Arthur Stewart (13 January 1942 – 3 March 2018) was a Northern Ireland international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played with, among others,

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, he won seven full international caps for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

as well as five amateur caps and five inter-league caps for the Irish League. Stewart joined Glentoran from Ballymena as a teenager in 1961, and became part of one of the most successful Glentoran teams in the mid- and late sixties, winning the Gold Cup in 1963, the Irish League championship in 1964 and the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

in 1965. In 1966–67 Stewart was part of the team which won the

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs. History Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-of ...

, Gold Cup,

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

and League championship. At the end of the season, he won his first cap for Northern Ireland in a 0–0 draw with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He was part of the famous Detroit Cougars team which was the name given to Glentoran in the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

championship in the summer of 1967. In December of the next season, he transferred to Derby County in the English Second Division. After two-and-a-half seasons he returned to Northern Ireland to rejoin Ballymena in August 1970. He was appointed player-manager in 1971 and won the City Cup in his first season in charge: Ballymena's first trophy for eleven years. He earned the

Ulster Footballer of the Year The Ulster Footballer of the Year is the older of two association football player of the year awards in Northern Ireland. (The other is the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association award.) It is awarded by Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters ...

title in 1973/74 as Ballymena pushed close for honours, only to lose out to

Ards Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...

in both the Irish Cup and

Blaxnit Cup The Blaxnit Cup, is a defunct club football competition which featured teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland, in a similar format to the later Setanta Cup. It was inaugurated in 1967 as a cross-border competition between c ...

finals. Over the next few seasons success was limited to the Gold Cup, with a win in 1974 and a final defeat by Coleraine in 1975 preceding Stewart's departure early in 1976. In March 1976, Stewart signed as a player with

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

, but departed for a lucrative five-month spell in the American Soccer League with New Jersey Americans. He returned to the Irish League early in the 1976–77 season, taking in brief spells with Bangor and

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

before he accepted a return to Glentoran as player-manager in May 1977. Stewart's role as both experienced tactician and seasoned player aided Glentoran to some early successes. They embarked on a European Cup campaign which would take them past Icelandic side Valur and within a whisker of a famous draw with Juventus. The Gold Cup was won again, but the League title lost to Linfield. In December 1978, Stewart resigned as Glentoran manager to take the over as head coach at New Jersey Americans. He returned to Northern Ireland as manager of

Ballyclare Comrades Ballyclare Comrades Football Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club hails from Ballyclare, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Dixon Park. Club colours are red and white. The ...

in 1981 and later managed Ballymoney United.Ballymena Times, 30 October 2007
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References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Arthur 1942 births 2018 deaths Association footballers from Northern Ireland Detroit Cougars (soccer) players Northern Ireland international footballers Ulster Footballers of the Year Glentoran F.C. players Glentoran F.C. managers Derby County F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. managers Bangor F.C. players Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players New Jersey Americans (ASL) players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Expatriate association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States Ballymoney United F.C. managers Ballyclare Comrades F.C. managers United Soccer Association players Association football wing halves Sportspeople from Ballymena Football managers from Northern Ireland