"This is the reason why I play football and why I've stuck with it with the support of the locals."
The police officer made his debut for the Computer Care Hawke's Bay Premiership Rovers team when he was 15, which happened to be the last game of the season against the Havelock North Wanderers in the Lotto Federation League.
A stocky, solid tackler, it didn't come as a surprise to many the following winter when he was ushered into the Central League squad for the entire season.
The two ISPS Handa Chatham Cup playoff matches are the games that have left an indelible mark in his mind.
"We've lost in the semis and we've lost in the final," he says before reflecting on the two Central League crowns the Blues won during his tenure in 2012 and 2015.
The club also won the Central League bragging rights in 1981 and 1986.
In 2015, the then Danny Wilson-captained Blues were one game away from claiming an enviable double but stumbled in the final against Eastern Suburbs.
"I think the first one was probably the [most memorable one] because we weren't expected to win the league," he says of the Regan Cameron-skippered outfit who had the likes of former All Whites striker Jarrod Smith and English import Stephen Hoyle, who was making his debut for the club.
"We were really a bunch of nobodies."
Stevenson says Chatham Cup, the symbol of national knockout cup supremacy, is no doubt the more sought-after silverware but also much harder to claim.
"I'd definitely love to win the Chatham Cup."
This season - one of rebuilding - has been a far cry from the glory days he has experienced but he reconciles that with players arriving late from their ISPS Handa Premiership summer campaigns and holidays.
He would love to play national summer league but balancing it with work and home life makes him think twice. He also is indebted to the team and club for their understanding.
The rebuilding phase applies to the club which, he says, is no longer a heavyweight in the money stakes even when compared with some clubs in the Bay.
Stevenson, who invests his spare time in helping out his in-laws farming potatoes, expects today's game to be anything but a dead rubber against a "physical" Ian McGrath-coached Taranaki who they beat 4-1 in New Plymouth in May.
"We could actually finish one off the bottom if we don't win," he says.
The Bill Robertson-coached Rovers are on the sixth rung of the league table on 21 points, one point above Wellington Olympic but Taranaki and Lower Hutt City are also on 20 points, sitting below the Greeks.
It's their last chance to register a win dating back to a 4-1 win over Stop Out five rounds ago on July 2 after drawing 2-2 away with the Greeks last Saturday.
He believes Taranaki have been struggling for consistency.
Jonny Cox goes out of the squad while golden-boot candidate Angus Kilkolly and defender James Hoyle return following suspension and injury, respectively.
BOTH TEAMS
Napier City Rovers: 1 Ruben Parker Hanks (GK), 2 Blake Koolen, 5 Matt Bruin, 6 Oliver Coren, 7 Jean-Michel Paulin, 8 Chris McIvor, 9 Angus Kilkolly, 10 Fahad Rwakarambwe, 12 Ethan Ladd, 14 Joshua Stevenson (c), 15 James Hoyle, 16 Danny Wilson, 18 Karan Mandair, 21 Kyle Baxter (RGK).
Coach: Bill Robertson.
Ast coach: Stu James.
Team Taranaki: 1 Santiago Fernandez (GK), 3 Jeremy Hill, 4 Paul Cunningham, 5 Joel Willets, 6 Jack Roberts, 7 Jeremy Hawkes, 8 Russel Laird, 9 Ben Moore, 10 Wade Randle, 11 Tyler Stephens, 12 Rodrigo Mangini, 13 Nathan Hill, 14 Sandro Grandi, 15 Phillip Shehan, 16 Dom Squatriti, 17 Sam De St Croix, 18 Vance Hoskin, 19 Brad Hickling, 20 Joshua Smith, 21 Damien Mosquera, 22 Sam Adeyinka, 23 Mustafa Can, 24 Nicolas Varela, Nick Hayward (RGK).
Coach: Ian McGrath.
