Greg Stewart (footballer)

Greg Alexander James Stewart (born 17 March 1990) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. He has previously played for Scottish clubs Cowdenbeath, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Kilmarnock, as well as for Birmingham City of the English Championship.

Greg Stewart
Stewart with Birmingham City in 2016
Personal information
Full name Greg Alexander James Stewart[1]
Date of birth (1990-03-17) 17 March 1990
Place of birth Stirling,[2] Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
Rangers
Number 24
Youth career
Rangers
2003–2006 Hearts
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Syngenta Amateurs
2010–2014 Cowdenbeath 119 (31)
2014–2016 Dundee 71 (22)
2016–2019 Birmingham City 21 (0)
2017–2018Aberdeen (loan) 30 (3)
2018–2019Kilmarnock (loan) 16 (8)
2019Aberdeen (loan) 15 (1)
2019– Rangers 18 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 December 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Stewart started his footballing career at Rangers' Academy and played there until he was 13. He then played in the Hearts youth system, but was released due to his height. He then trained with Falkirk and Stirling Albion for almost a year, before joining Syngenta Amateurs F.C. in 2007.[4]

Cowdenbeath

In July 2010, Stewart signed with Cowdenbeath of the Scottish First Division. He made his league debut on 7 August, in a 2–0 home loss against Ross County.[5] On 6 November, he scored his first professional goal.[6] He finished the season as the club's top scorer, with nine goals.

Dundee

On 7 April 2014, it was confirmed that Stewart had signed a pre-contract agreement with Dundee and would join the club upon the expiry of his Cowdenbeath contract.[7] He scored on his debut as Dundee beat Peterhead 4–0 in the first round of the Scottish League Cup on 2 August 2014.[8] In January 2015, he signed a new contract until 2017.[9] Stewart was named as SPFL Player of the Month for January 2015, after scoring five goals in seven matches during the month.[10] He was named as one of four players on the shortlist for the 2014–15 PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award,[11] and was nominated for a second consecutive season in April 2016.[12]

Stewart warms up before his Birmingham City home debut in August 2016

Having rejected an extension, Stewart began the last year of his Dundee contract with six goals in three League Cup matches, amid rumours linking him with a move to other SPFL clubs or to the English Championship.[13][14]

Birmingham City

On 12 August 2016, Stewart signed a three-year contract with Birmingham City;[2] the fee was officially undisclosed, but reported by the Dundee Evening Telegraph as an initial £500,000, potentially rising to more than £1 million.[15] Stewart made his debut as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw with Wigan Athletic on 16 August,[16] and continued off the bench until making what the Birmingham Mail dubbed a deserved first start in an unusually attacking lineup at home to Preston North End. His team came back from 2–0 down to draw, and Stewart's own performance was ineffective.[17] He had a run of four starts in December,[6] after Gianfranco Zola had replaced Gary Rowett as manager,[18] but ended the season as a fringe player, with 21 league appearances, of which 6 were in the starting eleven, without scoring.[6]

Loans

On 27 June 2017, Stewart signed for Aberdeen of the Scottish Premiership on loan for the 2017–18 season.[19] He made 34 appearances and scored three goals in all competitions for the club.[6] Stewart was loaned to Kilmarnock, also of the Scottish Premiership, in August 2018.[20] He scored on his debut after "a run from half way that ended with an exquisite chip over the goalkeeper" to clinch a 2–0 win away to his former club Aberdeen,[21] and scored again in his second match, albeit in a losing cause away to Hibernian.[22] Stewart scored eight goals in 16 appearances for Kilmarnock in the first part of the 2018–19 season, which helped them into third place in the league.[23]

Birmingham City opted to recall Stewart from his loan to Kilmarnock in January 2019,[23] and then loaned him to Aberdeen again, until the end of the season.[24] He went straight into the starting eleven for the following day's Scottish Cup match, played the whole match, and shot against the crossbar from 18 yards (16 m), as Aberdeen drew 1–1 at home to third-tier Stenhousemuir.[25] He ended the season with two goals from 20 appearances in all competitions (one from 15 in the league).[22]

Rangers

On 13 June 2019, Rangers announced that Stewart had joined the Scottish Premiership club on a two-year contract.[26] Stewart was a free agent with his contract at Birmingham City allowed to expire. He made his competitive debut for Rangers on 9 July 2019 in a 4–0 win over St Joseph's of Gibraltar in the first leg of the First Qualifying Round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.[27]

Career statistics

As of match played 29 November 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cowdenbeath 2010–11[6] Scottish First Division 32910104[lower-alpha 3]0389
2011–12[6] Scottish Second Division 29621101[lower-alpha 4]0337
2012–13[6] Scottish First Division 25513003[lower-alpha 4]0298
2013–14[6] Scottish Championship 331110215[lower-alpha 5]44116
Total 11931544113414140
Dundee 2014–15[28] Scottish Premiership 341320323915
2015–16[29] Scottish Premiership37942104211
2016–17[16] Scottish Premiership003636
Total 712262788432
Birmingham City 2016–17[16] EFL Championship21010220
2018–19[22] EFL Championship000000
Total 2101000220
Aberdeen (loan) 2017–18[6][30] Scottish Premiership30330104[lower-alpha 6]1384
Kilmarnock (loan) 2018–19[22] Scottish Premiership16800168
Aberdeen (loan) 2018–19[22] Scottish Premiership15151202
Rangers 2019–20[31] Scottish Premiership16320106[lower-alpha 6]0253
2020–21[32] Scottish Premiership2000101[lower-alpha 6]040
Total 183202070293
Career total 2906822714924535089
  1. Includes appearances in Scottish Cup and FA Cup
  2. Includes appearances in Scottish League Cup and EFL Cup
  3. Two appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup, two in play-offs
  4. Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
  5. One appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup, four appearances and four goals in play-offs
  6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

References

  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Birmingham City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 5. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. "Official: Greg Stewart signs for Blues". Birmingham City FC. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. "Greg Stewart". Aberdeen FC Heritage Trust. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  4. "Patience pays off for Stewart". Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). 25 March 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  5. "Cowdenbeath 0–2 Ross County". BBC Sport. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  6. "G. Stewart". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  7. "Greg Stewart signs pre-contract". Dundee FC. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  8. "Dundee 4–0 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  9. "Greg signs new deal". Dundee FC. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  10. "Dundee: Greg Stewart bags SPFL player of the month". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  11. "Dundee: Greg Stewart finds PFA award nomination 'surreal'". BBC Sport. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  12. Richardson, Andrew (27 April 2016). "Celtic, Aberdeen and Dundee players among nominees for PFA Scotland player of year". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  13. Mackenzie, Alasdair (12 August 2016). "Dundee forward Greg Stewart heads for Birmingham City medical after agreeing personal terms". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  14. Kennedy, Liam (6 July 2016). "Greg Stewart hints at imminent Dundee exit". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  15. Duthie, Tom (12 August 2016). "Greg Stewart heading to Birmingham to complete move from Dundee". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  16. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  17. Dick, Brian (28 September 2016). "Birmingham City analysis: Striking a balance; Reece's return; Greg's transition; Attacking riches". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  18. "'Absolute pleasure' for ex-Dundee man Stewart to work with Zola". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  19. "Greg Stewart: Aberdeen sign Birmingham City forward on season-long loan". BBC Sport. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  20. "Greg Stewart: Birmingham forward joins Kilmarnock on loan". BBC Sport. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  21. Davie, Scott (1 September 2018). "Aberdeen 0–2 Kilmarnock: Brophy and Stewart see off ten-man Dons". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  22. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  23. Lamont, Alasdair; McLauchlin, Brian (11 January 2019). "Greg Stewart: Kilmarnock forward recalled by Birmingham City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  24. "Greg Stewart joins Aberdeen". Birmingham City FC. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  25. Smith, Tyrone (19 January 2019). "Aberdeen 1–1 Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  26. "Greg Stewart: Forward joins Rangers on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  27. Duncan, Thomas (9 July 2019). "St Joseph's 0–4 Rangers: Steven Gerrard's team win Europa League qualifier". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  28. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  29. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  30. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  31. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  32. "Games played by Greg Stewart in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
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