Robert Edward Thorburn Stewart (7 October 1932 – 27 September 1992) was a Scottish 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 ...

who played as a

right half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

, making nearly 150 appearances in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km so ...

. After retiring as a player, Stewart became a coach and was the original manager of the

Scotland women's national football team The Scotland women's national football team represents Scotland in international women's football competitions. Since 1998, the team has been governed by the Scottish Football Association (SFA). Scotland qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup ...

Career

Playing career

Stewart began his

career at Kilmarnock in 1951, starting for Killie in the 1956–57 Scottish Cup final and final replay defeat to

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. Manager Willie Waddell later tried to boost the team's forward line by handing Stewart an attacking position, but during the experiment his regular place at wing half was taken by Frank Beattie. Stewart moved on to St Mirren, where he played in their 1961–62 Scottish Cup final defeat, then Ayr United.

Coaching career

In November 1972, Stewart took charge of the

for the first ever official women's international match to take place in Britain, a 3–2 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Ravenscraig Stadium Ravenscraig Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. The stadium is primarily set up for athletics, with a running track, but it is also the traditional home of Greenock Juniors Football Club. The stadium underwent ...

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

References

1932 births 1992 deaths Association football wing halves Ayr United F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Scotland women's national football team managers Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers St Mirren F.C. players Women's association football managers {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub