Signing Info:
Transferred from: Warwickshire County, 05/1889, £
Previous Clubs:
Warwickshire County
Debut:
04/10/1890 v Higher Walton (North Road) 2-0 (FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round)
Farewell:
Transferred to Luton Town, 05/1895, £
Passed Away:
30/06/1945
Biography
Willie Stewart goes down as one of the greatest half-backs in Newton Heath's history - not bad for a player who spent the first part of his career playing up front. He was a marauding forward who could beat three or four opponents with ease, starting with his hometown outfit Coupar Angus, then Dundee Our Boys, followed by Warwick County, and even after arriving at North Road.
Stewart first donned Heath's colours at the end of 1888-89, and it was truly a baptism of fire: Heath, the champions of the Football Combination, versus the 'Invincibles' of Preston, champions of the Football League. Willie survived and was signed on permanently. His competitive debut was on September 21st, 1889, when he scored against Sunderland Albion in the Heathens' inaugural Football Alliance fixture.
It was a three-year competition in which he excelled, outplaying all other Heathens with 62 appearances, and claiming the club's first hat-trick. In all, Stewart missed just four matches, three of which came when he was suspended for two months in December 1889 for "veiled professionalism", having been 'turned in' by a peeved director at his ex-club, Warwick County.
Probably his most memorable game came on Christmas Day 1890 when Heath beat Belfast Distillery with a unique scoreline of 8-4, helped by five goals from Stewart! It was a surprise then that he was switched to centre-half in 1891-92, a campaign in which he often acted as captain in Bob McFarlane's absence.
Still, he continued to excel, playing in the club's first Football League match in 1892 and netting a hat-trick - from midfield - in the 10-1 hammering of Wolverhampton that still stands as the club's record league win. He also earned a Manchester Cup winners' medal in 1893.
Willie left the Heathens in 1895 after the test match loss to Stoke and hooked up with Luton Town, at a time when his teammates included former Heathens Coupar, Perrins and McCartney. Stewart was soon made captain, and he led Luton into the Football League. He served them until January 1900 - bar a year with Millwall Athletic - then played for Thames Ironworks (now West Ham) before returning to Dundee in December 1900 to finish his career and coach their reserves.
Willie was a great cricketer too, a batsman who exceeded a century on various occasions for Forfarshire. His sporting highlight was the day he played a trial game for Luton and notched two goals, then donned the pads and scored 152, before making his best break (44) at billiards in the evening! His daughter too was a decent athlete, Cissie Stewart was a silver medalist at the 1928 Olympics.
Willie lived in Dundee, at 54 Dudhope Street, and celebrated his golden wedding to his Mancunian wife in 1943, before passing away at Dundee Royal Infirmary two years later. Fact: Due to regular keeper James Warner missing his train to Stoke, William once played in goals for Heath conceding 7 times. It was reported in sporting life newspaper on Friday 7th October 1892 that Robert Donaldson was struck in the face by a hammer thrown by his team mate William Steward resulting in Donaldson falling down in-sensible. Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude.
