Cameron Stewart (footballer)

Cameron Reece Stewart (born 8 April 1991) is an English professional footballer who is currently a free agent following his release from Ipswich Town. He has been played primarily as a winger, but he can also play as a forward.
He began his career with Manchester United but was unable to break into the first-team, and after loan spells with Yeovil Town and Hull City, he joined Hull permanently in 2011. After a year at Hull, he fell out of favour and went on successive loan spells to Burnley, Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic and Leeds United. He was due to join Leeds permanently at the end of his Hull contract in July 2014, but the transfer was cancelled and he joined Ipswich Town instead. During his time with Ipswich, Stewart had loan spells with Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers before leaving Ipswich in 2016 after just two FA Cup appearances for the club. He has also represented England at under-17, under-19 and under-20 level.

Manchester United

Born in Manchester, Stewart began his football career with Manchester United and signed as a trainee in 2007. After working his way up through the youth and reserve teams, he was promoted to the first-team in December 2009. He joined the squad for the UEFA Champions League match away to Wolfsburg, but was named as an unused substitute.

In July 2010, Stewart joined Yeovil Town on a six-month loan, and he made his league debut against Leyton Orient on the first day of the 2010–11 season. After an unsuccessful loan spell, Stewart returned to Manchester United, making only 5 appearances for Yeovil Town.

Hull City

On 25 November 2010, Stewart joined Hull City of the Championship on loan until 4 January 2011. He made his debut for the club on 27 November 2010 in a 2–2 draw away at Middlesbrough. Hull City extended his loan until the end of the season after a string of good displays. On 31 January 2011, Stewart signed for Hull City on a permanent basis, with a fee believed to be in the region of around £300,000. Stewart continued his impressive form, making dangerous runs down the left flank. On 19 February 2011 against Ipswich Town, Stewart suffered cruciate ligament damage which ruled him out for the remainder of the season and the start of the 2011–12 season.

After spending over nine months on the sidelines, Stewart returned to first team action, and on 19 November 2011 against Derby County at Pride Park Stewart broke free down the left, cut inside, tricked two Derby defenders before smashing the ball into the net via a slight deflection off Jason Shackell. It was his first goal in senior football. He scored his second goal for Hull City in a 3–1 win at home to Ipswich Town in the FA Cup on 7 January 2012. Following some good performances after his comeback from injury, Stewart was subject to a bid from Leicester City, understood to be £1.5 million, which was rejected, with Hull warning that the winger was "not for sale". after heavy speculation, Stewart remained at Hull and played frequently for the rest of the season under then-manager Nick Barmby.

After a few appearances for Hull under manager Steve Bruce, new signings meant Stewart's opportunities at the club became limited, and he joined Burnley on loan on August transfer deadline day 2012. After starting two out of three of his first games at Burnley, his appearances became increasingly limited, with Hull manager Bruce commenting, "Looking at the way things are, he's probably going to come back to us in January and we'll see where things go. It's been disappointing for all parties. He went out to play games with Burnley and that's just not happened for him" to local radio in December 2012. Upon returning to Hull in January, Stewart started for the Tigers in an FA Cup tie against Leyton Orient on 5 January, playing on the wing. After the game, Hull manager Bruce was critical of Stewart's match fitness. On 1 March 2013 Stewart joined Blackburn Rovers on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 season. He made his debut as a second-half substitute for Danny Murphy in the home loss to Peterborough United on 2 March 2013. After Hull City's promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2012–13 season, Stewart was strongly linked with a move to Scottish Premier League club Celtic.

Charlton Athletic loan

On transfer deadline day, 2 September 2013, Stewart moved on loan to Charlton Athletic until January 2014. He made his Charlton debut on 17 September 2013, scoring a goal in the clubs 2–1 away defeat at Huddersfield Town, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Richard Wood. He made his second appearance for the club, again coming on as a substitute, in a 0–1 home defeat to South London rivals Millwall. He made his first start on 28 September 2013 against his former club Burnley, playing 83 minutes in a 3–0 away defeat, substituted 12 minutes from full-time for Yann Kermorgant. In Charlton's following two fixtures, Stewart was dropped back down to the substitutes bench. On 1 October 2013, he was an unused substitute in Charlton's 1–1 home draw with Nottingham Forest. Four days later, he came on as a 76th-minute substitute for Simon Church in Charlton's 0–0 draw at home to Blackpool. On 9 November 2013, Stewart scored a volley from distance in a 4–2 defeat against Leeds United. After returning to his parent club, Hull manager Steve Bruce confirmed on 2 January 2014 that both Charlton Athletic and Leeds United were interested in signing Stewart.

Leeds United loan

On 9 January, Stewart signed an initial three-month emergency loan at Leeds United with a permanent deal on a three-year contract starting at the end of the 2013–14 season. This is due to FIFA rules that prevent Stewart signing a permanent contract at a club after already representing two other clubs Hull City and Charlton Athletic in the 2013–14 season already. He was given the squad number 28.

Stewart made his Leeds debut on 11 January, starting the game in a 6–0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday. After making 11 appearances during his loan spell, with a permanent move on a 3-year contract set to commence on 1 July 2014, it was revealed on 10 June, that Leeds were looking into cancelling the permanent transfer before the 1 July contract start date, with Leeds now under the new ownership of Massimo Cellino. On 1 July, Stewart's permanent move to Leeds was cancelled and he became a free agent.

Ipswich Town

Having left Hull City, Stewart was free to sign for another club. On 1 July, he joined Ipswich Town on a three-year contract. Just before the beginning of the 2014–15 season, Stewart broke his jaw forcing him to be out of action for the first 6 weeks of the campaign. Stewart made his debut for Ipswich as a substitute in the 62nd minute against Southampton in the FA Cup, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 31 August 2016, Stewart was released by the club after making just two FA Cup appearances since joining.

Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers loans

On 21 March 2015, Stewart agreed to join Barnsley on loan. He made four appearances before returning to Ipswich. On 28 August 2015 Stewart joined Doncaster Rovers till 2 January. He made his début the following day as a substitute in a 2–0 win over Fleetwood Town. In December 2015 Mick McCarthy told the Sudbury Mercury: “Take his (Stewart’s) appearance record since he’s been here, he’s not going to play. He’s got to go somewhere else.” On 14 January 2016 Stewart extended his loan to the end of the season. On 16 January 2016 Stewart landed on his head during a match against Gillingham. Stewart was taken to hospital but later discharged with whiplash.

Stewart represented England at under-17, under-19 and under-20 international levels. As his family are from Glasgow, he is also eligible to play for Scotland.

As of 4 March 2016