Marcus Stewart: Former striker who has MND says things ‘getting difficult’

Bristol-born Stewart featured in all top four tiers in England, scoring 254 goals in 783 games across his 20-year playing career.

He joined Yeovil’s coaching staff in June 2022 and three months later confirmed his MND diagnosis.

“It’s very difficult to clean my teeth, put my shoes on. It seems to have affected my right arm now as well as my left,” Stewart said.

“But it’s all about finding solutions for me, not having a problem. That’s what I’ve got to do every time it affects me in some sort of way.”

While football has been Stewart’s life for decades, he said so far he has not missed the sport, with much of his time being taken up preparing for an upcoming move with his family to Manchester.

“For the last 30-odd years I’ve always had this time of year off anyway, so it’s just normal for me,” he added.

“Give it a month or two when things have settled down and I’m in the house and I’m watching more football, I think that’s a question for then.

“At the moment there’s so many things going on in my life.”

Stewart added that having football in his life since his diagnosis has been a big help.

“I’m sure if I look back in two or three years’ time I’d realise that I needed that football environment to help with dealing with the diagnosis,” he said.

“And the support they’ve given me as a club, and the staff members, has been top class.”