Michael Stewart (footballer)

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For other persons named Michael Stewart, see Michael Stewart (disambiguation).

Personal information
Michael Stewart
Date of birth	February 26, 1981 (1981-02-26) (age 27)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	23
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999-2005 2000-2001 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2007 2007-	Manchester United → Royal Antwerp (loan) → Nottingham Forest (loan) → Hearts (loan) Hibernian Hearts	007 00(0) 013 00(0) 017 00(0) 054 00(2) 028 00(3)
National team²
2002	Scotland U21 Scotland	003 00(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 31, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 31, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Michael Stewart (born February 26, 1981 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player who currently plays for Heart of Midlothian as a midfielder. He is notable for having played for Hearts' Edinburgh rivals Hibs between his two spells with Hearts.

1 Club career
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Club career

As a highly-rated young player, Stewart was already training twice-weekly with Rangers while still at Craigmount High School.

[edit] Manchester United

Manchester United signed Stewart as a professional on March 13, 1998. He made his senior debut for the club on October 31, 2000 against Watford and his initial promise saw him rewarded with further opportunities, notably in the UEFA Champions League "dead-rubber" against Deportivo La Coruna. Stewart also gained three caps for Scotland under Berti Vogts. He struggled to maintain that standard however, and spent the next two years on disappointing loan spells, including one at Nottingham Forest.

[edit] Loan to Hearts

In the summer of 2004, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson intimated that Stewart had no future at the club and he was free to leave. Rangers initially showed interest but after a two week trial, no contract was offered. Stewart's lucrative contract was seen as a stumbling block to a transfer, as few other teams could remotely match it. A loan deal was reached with Stewart's boyhood favourites Hearts, with Stewart himself taking a substantial wage drop to facilitate the deal.

Stewart failed to match expectations and at the end of a season disrupted by injury, Hearts retracted an earlier contract offer.

[edit] Hibernian

Desperate for continuity and regular football, Stewart expressed his wish to stay in Edinburgh. He therefore signed for Hearts' rivals Hibernian after negotiating the end of his Manchester United contract.

After two seasons with Hibs, the club announced on April 19, 2007 that his contract would not be extended and he was free to leave the club.^[1] It had become apparent that Stewart did not have a good working relationship with the Hibs manager, John Collins.

[edit] Return to Hearts

On April 30, 2007, Stewart started a week's training with Roy Keane's Sunderland, but he did not earn a contract. On June 30, 2007, Hearts introduced Stewart as a new signing^[2], making him the only player since World War II to sign for Hearts, then Hibs and then return to Hearts.

Stewart scored his first SPL goal for Hearts against Aberdeen F.C. on August 12, 2007. He also scored a penalty for Hearts in the 4-2 win over league leaders Rangers at Tynecastle on September 15^[3].