Aston Villa Born in
Blyth, Northumberland, Stephenson originally played for
Aston Villa in 1910 as an
inside forward. His career at
Villa Park comprised 216 matches, in which he scored 85 goals. He was brought to Villa Park as
Harry Hampton's career was nearing its end and soon acquired a reputation for intuitive play: his passes were said to be "as sweet as stolen kisses". His first silverware came in the
1913 FA Cup Final alongside Hampton and the England international
Joe Bache in a victory over the League champions,
Sunderland. Stephenson claimed before the 1913 FA Cup final to have dreamt that Villa would beat Sunderland with a headed goal from
Tommy Barber. Villa did indeed win the final with a headed goal from Barber. Stephenson played in the semi-final the following year and was a winner in the FA Cup final in
1920 in his swansong for the club. During the
First World War, Stephenson had guested for
Leeds City, managed by
Herbert Chapman, who saw qualities beyond Stephenson's well-renowned lack of pace. As a result of making irregular payments to wartime guest players such as Stephenson,
Charlie Buchan of
Sunderland, Franny Walden of
Tottenham Hotspur and
Billy Hampson of
Newcastle United, Chapman's career at Leeds City came to a questionable end and led to the dissolution of the club in 1919.
Huddersfield Town However, when Chapman took over the reins at
Huddersfield Town (in August 1920) one of his first tasks was to secure Stephenson in a £4,000 move from Villa Park. This caused controversy at a time and at a club where money was scarce but within two seasons, Stephenson was playing inside-left in the narrow
FA Cup victory over
Preston North End at
Stamford Bridge becoming the first player in the 20th century to win three winners' medals in the
FA Cup and eventually took the captain's armband from
Tommy Wilson. The Final was notable for the controversy surrounding the penalty decision that decided that match when Hamilton brought down Huddersfield's
W.H. Smith. Ivan Sharpe, writing in the
Sunday Chronicle, stated: "It was certainly a close thing. I had a fairly good view of the incident and my impression was 'Penalty!' The kick was to be taken by the victim, Smith. The goalkeeper Mitchell decided on the manoeuvre of dervish leaps in the air while the act was brewing, the intention obviously to put the Huddersfield marksman off his shot. 'Ne'er mind the devil-dances' seemed to be the tenor of Town captain Clem Stephenson as he advised Smith: 'Just shove it in the net.' In another two seasons Huddersfield had won the first of three consecutive
League Championships and Chapman was moved to write to Stephenson: "I want to thank you personally for your play, your wholehearted efforts both on and off the field. I have never had such confidence in any captain of a team I have been associated with." It was later written: "Chapman bought perceptively, welded his assets together astutely and soon sent out one of the most successful League sides of all time. It was stubborn, disciplined and highly mobile with Clem Stephenson, once of Aston Villa, at the heart of everything. He was a stocky tactician without much pace but his passes were as sweet as stolen kisses." Chapman brought in the free scoring
George Brown and
Alex Jackson and between 1924 and 1925 led the side to two consecutive League titles before departing for fame and fortune with
Arsenal Without his guile the brio was gone and whereas Stephenson led
Cecil Potter's team to a third straight League title in 1926 Huddersfield have never since won either the
League Championship or the
FA Cup instead finishing in second place in the League in 1927 and 1928 became the first side to have "Double Horror" and losing the
1928 FA Cup Final to
Blackburn Rovers and finishing second to
Everton by two points. They lost the semi-final to Bolton Wanderers the following year and Stephenson played his last game for the club that year, becoming manager in May 1929 taking over from
Jack Chaplin. ==Managerial career==