Jordan Barrington Stewart (born 3 March 1982) is an English former professional

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 as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Stewart started his career at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, where he was relegated twice and once promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Whilst at Leicester he also spent a loan spell at

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. He joined

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in 2005, and was part of a side that won promotion to Premier League, before being subsequently relegated. He left the club in 2008 and subsequently signed for Derby. In March 2013 he signed a three-month contract with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

on a free transfer. He subsequently spent four seasons in the Major League Soccer with San Jose Earthquakes and one season in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

with Phoenix Rising.

Club career

Leicester City

Stewart started his career at

, signing professional terms in the summer of 1999. He made his debut for the club against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 22 January 2000. He made one more appearance for Leicester that season before being loaned to Division Two side

, for whom he made four appearances. Semi-regular appearances from the bench followed in the 2001–02 season, before he established himself as a member of the first-team in 2002–03, after the club's relegation to

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

. On 4 August 2002, Stewart scored the first goal at Leicester's new

Walkers Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

, in a friendly match with Athletic Bilbao. Leicester's return to the Premiership in 2003–04 saw fewer games for Stewart, although he did score a memorable goal against Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium in Leicester's 3–0 win in November 2003. Relegation again saw Stewart hold down a starting position in 2004–05.

Watford

Stewart became

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

's first signing for

, joining for £125,000 in July 2005. He started as Watford's first-choice left-back, but was dropped in October 2005 after a run of poor form. He retook the position from James Chambers in January, and started every game until he was dropped for the game against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

on 14 April 2006, after another run of poor form. However, he returned to the side as they went on to win the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

play-offs, playing all three games. He was the only player in Watford's squad to appear in every single match in 2005–06. Stewart was a first-team regular through the club's 2006–07 Premiership campaign. Pre-season press speculation linked Stewart with a move to Rangers, but no move came to fruition. Watford were relegated, and started their 2007–08 Championship season away at

. Stewart scored his first goal for the club, a deflected free-kick, to equalise in an eventual 2–1 win. Up to the end of 2007, he started every league game in the campaign. He scored his second goal for the club on his 26th birthday, in a 2–2 draw away at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. On 7 May 2008, Watford announced ahead of their play-off game with

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

that they had agreed to release Stewart early from his contract.

Derby County

On 30 May 2008, Stewart, along with former Watford teammate Nathan Ellington, signed for

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 ...

. He signed a three-year contract with the club, who had just been relegated from the

. Stewart started the 2008–09 season as second choice left back, behind

Jay McEveley James Michael "Jay" McEveley (born 11 February 1985) is a footballer who plays as a defender for Warrington Town. Born in Liverpool, he represented Everton at junior level before signing for Blackburn Rovers where he made his professional de ...

, but soon established himself as first choice. With McEveley joining Preston and Charlton on loan, he became an ever-present in the Derby side. Stewart scored his first goal for Derby in the 3–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, a stunning 30-yard strike. In his next home game, he scored another spectacular goal, this one coming against Preston. Once McEveley had returned from his loan spells at the end of January, he re-established himself as first choice left back and after Derby's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

defeat to Manchester United, Stewart only played one more game for the first team, against Charlton on 25 April. Even with McEveley suffering an injury that ruled him out for the season in early April, Stewart was unable to re-establish himself as

Lewin Nyatanga Lewin John Nyatanga (born 18 August 1988) is a Welsh former professional footballer who last played as a defender for League One club Northampton Town on loan from Barnsley. He previously played for Derby County and Bristol City, as well as ...

was preferred at left back.

Sheffield United

On the final day of the 2009 Summer transfer window, Stewart held talks with Sheffield United over a possible move to the Bramall Lane club. The deal was finalised later the same day, with Lee Hendrie moving in the opposite direction. Stewart made his début for the Blades a few days later in a 1–1 home draw against local rivals

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. Stewart was largely used as a substitute or as defensive cover for the remainder of the season, playing twenty three times for the Blades.

Skoda Xanthi

Failing to hold down a first team place at Sheffield United he was released from his contract and signed for Super League Greece side

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xa ...

in June 2010. Where he joined former teammate Nathan Ellington.

Millwall

Stewart signed a one-year deal with Football League Championship side

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

on 7 July 2011, after a week-long trial with the club, stating his wish to return from Greece to an English team.

Notts County

Stewart signed a short-term deal with Football League One side

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on 6 October 2012, and played later that day against table toppers

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

. He scored his first and only goal for the club in a

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

tie against former club

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Coventry City

In March 2013 Stewart signed a three-month contract with Football League One side

. Coventry manager Steven Pressley announced on 30 April 2013 that Stewart's contract would not be renewed. In total, Stewart made six appearances for the club.

San Jose Earthquakes

In July 2013, Stewart signed with Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes.

Phoenix Rising

Stewart moved to

side

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. History On March 13, 2014, Kyle Eng, owner of an advert ...

in February 2017.

Personal life

Stewart and his close friend and fellow footballer Joleon Lescott launched a clothing label together in 2012 named LescottStewart.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Jordan 1982 births Living people English footballers English expatriate footballers Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Leicester City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players San Jose Earthquakes players Phoenix Rising FC players Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate soccer players in the United States English Football League players Premier League players Super League Greece players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football defenders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States