Born in Staveley, Derbyshire, Lievesley started his career as an amateur with Rossington Main Colliery, where his father Joe was playing at the time while working at the nearby coal mine, following spells at Sheffield United and Arsenal.
After scoring 21 goals in 66 games, he was signed by Manchester United, but played with them during one of their less successful eras, when they were a Football League Second Division side.
[5] Following the start of the Second World War in 1939, Lievesley joined the Royal Air Force, where he became a parachute trainer[3] and dispatch officer.
[3] In 1949 he had been offered a contract to coach rival team Juventus,[3] when on 4 May he was one of 31 fatalities in the Superga air disaster that killed almost the entire Torino squad when they were in the process of winning the Serie A title.
[3][6] As well as his father, Joe, Lievesley's brothers Ernest, and Harold, and uncle Wilf were all professional footballers.