182: Marcus Stewart, Ipswich Town, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2001 Official Sticker Collection

William Shakespeare is believed to have invented nearly 1700 words in the English language as well as some of its most commonly used phrases. It’s neither here nor there and you’d be up in arms if I listed them all here and, anyway, that way madness lies. Whilst it would be unwise to compare football punditry to the work of the immortal bard it is fair to say that the beautiful game has provided the English language with a plethora of phrases that have gone into everyday parlance. Commentators and pundits, not to mention managers and players, have given us such gems as ‘a game of two halves’, ‘taking it one game at a time’ and ‘second season syndrome’ in order to describe a range of situations both on and off the pitch.

That is not to say that all pundits are gifted with the greatest turn of phrase. Former striker Michael Owen is perhaps one of the worst offenders when it comes to breaking cricketing legend Richie Benaud’s golden commentary rule of keeping quiet unless you can add to the picture. During his tenure with BT Sport Owen has shared such pearls of wisdom as “when they don’t score they hardly ever win” and “whichever team scores more goals usually wins”. And to think we started with Shakespeare.

But it is on these insights from Michael Owen that we come to Marcus Stewart. In the 2000/01 Premier League season newly promoted Ipswich Town defied expectations and finished fifth in the table, only four points off runners-up Arsenal, and qualified for the following season’s UEFA Cup. This success owed much to the goals of striker Marcus Stewart who scored 21 times in all competitions as Ipswich married their league success with a run to the semi-final of the League Cup. Stewart was beaten to the Golden Boot award by Chelsea’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink but established himself as a respected Premier League goal scorer and, despite losing goalkeeper Richard Wright to Arsenal at the end of the season, Ipswich fans had every reason to look forward to the 2001/02 season with optimism.

To return to our footballing phrases, Ipswich Town’s performance in the 2001/02 season was the epitome of ‘second season syndrome’. They won just once in the league before mid-December, against fellow strugglers Derby County, and, despite a good run of form at the turn of 2002, were relegated to the First Division. Their foray into Europe saw them reach the third round of the UEFA Cup before they were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by Internazionale. Stewart acquitted himself reasonably well but, like his club, failed to reach the dizzying heights of the year before and finished the season with ten goals to his name before departing for Sunderland.

Unfortunately, Stewart suffered the indignity of back-to-back relegations as Sunderland crashed out of the Premier League with a dismal 19 points and only four wins to their name. Stewart contributed only five goals throughout the season with just one in the Premier League. To his credit he stuck around for the next two seasons to help Sunderland return to the Premier League, contributing 26 goals in doing so, but, at the age of 33, decided he was now too old to play in the top division and moved to Bristol City in 2005 – a brave move for a former Bristol Rovers’ player. After stints with Yeovil Town and Exeter City he retired in 2011.

To label Marcus Stewart a one-season wonder would be unfair to a man who scored nearly two hundred goals in his career but his, and Ipswich’s, incredible 2000/01 season was undoubtedly his greatest achievement. While he never recreated these “salad days” at the highest level, Stewart did temporarily crack the Premier League’s glass ceiling and gave all newly promoted clubs with a half-decent striker the belief that “meaner creatures could be kings”. However, Michael Owen might have had a point as, when Stewart stopped scoring, Ipswich hardly ever won.