Stewart Castledine (born 22 January 1973) 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 le ...

, actor, model and television presenter. As a footballer, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

before playing with Wycombe Wanderers in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

over two separate spells. Castledine made 28 league top flight appearances for the Dons. Following retirement he worked as a TV presenter for the BBC and presented ''Big Strong Boys'' and ''Houses Behaving Badly''. He also worked as a model for

DKNY DKNY is a New York City–based fashion house for men and women, founded in 1984 by Donna Karan. History Karan worked for 15 years at Anne Klein, including 10 as its head designer. In 1984 Karan and her late husband Stephan Weiss were offered t ...

and

Topman Topman is a UK-based multinational men's fashion retail brand founded by Burton Group (later renamed Arcadia Group) in 1978. Along with its women's clothing counterpart Topshop and the rest of Arcadia Group, Topman went into administration i ...

and had a role as an actor in the film Pink Panther.

Playing career

Educated at Teddington School, Castledine had a ten-year career as a professional footballer, playing in the Premier League for

and in Division 1 for Wycombe Wanderers. He began his career with Wimbledon as an apprentice in 1989, turning professional for the 1991-92 season and making his debut in the old

Football League First Division 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 ...

against Norwich City in a 1–1 draw on 25 April 1992. He then scored in his full debut against Coventry City, went on score further Premier League goals against Everton and Leeds, and remained with the Dons in the Premier League for a further eight years, although he was never a regular member of the first team. During that time he played in matches against Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool amongst others. He also had a loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers in the 1995-96 season, scoring three goals in seven Division Two games, and finally left the Dons on 7 July 2000. His departure coincided with Wimbledon's relegation from the Premier League after 14 years of top flight football. He then signed for Wycombe Wanderers, making 22 appearances over the next two seasons before finally retiring as a player at the age of 29. While at

Adams Park Adams Park is an association football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Built in 1990, it is the home ground of the local Wycombe Wanderers in League One. It was also leased from 2002 to 2014 to the rugby union club London Was ...

, he played under his old Wimbledon teammate Lawrie Sanchez, who was Wycombe manager.

Post-playing career

Immediately after his football career, Castledine become a television presenter, hosting BBC One's ''Big Strong Boys'' and ''Houses Behaving Badly''. He also modelled for companies such as

and

. Along with modelling Castledine had some time in the film industry with films such as Pink Panther starring him to be a French goalkeeper. Castledine then moved into the business sector of sport. He was director of football for Soccerex, and a director for sports marketing agency Sports Revolution. Castledine is now commercial director for the sports division of talent management agency James Grant. He later coached

AFC Wimbledon Ladies AFC Wimbledon Women are a women's football team from London. The team currently competes in the . The club was founded after the ladies team representing Wimbledon F.C. decided to transfer to AFC Wimbledon, after the old club's relocation. Th ...

Personal life

He is married to TV presenter

Lucy Alexander Lucy Alexander (born 3 April 1970) is an English television presenter, known for appearing on the BBC One property show ''Homes Under the Hammer''. Early life Alexander was born in East Dulwich, London. She graduated from the London Studio Cen ...

; the couple have two children,

Leo Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

, who is a footballer for Chelsea and ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' actress Kitty, having also played for

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

. He has two sisters, Jenny and Ellen. His brother-in-law (Ian Claxton married to his youngest sister, Ellen)is from a rugby background with his father, Terrence Claxton playing rugby for Harlequins in the late 70’s, early 80’s with his brothers, Mickey and Gary.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castledine, Stewart 1973 births Living people English men's footballers Wimbledon F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Wandsworth