William Marcus Paul Stewart (; born 7 November 1972) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward from 1991 until 2011. Stewart played over 500 games and scored over 250 goals in his professional career and had notable spells in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, and was the Premier League's second highest goalscorer for the 2000–01 season. He also played for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, Yeovil Town and

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Playing career

Bristol Rovers

Stewart signed for

in 1991, where he played as a regular striker. He had played for England schoolboys. He scored a volley in the 1995 Football League Second Division play-off final against

but Rovers lost 2-1. Stewart's goal was his 24th of the season.

Huddersfield Town

The next season Huddersfield signed him for £1.2 million. He was a great fan favourite at Huddersfield before being controversially sold to rivals

for £2.5 million in the final run-in at the end of the 1999–2000 season. He was Ipswich's most expensive signing at the time.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich were promoted to the

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 Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

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. 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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and leading for many fans to call for him to be included in the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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

, Stewart signed for

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

, 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

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 Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. He signed a permanent deal with Yeovil in January 2007.

Exeter City

Stewart signed a deal with newly promoted League Two side

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 Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

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

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.

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. 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 Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

. On 20 May 2019, Stewart re-united with Clarke by joining

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

as assistant manager. 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. In May 2025, Stewart left his role as Head of Player Development after three seasons at the club.

Personal life

On 8 September 2022, Stewart was diagnosed with

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

following twelve months of testing. 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.

Honours

Ipswich Town * Football League First Division play-offs:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Sunderland *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

: 2004–05 Exeter City *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

runner-up: 2008–09 Individual * Bristol Rovers Player of the Year: 1995–96 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1995–96 Second Division, 1999–2000 First Division * Ipswich Town Player of the Year: 2000–01 * Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2023

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Marcus 1972 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bristol Rovers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Exeter City F.C. non-playing staff Bristol Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Walsall F.C. non-playing staff Yeovil Town F.C. non-playing staff English football managers People with motor neuron disease