title charge faltered in the final few weeks of the campaign and their promotion dreams were then dashed by Ross County in the Premiership play-off final.
He added: “I want to finish my career off as successfully as I can. I still think I’ve got a lot to give, I still feel fit and ready to go.
“Look, I was almost jealous of the buzz at the club last season. It seemed like an unbelievable place and I was rooting for them right to the end.
“With little things going their way it could have been totally different and an even better season than it was.”
