[2] Steven began his career with Burnley upon leaving school in the summer of 1980, and broke into the first team on 14 April 1981 when he made his debut as substitute in a 4–2 win over Huddersfield Town at Turf Moor.
Despite finishing in 7th position in the Football League Championship, the season – and Kendall's job – was saved by two excellent cup runs.
[3] Next season, Everton again challenged for First Division and FA Cup honours but were unable to compete in Europe due to the post-Heysel Stadium disaster ban on English clubs.
Offers came in from other big clubs, including Manchester United, where Alex Ferguson was rebuilding his midfield around Bryan Robson, but Steven chose Ibrox when he exited Goodison Park in the 1989 close season.
[9] In August 1991, Steven moved for £5.5 million[10] – the joint-highest fee involving a British player at the time, shared with David Platt of Aston Villa, who had been transferred to Italian club Bari for the same amount a month earlier – to Olympique Marseille where he stayed for one season, winning the French league title.
In December 1991, it was reported that the financially troubled club were prepared to sell Steven back to Rangers to cut their heavy losses.
Despite reports on 22 July 1992 that Steven had agreed to sign for English league champions Leeds United,[12] he returned to Rangers four days later for a fee of £2.2million.
[14] A very successful season at club level for Steven was completed when, in February 1985, he was called up by England coach Bobby Robson to make his debut in a qualifier for the 1986 World Cup against Northern Ireland.
He stayed in the side for the next three games, scoring his first goal in a friendly win over the Republic of Ireland and contributing to a brace of drawn qualifiers versus Romania and Finland.
When he was awarded his fifth cap against Italy at the beginning of a summer mini-tournament in North America, he was joined behind him by his Everton teammate Gary Stevens, therefore transferring an effective partnership to the international stage.
Robson preferred Waddle as his one orthodox wide man for the opening game against Portugal, but England played poorly and lost 1–0.
No changes were made, despite this defeat, and England suffered a nervy and embarrassing goalless draw against Morocco, meaning they had to win their final group game or they were out.
Steven stayed in the team for the final group game in the 3–1 defeat against USSR, although he was unlucky not to give England the lead when his header hit the underside of the crossbar when the score was still 1–1.
He did the same thing again in the semi-final – again replacing his Rangers teammate Terry Butcher – as England chased the game against West Germany, ultimately forcing a draw and a penalty shootout.
Robson's successor Graham Taylor selected Steven for a number of friendly internationals but he did not play in any of the qualifying games for the 1992 European Championships.