Lewis Stevenson will become Hibernian Football Club’s all-time leading league appearance maker if he features this afternoon in Paisley.
If Stevenson is involved against St Mirren today, it’ll be his 450th league outing for the club and will take him clear of Arthur Duncan who pulled on the famous green and white 449 times on league duty.
A player who has shown levels of performance and consistency which have transcended generations of players, 13 managers and waves of new supporters, Lewis Stevenson’s contributions to the club can’t be understated.
Stevenson has been one of the most humble members of any squad he’s found around him in the dressing room at Easter Road and his work ethic and fitness levels have meant he’s hardly missed a game through injury in the 18 years he’s spent as part of the club’s first team.
The only man in the history of the club to win both domestic trophies as a Hibernian player, they simply do not make them like Lewis Stevenson very often.
Utilised primarily at left back throughout his 450 league appearances, Stevenson has been deployed in midfield on plenty of occasions and in recent seasons he has rolled back the years to step into the middle for the club when required.
Challengers for the left back berth have come and gone across 18 seasons, testament to the levels of reliability offered by Lewis, but it was a mark of the man that he was more than willing to become mentor to Josh Doig during his emergence from the academy under Jack Ross.
Displaced from the side by Doig, who quickly cemented his place in the starting XI, Stevenson kept himself sharp and was ready to step in when required.
On his move to Italy, Doig was full of praise for the role Stevenson had played in his development, which was a surprise to nobody involved with the club.
Always willing to speak to the media, even after some of the club’s darkest days, and with all the time in the world for young fans, Lewis Stevenson represents everything that is good about our great club.
While supporters may bemoan the club’s reluctance to find a suitable long-term replacement for Stevenson, it’s important to remember none of that is his doing. He turns up – and he always turns up – and does his job to the best of his ability for the collective cause of Hibernian FC.
Through his long-term friendship with another stalwart of the last two decades – Paul Hanlon – the Hanlon Stevenson Foundation has been created to help charitable causes throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians, with huge amounts of great work being done to ensure young people have access to football across the city.
With a Scottish Cup and League Cup to his name Lewis Stevenson is already a club legend, but when fans look back on the career of a one-club man in an era when football rarely allows for that to happen, Stevenson’s achievements will be even more impressive.
A man of the match performance in the CIS Cup final nearly 16 years ago, Stevenson’s longevity at the same club is almost unmatched throughout the league – with only teammate Paul Hanlon nearing his feat.
After retiring from playing, Darren McGregor and David Gray have been retained by the club to influence the next generation of players at East Mains and Easter Road.
When Lewis finally has enough and hangs up his boots, the club should be doing all it can to ensure there’s a suitable role for him around the place.
Here’s to you, Lewis.
The East Stand 
Couldn’t agree more. Fantastic professional. I hope he becomes part of the hibs backroom staff when he eventually decides to call it a day. A great lad as well.
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Well written. A fitting tribute to a real stalwart.
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