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Marcus Stewart
	Stewart with Bristol Rovers in 2016
Personal information
Full name	William Marcus Paul Stewart
Birth name	William Marcus Paul Tubbs
Date of birth	7 November 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Bristol, England
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Yeovil Town; (head of player development)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1991–1996	Bristol Rovers
1996–2000	Huddersfield Town
2000–2002	Ipswich Town
2002–2005	Sunderland
2005–2007	Bristol City
2006	→ Preston North End (loan)
2006	→ Yeovil Town (loan)
2007–2008	Yeovil Town
2008–2011	Exeter City
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Marcus Paul Stewart (né Tubbs; born 7 November 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1991 until 2011. He is currently head of player development at Yeovil Town.

Stewart played over 500 games and scored over 250 goals in his professional career and had notable spells in the Premier League for Ipswich Town and Sunderland, and was the Premier League's second highest goalscorer for the 2000–01 season. He also played for Bristol Rovers, Huddersfield Town, Bristol City, Preston North End, Yeovil Town and Exeter City.

Playing career

Bristol Rovers

Stewart signed for Bristol Rovers in 1991, where he played as a regular striker. He had played for England schoolboys.^[4] He scored a volley in the 1995 Football League Second Division play-off final against Huddersfield Town but Rovers lost 2-1.^[4] Stewart's goal was his 24th of the season.

Huddersfield Town

The next season Huddersfield signed him for £1.2 million.^[4] He was a great fan favourite at Huddersfield before being controversially sold to rivals Ipswich Town for £2.5 million in the final run-in at the end of the 1999–2000 season.^[5] He was Ipswich's most expensive signing at the time.^[4]

Ipswich Town

Ipswich were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season ahead of Huddersfield due in no small part to Stewart's goals, with two crucially coming in the 2–2 draw at Bolton Wanderers in the play-off semi-final away leg, and he then scored another in the play-off final itself. Following Ipswich's promotion, Huddersfield received a further £250,000.^[4] He continued his great form for the next season being the Premier League's second top goalscorer (and the division's highest English goalscorer) during 2000–01 with 19 goals for Ipswich, who finished fifth and qualified for the UEFA Cup and leading for many fans to call for him to be included in the England team. The following season saw Ipswich suffer a fall from grace that resulted in relegation, and although Stewart only notched up six league goals, he was still the team's OPTA player of the year for the second successive year.

Sunderland

Following Ipswich's fall from the Premier League, Stewart signed for Sunderland where he had three successful seasons. He played his last game for Sunderland on 8 May 2005, after a successful last season for the club which saw him score 17 goals. He departed Sunderland on good terms after deciding that he was too old to play to a Premier League standard.

Bristol City

Stewart chose to sign for Bristol City, fulfilling his ambition to play for the team which he has supported since he was a boy despite beginning his career with City's neighbours and rivals Bristol Rovers. In March 2006, Stewart moved on-loan to Preston North End until the end of the 2005–06 season. After his return to Bristol he was publicly told by City's manager and chairman that he should seek another club, though he was not formally transfer-listed. In August 2006 he signed for Yeovil Town on a three-month loan and scored a goal on his debut away at Swansea City. He signed a permanent deal with Yeovil in January 2007.^[6]

Exeter City

Stewart signed a deal with newly promoted League Two side Exeter City on 14 July 2008.

In February 2009 he was a shock contender to fill the vacant manager's position at Yeovil Town, possibly teaming up with ex-Carlisle United boss John Ward.

Stewart finished the 2008–09 season scoring seven goals for Exeter, taking his career tally to 249 goals, one short of 250. After Exeter's promotion to league one in May 2009, Stewart decided to hold his retirement plans and sign a new one-year deal with the club.

He scored his 250th career goal in the League One game at Carlisle United on 22 August 2009.

Stewart retired from professional football in April 2011, his final appearance being as a substitute for Exeter in a 2–0 win against the first club of his career, Bristol Rovers.^[7]

Coaching career

Stewart, already had been involved in some coaching duties as a senior player/coach in his final two years at Exeter City. After retiring from his playing career, he worked full-time as a first team coach for Exeter.^[8]^[9]

In July 2012 he joined former club Bristol Rovers as a development coach. In 2013 Stewart was made assistant manager at Bristol Rovers. He left the club by mutual consent in December 2018 along with then manager Darrell Clarke.^[10] On 20 May 2019, Stewart re-united with Clarke by joining Walsall as assistant manager.^[11]

On 8 June 2022, Stewart joined former club Yeovil Town as Head of Player Development, linking up with new manager Chris Hargreaves who Stewart had worked with at Bristol Rovers.^[12]

Personal life

On 8 September 2022, Stewart was diagnosed with motor neurone disease following twelve months of testing.^[13] In May 2023, a charity match was held at the Memorial Stadium, home of one of his former clubs Bristol Rovers, in order to raise money for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.^[14]

Honours

Ipswich Town

Football League First Division play-offs: 2000^[15]

Sunderland

Football League Championship: 2004–05^[16]

Exeter City

Football League Two runner-up: 2008–09^[17]

Individual

Bristol Rovers Player of the Year: 1995–96^{[citation needed]}
PFA Team of the Year: 1995–96 Second Division,^[18] 1999–2000 First Division^[19]
Ipswich Town Player of the Year: 2000–01^[20]
Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2023^[21]

References

^ ^a ^b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 392. ISBN 9781845966010.
^ Gibson, John (13 May 2005). "Marcus has made his name". ChronicleLive.
^ "Marcus Stewart". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Stewart's Wembley memories". East Anglian Daily Times. 22 May 2000. p. 37.
^ Parkin, Jenny (7 May 2001). "Fans Angrily Confront Town Chairman". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012.
^ "Slade lifted by Stewart signing". 12 December 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
^ "FOOTBALL: Marcus Stewart calls it a day". Mid Devon Star. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
^ "Exeter's Marcus Stewart to retire after Rovers game". BBC Sport. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
^ "Chatting to a Cult Hero – Our Interview With Marcus Stewart". The Roker Report. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
^ "Darrell Clarke: Bristol Rovers manager leaves League One strugglers". BBC Sport. 13 December 2018.
^ "Club Statement: Backroom Staff Changes". www.saddlers.co.uk. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
^ "CLUB NEWS : Marcus Stewart joins as head of player development". www.ytfc.net. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
^ "Statement released on behalf of Marcus Stewart". www.thepfa.com. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
^ Piercy, James (15 May 2023). "How Bristol City, Bristol Rovers and the football world came together for a West Country giant". Bristol Post. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
^ "Ipswich triumph at last". BBC News. 29 May 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2005). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2005–2006. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 48, 372–373. ISBN 978-0-7553-1384-6.
^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2009). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009–2010. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 45, 194–195. ISBN 978-0-7553-1948-0.
^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1996). The 1996–97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-1-85291-571-1.
^ "Keane claims award double". BBC News. 30 April 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
^ "2000–2001 Top Scorers". 4TheGame. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
^ Henderson, Jacob (17 March 2023). "Trio Inducted into Hall of Fame". Ipswich Town Official Website. Retrieved 24 March 2023.