Stevie May Returns to Scoring Form, Eyes More Trophies

Footballer Stevie May of Livingston discussed his career journey and memories from St Johnstone. “I don’t know how I didn’t win that.” Trophies, and the occasions he has missed out on them, are significant aspects of Stevie May’s career narrative. He received a nomination for the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the 2013-14 season, which was ultimately awarded to Andy Robertson. Years later, the 32-year-old player continues to express his strong feelings about the outcome. “Looking back now, 27 goals,” he states regarding his performance during that campaign. “Robbo did brilliant – he’s done even better since, obviously. There was a good standard of young player at that time.” That period marked a highly successful phase for May. He has since overcome various challenges and is currently experiencing a resurgence in goal-scoring. He has scored three goals this season while on loan at Livingston from St Johnstone, including his inaugural league goal last weekend in a 1-1 draw against Queen’s Park. “It was nice,” he recalls. “When you go to a new club, it’s always about getting that first goal. You really feel a part of it then as a striker.” May’s continued presence in professional football is considered remarkable. Following his impressive 27-goal season for St Johnstone, the forward was regarded as one of Scottish football’s most sought-after talents. He served as the inspiring leader and local hero for a team that defeated Robertson’s Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final, securing the trophy for the Perth club for the first time in its history. “Everything was just perfect,” he remembers. “It was a year people dream of. Everything I did seemed to work.” “As a team, we had huge success. It was just such a great time to be playing for St Johnstone. It was like a story from a book.” He subsequently transferred to clubs in England, first to Sheffield Wednesday and then to Preston North End. However, during an away match against Fulham, he suffered a severe knee injury. “I tried to nick the ball away,” he says. “The defender just came in full force. It was ACL, MCL, PCL. So it was pretty much the full shebang.” “And there was a little fracture in there as well. It was kind of 90 degrees, bent the wrong way. It shocked me. You get the big swell, you know something is really wrong.” “The physio pulled me in and said ‘look, this could be you done. It’s that bad’.” “It’s tough to hear. It’s emotional. But I’m proud of myself when I look back to how I dealt with it and how I got back playing. It helped me grow as a person as well.” May achieved a full recovery, though his goal-scoring frequency was not as high afterward. He had a period at Aberdeen before returning to St Johnstone, where he contributed to an extraordinary cup double in the 2020-21 season. While his distinctive long hair is no longer present, his ambition to accumulate further silverware remains as strong as ever. Livingston currently holds second place in the Championship, trailing leaders Falkirk by six points. “As a team, I think we can be scoring more goals, which will lead us to more wins,” he says. “That’s our aim, to try and win the league. It’s essentially a Premiership team. They kept the majority of the players after relegation and brought players in who played in that league.” “It’s about adapting from being a team down at the bottom to now being a team where the onus is to go and dominate the ball. We are having success at that and I think it will get even better.” A complete interview with Stevie May will be broadcast during half-time of the Greenock Morton v Ayr United match on Sportscene, scheduled for Friday, 8 November, on the BBC Scotland channel, iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app.