Marcus Stewart on living with MND: 'You ask yourself, why me?'

Former Ipswich and Sunderland striker on dealing with motor neurone disease and his emotions as he prepares for fund-raising match

DIAGNOSIS: Marcus Stewart during a pre-match warm up during his stint as Bristol Rovers assistant manager in 2017. Stewart was diagnosed with MND in 2022. Pic: Pete Norton/Getty Images

Marcus Stewart hops off his electric scooter and a couple of minutes later, in the corner of a restaurant a few miles outside Bristol, he is talking about how his workout routine has changed. Stewart, whose left foot fired Ipswich into Europe, has lost grip in his left hand since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year. “I went on the bike this morning, but only indoors; I was on Zwift. I don’t have to brake, so it’s pretty good,” he says, smiling.

Stewart, who grew up in south Bristol, made his name across town at Rovers before fruitful spells at Huddersfield, Ipswich and Sunderland. He will return to the Memorial Stadium, where he also coached, for a charity match on Saturday to raise funds for the Darby Rimmer Foundation, which was set up after the former Liverpool and Bradford defender Stephen Darby was diagnosed with MND in 2018. So far Stewart and his wife, Louise, family, friends and countless supporters have raised more than £160,000 in the fight against the degenerative condition.