Mark Stewart (footballer)

For the English footballer, see Mark Stuart (footballer).
Mark Stewart
Personal information
Full name Mark Stewart
Date of birth (1988-06-22) 22 June 1988
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Forward / winger
Club information
Current team
Raith Rovers
Number 9
Youth career
Celtic
Partick Thistle
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 Falkirk 77 (19)
2007–2008Stranraer (loan) 8 (6)
2011–2012 Bradford City 12 (0)
2012Hamilton Academical (loan) 13 (1)
2012–2013 Dundee 15 (3)
2013–2014 Kilmarnock 4 (0)
2014 Derry City 12 (1)
2014– Raith Rovers 74 (25)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 August 2015.


Mark Stewart (born 22 June 1988) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Raith Rovers in the Scottish Championship, as a striker. A youth player at Celtic and Partick Thistle, he has played for Falkirk, Bradford City, Dundee, Kilmarnock and Derry City, with loan spells at Stranraer and Hamilton Academical.

Career

Falkirk

Born in Glasgow, Stewart played youth football with Celtic and Partick Thistle, and spent his early senior career with Falkirk, where he started his professional football career.[1] In the 2006–07 season, Stewart made one appearance as a substitute in Falkirk's 5–0 Scottish League Cup victory over Cowdenbeath, scoring within two minutes of his professional debut.[2]

Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Stewart, along with Brian Allison, Scott Arfield and Chris Mitchell impressed manager John Hughes in a pre-season friendly.[3] In early November 2007, Stewart joined Scottish Third Division side Stranraer on a five-week loan.[4][5] Stewart made eight appearance, scoring six times. Upon his return to Falkirk, Stewart remained on the substitute bench until on 16 February 2008 when he made his debut, coming on as a substitute on 83rd minutes for Carl Finnigan, in a 4–0 win over St Mirren. Shortly making his league debut for Falkirk, Stewart continued to remain on the substitute bench towards the end of the season and made two more appearance.

The following season proved to be Stewart's breakthrough. He scored in the second round of the Scottish League Cup in a 3–1 win over Raith Rovers.[6] Stewart then scored his first league goal in a 2–1 loss to Inverness CT.[7] He continued to play in 26 further games during the season, often playing out of position, scoring once more in the return fixture against Inverness on 21 March 2009 in a 4–0 win.

The 2009–10 season started with Stewart signing a new one-year contract. Upon signing, new manager Eddie May said he wanted Stewart to make an impact ahead of the new season.[8] Stewart was expected to make his Europa League debut against Vaduz in July 2009, but a groin injury prevented him from doing so; eventually, Falkirk were eliminated after losing 2–0 in the second leg.[9] Stewart scored his first goal of the season in a 3–3 draw against Celtic on 9 November 2009.[10] A few weeks later, Stewart soon suffered a groin injury and was unable to play until late January 2010.[11][12] He scored his second goal of the season on 27 March 2010 in a 3–1 loss to Hibernian.[13] Towards the end of the season, Falkirk were relegated to the Scottish First Division after a draw with Kilmarnock.

After relegation, the club was able to rebuild the squad. Stewart soon become a key player and the club's primary striker. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Stewart was the club's top scorer with 17 goals (including cup competitions), but the club was unable to bounce back to the Scottish Premier League. Stewart was also the division's joint-top scorer (alongside Kris Doolan) with fifteen league goals. During the season, Stewart would score four braces, including in a 4–3 win over Hearts in the last 16 of Scottish League Cup on 21 September 2010.

Bradford City

With his Falkirk contract at an end, Stewart signed for English League Two club Bradford City on 1 July 2011, alongside Chris Mitchell.[14] Shortly after the move, Falkirk announced their intention to claim a training and development compensation fee for Stewart, who was under the age of 24, from Bradford.[15] The fee would not be finalised until two years later, and was set by an international FIFA tribunal. Bradford paid Falkirk £213,000.[16][17]

Stewart made his debut for Bradford on the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Aldershot Town. Three days later, in the first round of the League Cup in a West Yorkshire derby with Leeds United, Stewart provided an assist for Jack Compton in a 3–2 loss. By this point, Stewart had made fourteen appearances for Bradford.

He returned to Scotland on 27 January 2012, signing a loan deal with Scottish First Division side Hamilton Academical.[18] He made his debut on 14 February 2012 in a 2–1 loss to Morton[19] A month later, on 20 March 2012, Stewart scored his first goal since his return to Scotland in a 3–1 win over Dundee.[20] After the match, Stewart stated that scoring his first goal for the club was a "relief".[21]

He was released by Bradford upon his return to the club in the summer.[22]

Dundee

On 2 August 2012, he signed for Scottish Premier League side Dundee after impressing on trial.[23][24] Two days later he made his debut on the opening game of the season, in a 0–0 draw against Kilmarnock. Soon after, Stewart suffered an injury that kept him out for three months.[25] In mid-December, Stewart made a return from injury and, a week later, scored his first goal in a 3–1 loss to Aberdeen.[26][27] In late February, Stewart scored again in a 2–2 draw against St Johnstone.[28] In total he made 17 appearances, scoring three goals, throughout the 2012–13 season as Dundee were relegated to the Scottish First Division. Stewart was released by the club in June 2013.[29]

In July 2013, Stewart joined English Conference National side Luton Town on trial.[30]

Kilmarnock

In August 2013, Stewart signed for Kilmarnock on the morning of their tie against St Mirren in which he made his debut as a 63rd-minute substitute.[31] However, Stewart made only four appearance at Kilmarnock due to fractured his jaw in a training ground collision.[32] While on the sideline, Stewart says he received a hard time after broken his jaw.[33]

After five months at the club, Stewart was released [34]

Derry City

On 30 January 2014, it was announced that Stewart had signed for League of Ireland side Derry City.[35] He made his debut on 9 March,[36] scoring in 1–1 draw against Shamrock Rovers.[37]

Raith Rovers

On 23 June 2014, Stewart signed for Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers.[38]

References

  1. "Scottish duo join the Bantams". Bradford City A.F.C. 2 July 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  2. "Cowdenbeath 0–5 Falkirk". BBC Sport. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. "Bairns sign up Spanish midfielder". BBC Sport. 17 July 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  4. Mark Stewart career statistics at Soccerbase
  5. "Mitchell joins Montrose on loan". BBC Sport. 5 November 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  6. "Raith Rovers 1–3 Falkirk". BBC Sport. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  7. "SPL: Falkirk 1–2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". Daily Record. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  8. "Stewart signs new Bairns deal". Sky Sports. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  9. "Falkirk to leave Mark Stewart out of Europa league tie". Daily Record. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  10. "SPL: Falkirk 3 Celtic 3". Daily Record. 9 November 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  11. "Fears grow for Falkirk star Mark Stewart's fitness". Daily Record. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  12. "Thursday's Scottish gossip". BBC Sport. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  13. "SPL: Falkirk 1 Hibs 3". Daily Record. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  14. Simon Parker (1 July 2011). "Great Scots! Peter Jackson hails two new Bradford City signings". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  15. "Falkirk seek payment from Bradford for Mark Stewart". BBC Sport. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  16. Simon Parker (19 December 2011). "Bradford City deal for Mark Stewart to be reviewed by independent panel". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  17. Spence, Jim (7 February 2013). "Falkirk to receive payment from Bradford for Mark Stewart". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  18. Simon Parker (27 January 2012). "Stewart returns to Scotland for rest of season". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  19. "Hamilton 1–2 Morton". BBC Sport. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  20. "Hamilton Academical 3–1 Dundee". BBC Sport. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  21. "Striker Admits Relief At Finally Grabbing His First Hamilton Goal.". Hamilton Advertiser. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  22. "Stewart makes Bantams exit". Sky Sports. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  23. "Dundee sign Davide Grassi and Mark Stewart". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  24. "Dundee sign striker Mark Stewart & close in on ex-Aberdeen star Davide Grass". dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record (Scotland). 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  25. "Dundee's 'horrendous' injury list grows even longer". The Courier. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  26. "Stephen O'Donnell's return would be 'huge boost' for Dundee". The Courier. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  27. "Dundee 1 Aberdeen 3: Stewart in no mood for champagne". The Courier. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  28. "Dundee 2 St Johnstone 2: Mark Stewart gives Dundee a glimmer of hope for SPL survival". Daily Record. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  29. "Dundee sign Peter MacDonald and Willie Dyer". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  30. "Hatters to look at former Falkirk striker". Luton Today. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  31. "Allan Johnston adds Barry Nicholson and Mark Stewart to Kilmarnock squad". STV Sport. 17 August 2013.
  32. "Scottish Premiership – Team news: Celtic duo doubtful with virus". Yahoo! Eurosport. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  33. "The unluckiest man in football". Lexis Nexis. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  34. "Kilmarnock extend stays for Irvine, Gardyne and Nicholson". BBC Sport. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  35. "Mark Stewart signs". derrycityfc.net. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  36. "Games played by Mark Stewart in 2013/2014". soccerbase.com. Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  37. "Shamrock Rovers 1–1 Derry City". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  38. "Two More Signings Announced as Pre Season Training Gets Under Way". raithrovers.net. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
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