Trevor Steven exclusive: Why I rejected Man Utd for Rangers | OneFootball

Trevor Steven has revealed he turned down Manchester United in favour of joining Rangers.

Steven was an integral component of Everton's successful team of the 1980s.

Signed from Burnley in 1983, Steven won two First Division titles, the FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup in six seasons at Goodison Park.

And the former Three Lions star has told TribalFootball.com that the European ban on English clubs after the Heysel disaster was key to his decision to reject Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils.

"Before I went to Rangers I turned down Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United," Steven said.

"I saw Sir Alex on Monday and I said I had to go see Rangers on Tuesday. I was at Everton and I literally didn't have to leave home if I joined Man Utd, I just had to take a left instead of a right, so I was going to live in the same patch.

"But we were all subject to a European ban at that stage, we weren't allowed to play in Europe due to the Heysel disaster, but if I went to Rangers I was going across the border, and Scottish teams weren't banned from Europe. So I got European football and that was the deciding factor for me."

Steven won two Scottish Premier League titles with Rangers before moving to Marseille in 1991.

However, Marseille were forced to offload Steven after just one season due to financial problems.

The 58-year-old revealed he rejected the chance to join Leeds United in favour of returning to Rangers.

"After my time in Marseille, Leeds United have come through under Howard Wilkinson and won the league with Cantona, Strachan, Batty, McAllister, a great side and Wilkinson asked me to join.

"But I didn't really want to go back into English football and play against my old teams. I had success at Everton and I still consider myself an Evertonian and my grassroots and upbringing was at Burnley, and I never played against Everton and I never played against Burnley."

Steven ended up spending another five seasons at Ibrox, winning five more Scottish Premier League titles and two Scottish League Cups.