Michael Stewart (footballer)

Michael James Stewart (born 26 February 1981) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career with Manchester United and played for both Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts and Hibernian. He also played for Nottingham Forest and Charlton Athletic during his career. Stewart was capped four times for the Scotland national football team.

Michael Stewart
Personal information
Full name Michael James Stewart[1]
Date of birth (1981-02-26) 26 February 1981
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Rangers
1997–1998 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2005 Manchester United 8 (0)
2003–2004 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 13 (0)
2004–2005 → Hearts (loan) 17 (0)
2005–2007 Hibernian 54 (2)
2007–2010 Hearts 87 (12)
2010–2011 Gençlerbirliği 0 (0)
2011 Charlton Athletic 9 (0)
Total 180 (14)
National team
2000–2003 Scotland U21 18 (0)
2006–2007 Scotland B 2 (0)
2002–2008 Scotland 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Manchester United

As a young player, Stewart trained twice a week with Rangers while still at Craigmount High School.[2][3] Manchester United signed Stewart as a professional in 1998. He made his senior debut for the club on 31 October 2000 against Watford. Later that season, it was agreed that Stewart and two other players (John O'Shea and Jimmy Davis) would be loaned to Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp, but Stewart decided against the move, believing he would break into the first team more quickly by training with United.[4] Initially, he filled in for a suspended Roy Keane.[4] He struggled to hold down a first-team place,[4] however, and had a disappointing loan spell at Nottingham Forest.[5] His high-tempo style often included landing in trouble, regularly being booked or sent off.

In the summer of 2004, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson indicated Stewart had no future at the club and he was free to leave. Rangers initially showed interest, but after a two-week trial, he was sent back to Manchester.[6] The cost of Stewart's contract with United was seen as a stumbling block to a transfer.[6] A loan deal was reached with Stewart's boyhood favourites Hearts, with Stewart taking a substantial wage drop to facilitate the deal.[7] Stewart failed to match expectations and at the end of a season disrupted by injury, Hearts allowed him to leave.[7]

Hibernian

Desperate for continuity and regular football, Stewart expressed his wish to stay in Edinburgh and signed for Hearts' rivals Hibernian after negotiating the end of his Manchester United contract. After two seasons with Hibs, the club announced in April 2007 that his contract would not be extended and he was free to leave the club.[8] He left Easter Road after the media reported that there was unrest amongst the Hibs squad.[9] Stewart spent a week training with Roy Keane's Sunderland, but he did not earn a contract.

Hearts

On 30 June 2007, Hearts introduced Stewart as a new signing,[9] making him the only player since the Second World War to sign for Hearts, then Hibs and then return to Hearts. Stewart scored his first SPL goal for Hearts against Aberdeen on 12 August 2007. He also scored a penalty for Hearts in a 4–2 win over Rangers in September 2007.

Stewart was appointed Hearts club captain by manager Csaba Laszlo before the start of the 2009–10 season, following the departure of Robbie Neilson. He was sent off, for two bookable offences, 52 minutes into his first competitive game as captain.[10] Stewart left the club by mutual consent on 13 May 2010.

Gençlerbirliği

Stewart then agreed a "lucrative" move to Turkish club Gençlerbirliği signing a one-year contract with the club with the option of a further two years.[11] Stewart picked up an injury early into his spell at Gençlerbirliği, Stewart left the club in January 2011, claiming that they had not honoured his contract since suffering an injury early in the 2010–11 season.[12]

Charlton

Sky Sports reported on 6 February that Stewart had been given a one-week trial with Leeds United.[13] He took part in a training ground friendly match against York City.[14] Stewart's trial period with Leeds was extended,[15] but he did not sign for Leeds and subsequently went on trial at Charlton Athletic.[16] He agreed to sign for Charlton until the end of the 2010–11 season on 22 March.[16]

International career

Under-21

Stewart made his debut for the Scotland under-21 team in the 1−1 draw with Northern Ireland in May 2000.[17][18] On 1 September, he made his competitive debut in the win against Latvia during qualification for the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[17][19] He featured three more times during qualifying but Scotland failed to progress from their group.[17][20] Stewart played four matches during qualification for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship,[17] including the 1−0 win away to Germany in September 2003.[21] Scotland ultimately qualified as group winners and progressed to the play-offs.[22] On 16 November, he started the first leg of the play-off tie against Croatia but Scotland lost 2−0 at Stadion Anđelko Herjavec.[23] Two days later, he was an unused substitute in the second leg as Scotland won 1−0 at Easter Road, but were eliminated 2−1 on aggregate.[24] This was Stewart's last involvement with the U21s; overall he made 18 appearances and scored no goals.[17]

B team

Stewart made his debut for the Scotland B team in November 2006 when he played the whole game against the Republic of Ireland B.[25][26] The game finished 0−0 at Dalymount Park in Dublin.[27] The following November he won a second cap in the 1−1 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Excelsior Stadium.[25][28]

Senior

Stewart was first called up to the senior Scotland team by Berti Vogts in April 2002.[29] On 17 April, he made his debut in the friendly against Nigeria;[30] he replaced Gareth Williams in the 64th minute of the 2−1 defeat at Pittodrie.[31][32] He made his full debut the following month when he started against South Korea at the Asiad Main Stadium in Busan.[30][33] He was replaced by Scott Severin at half-time as South Korea ran out 4−1 winners in their preparations for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[33][34] Four days later, he earned his third cap in the defeat against South Africa.[30][35] In August 2008, Stewart was recalled to the Scotland squad and won his first cap in over six years in the goalless draw with Northern Ireland at Hampden Park.[30][36] This was his last cap for Scotland.[30]

After playing

Stewart has occasionally worked as a pundit for BBC Scotland,[37] BT Sport and The Scottish Sun.[38] He was suspended from appearing on BBC Scotland's football coverage in February 2020, following comments he made about Rangers media officer Jim Traynor.[39]

On 31 December 2014, Stewart announced via Twitter his intention to stand for election as a Scottish National Party MP in the Edinburgh West constituency in the 2015 UK general election.[40][41] Michelle Thomson won the nomination and was subsequently elected to parliament. On 11 February 2016, Stewart appeared on Thursday Focus on MUTV (his former club's in-house TV channel) discussing his life, career and politics.

Honours

Individual

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References
  1. "Michael Stewart". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. "Michael Stewart". ManUtd.com. Manchester United Football Club. Archived from the original on 4 December 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. "Craigmount victory kicks off centenary celebrations World's oldest national schools competition in fine shape, says Doug Gillon". The Herald. Newsquest Media Group. 17 May 2003. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. Forsyth, Neil (7 September 2003). "Stewart goes it a loan at Forest to impress Ferguson". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  5. "Stewart wanders into Forest". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 July 2003. Archived from the original on 10 August 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. Rangers send Stewart back to Manchester, Daily Telegraph, 19 July 2004.
  7. Hearts allowing Stewart to leave, BBC Sport, 11 June 2005.
  8. "Stewart told Hibs days are over". BBC Sport. 19 April 2007.
  9. "Hearts call tempts Stewart back". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 30 June 2007.
  10. "Dundee United 2–0 Hearts". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 August 2009.
  11. Johnstone, Darren (22 May 2010). "Stewart completes move to Turkish top flight". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  12. McLauchlin, Brian (20 January 2011). "Michael Stewart severs ties with Genclerbirligi". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  13. Kajue, Soriebah (6 February 2011). "Leeds eye Stewart". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  14. http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110207/stewart-one-of-two-trialists-in-for-game_2247585_2287356
  15. http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110217/trialist-set-for-extended-stay_2247585_2295500
  16. Haines, Gary (22 March 2011). "Stewart signs up". Charlton Athletic official website. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  17. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas. "Stewart, Michael (Under-21)". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  18. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas (29 May 2000). "1−1 Vs Northern Ireland in Friendly". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  19. "Latvia 1−3 Scotland". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 September 2000. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  20. "Qualifying round Group 6: BEL−CRO−LAT−SCO". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  21. "Germany 0−1 Scotland". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 September 2003. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  22. "Scotland U21s win thriller". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 October 2003. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  23. "Croatia 2−0 Scotland". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 November 2003. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  24. "Scotland 1−0 Croatia". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 November 2003. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  25. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas. "Stewart, Michael (B Team)". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  26. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas (14 November 2006). "0−0 Vs Republic of Ireland in Friendly". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  27. "Rep of Ireland B 0−0 Scotland B". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 November 2006. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  28. "Scotland B 1−1 Rep of Ireland B". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  29. "Vogts extends Scots' net". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 April 2002. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  30. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas. "Stewart, Michael (Senior)". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  31. "Nigeria edge out Scots". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 17 April 2002. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  32. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas (17 April 2002). "1−2 Vs Nigeria in Friendly". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  33. "South Korea humble Scotland". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 May 2002. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  34. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas (16 May 2002). "1−4 Vs South Korea in Friendly". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  35. Sinnet, Bobby; Jamieson, Thomas (20 May 2002). "0−2 Vs South Africa in Reunification Cup". FitbaStats.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  36. Moffat, Colin (20 August 2008). "Scotland 0−0 Northern Ireland". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  37. Scottish Premiership as it happened, BBC Sport
  38. Ex-Hearts star Michael Stewart backs independence, The Scotsman
  39. Gunn, David (18 February 2020). "Future of Michael Stewart at the BBC hangs in the balance as broadcaster reveals ongoing talks". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  40. "Ex-footballer Michael Stewart announces bid to become SNP MP". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  41. McCafferty, Ross; Philip, Andy (30 December 2014). "Sportscene pundit Michael Stewart bidding to become Scottish Nationalist MP". Daily Record. Glasgow: Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  42. Bostock, Adam (4 May 2010). "De Laet's delight". ManUtd.com. Manchester United Football Club. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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