Thomas Stewart (Irish footballer)

Thomas Stewart, (born 12 November 1986), is a Northern Irish footballer who is currently a free agent. He is known for his long range shooting and precise finishing.

Thomas Stewart
Personal information
Full name Thomas Stewart
Date of birth (1986-11-12) 12 November 1986
Place of birth Craigavon, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
2001–2003 Portadown
2003–2006 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Linfield 46 (16)
2008–2009 Derry City 43 (14)
2010 Shamrock Rovers 32 (10)
2011–2012 Partick Thistle 17 (6)
2012–2013 Shamrock Rovers 42 (11)
2014–2016 Sacramento Republic 47 (22)
2016 Ottawa Fury 17 (4)
2017 Dundalk 23 (6)
2018–2019 Larne 21 (11)
National team
2006–2008 Northern Ireland U21 19 (4)
2007–2008 Northern Ireland U23 2 (0)
2007 Irish Football League 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:50, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

Playing career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

As an apprentice Stewart was the youth team's top goalscorer and played in a FA Youth semi-final against Southampton in 2005, but never made the breakthrough to first team football.

Linfield

After returning from England he signed a full-time contract with the Blues on 11 September 2006. He scored on his debut v Limavady on the 30th, but subsequently was used mostly as a wide midfielder by David Jeffrey. He moved to Derry City following successful seasons at Linfield.

Derry City

Stewart signed for Stephen Kenny in June 2008 on a two and a half-year full-time contract. He made his debut in Sligo on 5 July.[1] Stewart scored on his home debut the following week.[2] He was the second opposition player to score at Tallaght Stadium in March 2009.[3] He had a productive couple of seasons at the Brandywell winning the FAI League Cup and playing and scoring in the UEFA Europa League.[4]

Shamrock Rovers

Despite agreeing terms with Carolina Railhawks in March 2010 [5] the player returned home to sign for Shamrock Rovers. He made his debut against University College Dublin A.F.C. on 2 April.[6] He scored Rovers' winner in the Europa League tie against Bnei Yehuda in July 2010 which set up the glamour tie against Italian giants Juventus.[7] Stewart proved to be a big game player and in the last league game of the 2010 League of Ireland season he scored on the night Rovers secured their 16th domestic crown.[8]

Partick Thistle

Stewart made his debut for Thistle in a home defeat against Falkirk F.C.. His first goal came in a 3–2 defeat away to Dundee F.C. on 30 April 2011.

Return to Rovers

In July 2012 Stewart signed back for The Hoops scoring 11 times the following 2013 season.[9]

Sacramento Republic

Stewart made the move to North America in 2014, signing with United Soccer League (3rd div.) club Sacramento Republic. In the 2014 season, he made 28 appearances and 17 starts in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and helping Sacramento to its first championship in its first-ever season.[10]

In 2015 Stewart scored 8 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions, including 3 goals in 17 league appearances. That year he became the first Northern Irish player to score a hat-trick in the U.S. Open Cup, scoring three against Sonoma County Sol.[10]

In 2016 Stewart scored 1 goal in 6 league starts for Sacramento with 2 assists.[11]

Ottawa Fury

Stewart was transferred to the NASL's Ottawa Fury on 12 July 2016.[12] Stewart scored 4 goals in 17 appearances, including 10 starts for Ottawa.

Dundalk

Stewart signed for Dundalk on 17 February 2017.[13]

Larne

Stewart joined Larne in January 2018 and helped the club to the Championship title in 2018/19. On 1 September 2019, it was announced that Larne and Stewart had mutually agreed to terminate his contract.

International

Stewart played for the Northern Ireland national under-19 football team in the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship finals that were hosted in Northern Ireland. He scored their only goal against Germany. Voted top 10 future players following the tournament. Stewart captained his national U21 team against Scotland in a 1–0 victory in which he scored in.

Honours

Linfield
Derry City
Shamrock Rovers
Sacramento Republic

References

  1. "Derry City v CSKA Sofia - The Brandywell - Extratime.ie - League of Ireland Fixtures". extratime.ie. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. "BBC Sport - Football - Ex-NI Under-21 striker Thomas Stewart signs for US club". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  3. "Shamrock Rovers 0 UCD 0". airtricityleague.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  4. "Bnei Yehuda 0-1 Shamrock Rovers (Agg 1-2) - RTÉ Sport". rte.ie. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  5. "Bray Wanderers 2:2 Rovers". shamrockrovers.ie. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  6. "Tommy Stewart signs". shamrockrovers.ie. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  7. "Sacramento profile". Sacramento Republic FC. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  8. "Sacramento Republic USL 2016 stats". USL. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  9. "Fury FC add another weapon to their attack". Ottawa Fury FC. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  10. "Dundalk sign Thomas Stewart". NewsTalk. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
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