Darren Stewart (17 May 1966 – 18 October 2018) was an Australian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. He was an

Australia national football team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia ...

player and was named Australian Player of the Year in 1993.

Life and career

A defender, Stewart was a former notable player for

APIA Leichhardt APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed ...

Newcastle Breakers Newcastle Breakers FC are a defunct Australian football (soccer) club. Formed out of elements of the Newcastle Austral club, they participated in the National Soccer League from season 1991/1992, until their dissolution in 1999/2000. The club fare ...

and

Johor FA Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club II (; ms, Kelab Bolasepak Johor Darul Ta'zim II) or simply JDT II is a Malaysian football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor. The club currently plays in the Malaysia Premier League, the second division profess ...

where he captained and won the

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

in 1998. Stewart was an

player from 1991 to 1993. He moved to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in 1999, where he played for

Balestier Central FC Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest football club in the country. History Tracing their origins all th ...

from 1999 to 2002. In 2002, he retired from playing football. He was the assistant manager for

Balestier Khalsa FC Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a Singaporean professional association football, football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest Football in Singapore, football club in Singap ...

Prime League The Prime League was the reserve and youth team soccer league of Singapore's S.League. Teams involved in the league are primarily made up of youth players from the S.League clubs. The Prime League was founded in 1997. S.League clubs are required ...

team in 2003 and assistant manager for the

Geylang United FC Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

team in 2004–2005. He lived in Singapore where he coached and managed the Elias Park Football Club and was a coach for Little League Pte Ltd. Stewart was named as head coach for

Gombak United FC Gombak United Football Club was a professional Football (soccer), football club which competed in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was based in Bukit Gombak. During the early years of the S. League, Gombak Unite ...

at the start of the 2009

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

season. He joined the club as a technical analyst in late 2008. In January 2012, Stewart was confirmed as Balestier Khalsa's head coach for the season 2012 S.League campaign. His time at Balestier were successful, as he guided the club to win the

2013 Singapore League Cup The 2013 Singapore League Cup (known as the Starhub League Cup for sponsorship purposes) is a cup competition played in the month of June 2013. The draw for the Cup was held on Sunday, 12 May 2013 at the Football Association of Singapore's headq ...

and 6th and 4th placings in the 2012 and 2013 league seasons respectively, the best positions by the club since merging from Balestier Central and

Clementi Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a Singaporean professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of ...

. However his contract was not renewed at the end of 2013. Stewart was then contracted to Woodlands Wellington F.C. at the start of 2014. Initially Stewart were successful, with 5-game unbeaten streak in the league and interest from hometown club Newcastle United Jets F.C. to be their head coach, which Stewart turns down to stay with the Singapore club. But after a string of poor results, culminating in a 7–1 thrashing at the hands of

Albirex Niigata Singapore Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a Singaporean football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan. History Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellite ...

in June, Stewart resigned from his position at the club. In July 2016, Stewart was appointed head coach of the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

national team. Stewart died in Singapore on 18 October 2018 at the age of 52.

References

External links

* 1966 births 2018 deaths Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players Expatriate footballers in Malaysia APIA Leichhardt FC players Blacktown City FC players Balestier Khalsa FC players Singapore Premier League head coaches Balestier Khalsa FC head coaches Woodlands Wellington FC head coaches Gombak United FC head coaches Maldives national football team managers Association football defenders Australian soccer coaches Newcastle Breakers FC players Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales Australian expatriate soccer coaches {{Australia-footybio-stub