Ray Stewart (Scottish footballer)

Dundee United Stewart was born in Stanley, Perthshire. He played local football with Errol Rovers in the Dundee Sunday Boys' League before joining Dundee United in May 1973, turning down offers from other clubs, including Glasgow Rangers. He made his debut days before his 17th birthday against Celtic where, playing as a midfielder, he was tasked with marking Kenny Dalglish. He was voted SPFA Young Player of the Year in 1979. West Ham United After three seasons with Dundee United, he came to the attention of West Ham United. Turning down an initial bid of £175,000, he transferred to West Ham for a fee of £430,000 in 1979, making him the most expensive teenage footballer at the time. His first West Ham goal, a penalty, came on 29 September 1979 in a 2–1 home win against Burnley. The following season Stewart was a vital member of the team which won the 1980–81 Football League Division Two, playing 41 games and scoring five goals, all penalties. One of his penalties came in the 1–1 draw with Liverpool in the 1981 Football League Cup Final, West Ham however lost the replay. Stewart continued to be an important member of the West Ham side throughout the 1980s including scoring six goals, again all penalties, in their highest finish of third, in the Football League in 1985–86; a season in which he finished third highest scorer for West Ham behind Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. In 1989, with West Ham fighting a relegation battle, Stewart suffered a serious injury in the first half of a game in January against Derby County. He ruptured two of the four ligaments around his knee including the main anterior cruciate ligament. and just five in the West Ham side which won promotion from the 1990–91 Second Division. His last game came on 4 May 1991 in a 1–1 draw at Selhurst Park against Charlton Athletic In all of West Ham's three FA Cup triumphs, 1964, 1975 and 1980, he is also notable as the only non-English player to appear in any of the West Ham winning teams. St Johnstone In 1991, Stewart returned to Scotland to play for St Johnstone and, in 1994, briefly for Stirling Albion. ==International career==

Following his performances with newly promoted West Ham in the 1980–81 season, Stewart was called up by manager Jock Stein for Scotland making his debut on 15 May 1981 against Wales in Swansea. International goals :''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Stewart goal''. ==Managerial career==

In 1998, Stewart began his career as a manager, with spells at Livingston, Stirling Albion and Forfar Athletic. He was sacked in 2000 by Livingston as their directors believed he was not capable of guiding the club to the top tier of Scottish football. His two-season stint with Stirling Albion came to an end in 2002 when he was told his contract would not be renewed after Stirling had been relegated to the Third Division. His last managerial post, with Forfar Athletic, came to an end in November 2004 when he was sacked after a 5–1 first round Scottish Cup defeat by Montrose. ==Managerial statistics==