Former Huddersfield Town forward Marcus Stewart reveals why he left the club
The Terriers fans favourite has been speaking exclusively to the Examiner about his time in West Yorkshire
Marcus Stewart will be remembered affectionately byHuddersfield Town fans but his departure from the club will always be shrouded in mystery.
After impressing for hometown side Bristol Roversduring Town's 1994-95 Second Division Play-Off final win at Wembley, Stewart arrived in West Yorkshire in the summer of 1996.
The move from the Pirates saw Huddersfield smash their club record transfer fee with the forward going on to score 58 goals in 129 league appearances before being controversially sold to Division One rivals Ipswich Town for £2.5m in January 2000.
With 15 goals to his name by the end of that January, Town were flying high at the top of the table entering the final stages of the season under the managerial tutelage of Steve Bruce.
Many look back on his exit as the cause of the club's resultant loss of form, ultimately witnessing the side drop down the table and miss out on a Play-Off place, finishing 8th in the league.
While it was a case of 'what might have been' for Town, Stewart's goals helped propel the Tractor Boys to thePremier League via the aforementioned knock-out competition.
The forward crucially struck twice in his side’s 2-2 draw atBolton Wanderers during the Semi-Final first leg before grabbing another in the 4-2 Wembley Final win over Barnsley.
To this day, the now Bristol Rovers assistant manager is at a loss as to why he was allowed to leave the club for a promotion rival but insists he has no regrets on either his time in West Yorkshire or leaving.
Looking back on the events leading up to his departure to Portman Road, Marcus Stewart said: “I remember going into training as normal and being called into the manager's office.
“I go in, sit down and he (Steve Bruce) just turns round and says the club have accepted a bid from Ipswich for me and they are happy for me to go and speak to them.
“I was in complete shock – I was allowed to miss training to go home and process it all.
“I spoke to a couple of people and eventually came to the conclusion if both he and the club were prepared for me to go then I might as well go and talk to them.
“Steve could have got me into the office and said, 'listen, we've had a bid for you, I don't want you to go and you're staying with us' but that was never the case.
“It was a move I never went looking for - it was never a case of me going in and saying to Huddersfield – 'Ipswich have called me, can I go and talk to them?'
“I have no regrets about the move because at the end of the day I didn't instigate it.”
Once firing the Suffolk side to the top flight, Stewart continued to flourish gaining a plethora of plaudits for a superb goalscoring record which also helped the Tractor Boys qualify for the UEFA Cup in 2001.
“I never looked back – it ended up being the right decision, I ended up playing in the Premier League at the top level,” said Stewart.
“There's no loyalty in football and I have a saying, 'football never surprises me but often disappoints me'.”
“To this day I still don't know the reasons behind the move - I haven't spoken to Steve properly since then as to why it happened.
“I would have thought there was some sort of dialogue between him and the board for him to give me permission to speak to Ipswich.”
Until the current campaign, the 1999-2000 season has been affectionately remembered by Huddersfield Town fans as the best in recent history while Stewart went on to take in spells atSunderland, Bristol City, Preston North End, Yeovil Town and, lastly Exeter City before moving into coaching at Bristol Rovers.
And the now-44-year-old speaks with great affection on the two-and-a-half years he spent in West Yorkshire and the people he met.
READ MORE:Where you finish in the league means nothing in the Play-Offs, says Marcus Stewart“It was one of the best moves I have ever made - my first move away from Bristol opened me up to the big wide world,” added Stewart.
“The highlight was living around the city and being in that part of the country and getting to know the people there.
“I'm glad I moved there – I still visit the area quite a lot and have some fond memories of the place.”
