Cameron Stewart ⭑ From A-Z since '92
On the pitch, Cameron Stewart couldn't overcome events off it, either to save the fans' tired minds or his own disputed contract — an exercise in football as limbo.
This is part of my (eight year long, it'll fly by) attempt to write about every Leeds United player since 1992. For more about why I'm doing this, go back to Aapo Halme, and to read all the players so far, browse the archive here.
Cameron Stewart was signed in the first ten days of the January transfer window in 2014 to half-meet a need that United's chairman, Salem Patel, summed up in a tweet: '#wingers'. He had pedigree but, from a Leeds point of view, it was not all favourable. His Sunday league team, Fletcher Moss Rangers, sounds strong: Kyle Bartley left them for Arsenal, then Danny Welbeck went to Old Trafford, followed a year later by Stewart. In the tears since Wes Brown, Ravel Morrison and Marcus Rashford have come through there.
We could drop our interest in Stewart's story at this point, on a Champions League bench for a game at Wolfsburg alongside the chief executive's son, except that after a phone call from Luke Ayling — presumably set up by the Bartley connection — he got out of Manchester, on loan to Yeovil. Stewart was being realistic about prospects with his parent club, and watching the progress of Fraizer Campbell at Sunderland and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake at Wolves as examples to follow. He didn't stay long at Yeovil, but Hull City were impressed enough by his six appearances there to offer him a new loan on Humberside.
Stewart was 'five foot seven on his tiptoes and with the fresh-faced looks of a 14-year-old', according to the Hull Daily Mail. And he was 'terrorising' defences from the outset, laying on four assists in his first seven games as Championship full-backs down both sides struggled to cope with his pace, his tricks, his eye for a teammate. With just a few months left on his contract in Salford, Hull moved early and after two months paid £300,000 to sign him permanently in January 2011. In February, he ruptured his knee ligaments. When he came back, in November, he was soon back in manager Nigel Pearson's plans. But manager Nigel Pearson was soon heading to Leicester City.
Pearson stayed interested in Stewart and, wanting to add width to his Foxes in January, he had bids up to £1.5m knocked back. Realising Hull wouldn't let him go, Leicester switched targets, trying to prise Jimmy Kébé out of Brian McDermott's Reading instead. Hull manager Nick Barmby was making a big deal of Stewart's call up to England Under-21s, and Head of Football Operations Adam Pearson was saying he wasn't for sale at any price, but there was a shadow looming down the M62. New manager Steve Bruce gave Stewart a few games to impress him, then signed a whole bunch of new players and sent Stewart off on loan to Burnley, saying he needed to "build up his confidence". Stewart had been keen to go, but maybe too keen: Burnley's manager Eddie Howe was replaced by Sean Dyche and Stewart found himself, aged 21, being left out of two teams. This was not the Fraizer Campbell route to the top.