Ross Stewart's route back into the Scotland picture has been built the hard way. The Southampton striker is on nine goals since January, has scored in a win over Arsenal and in Southampton's play-off semi-final victory over Middlesbrough, and now heads to Wembley with a place back in Steve Clarke's thinking for the World Cup squad.
How the junior-game spell changed him
Stewart's own account explains why the detour mattered. "When I went and played juniors, being in an adult environment, I really took to it and fell back in love with football, the camaraderie and the banter," he told bbc.co.uk. "You're not treated like a youth player, you're treated like an adult. I was playing well and scoring goals and just worked my way up the junior leagues, then got my chance to go back to the senior set-up."
That route was not straightforward. Kilwinning Rangers wanted £1,500 for Stewart, Albion Rovers could only pay £1,000, and his father Cameron covered the £500 shortfall. Stewart also had the Pollok episode hanging over that rise, breaking his nose in a match he described with his nose "pointing sideways" after the challenge.
Why Scotland are looking at him again
Steve Clarke did not hide why Stewart is back in the conversation. "From January onwards, he's had a rich vein of form where he's shown that he can score big goals in big games," Clarke said. "It's a good story. He was in my squad a few years ago, showing he can come up to this level. He's had a terrible run of injury. The Arsenal game in the cup, he shows he can have an impact in games of that level. The World Cup will be a very high level as well."
That is a fair read. Stewart has been capped twice for Scotland, but not since 2022, so this is not a case of an established international being rediscovered. It is a striker earning his way back in through form, with the numbers and the moments both doing the work. Ross Stewart has scored nine times since January, and the biggest of those came in matches that matter, not in dead rubber games.
He will finish the club season at Wembley in the Championship play-off final against Hull City. For a player who once needed his dad to cover a transfer shortfall and took the long road through junior football, that is a very different stage.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
