Hibs legend Lewis Stevenson: I'll need to improve to finish my career at Easter Road

Lewis Stevenson hopes to finish his career at Easter Road but knows sentiment alone won't keep him at the club.

He may be one of Scotland’s longest serving one-club players, but Lewis Stevenson admits he will need to up his game if he wants to finish his career with Hibs.

The 32-year-old is under contract until the end of next season, but with football currently in limbo due to coronavirus, putting future plans on hold, the left back is unsure whether it will be his last year with the club he has served for 15 years.

Stevenson is a club legend having become the only Hibee in history to win both League and Scottish Cups, and he has already had his testimonial from the club against Sunderland in 2016.

He is much-loved among the support, but Stevenson knows sentiment alone will not be enough to keep him at Easter Road beyond the end of his current deal.

“My performances last season probably weren’t as good as they have been in previous seasons,” he told the Evening News.

“I’m not going to give up yet, but I know I’ll need to improve next year if I want to stay at Hibs any longer.

“I was in and out at the tail end of last season so I know if I want to get a contract I’ll need to try to hold down a place.

“Last year was probably my worst time for injuries but if I can stay injury free and give myself a decent run at it, hopefully I’ll be alright.

“There’s a lot of good up and coming young players coming through so even if it’s a role trying to help the young boys.

“I’m not stubborn enough to think I’m going to play every week.”

Stevenson’s ideal scenario would be to finish his career with the club he started it with, but he would also be open to moving down the leagues to prolong his playing days.

“I’d love to stay at Hibs but I’m not daft enough to think I’m just going to stay here for the sentiment,” he said.

“I know I’m going to have to provide something for the team. But I’m also open-minded. If it came to going part-time or dropping down a league I’d maybe do that in the future.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to who has retired has said to try and play as long as you can. People have maybe thought they’ve retired too early and regretted it.

“I’ll be hanging in there kicking and screaming, playing at some sort of level before I get my boots taken off me.”

For the time being, Stevenson is enjoying some extra family time after his wife Julia gave birth to their third child, Joey, three weeks ago, adding to Louie (8) and Luna (5).

“When I had the other two I was working the next day, so it’s been nice to get a proper paternity leave this time, but I’m missing football and the normal routine,” he said.

“It’s not so bad for the older players. I think for the younger players it’s maybe a lot worse because they want to get their career kick-started, or they are in the prime of their career and want to keep going. It’s a different scenario for me.

“It’s been nice spending time with the family. I’m trying to treat this as my summer holiday because I know it’s going to be hard work when we get back so we need to try and make the most of a bad situation.”

Not that Stevenson is putting his feet up. Far from it, in fact, as Hibs have put their squad on a strict fitness regime during the lockdown, with all players’ activities being tracked via a fitness app.

“The players all have programmes to do and it’s probably one of the toughest I’ve had in my whole career in the off-season,” he explained.

“If people see me running with my phone in my hand, it’s not because I’m waiting on a phone call it’s because we have to log all our data. It’s a great way to do it and there’s no hiding place. It gives everybody that bit of competition to try and work that bit harder.

“I wish I could’ve rolled back to 10 years ago with my times, but I’m still hanging in there.”