There are easier ways into professional football than getting sparked out at a junior ground in Ayrshire with blood pouring from a broken nose and the terraces hurling abuse in your direction. Ross Stewart has done it the hard way, and this week that journey reached two remarkable staging posts at once — a place in Scotland's World Cup squad and a Championship play-off final with Southampton.

Discarded, then remade

Stewart's path to prominence began with disappointment. Released after spells in the youth setups at St Mirren, Celtic and Partick Thistle, the Ayrshireman dropped into the Scottish juniors — a semi-professional environment governed separately from the SFA, where teenage prospects rub shoulders with seasoned veterans well into their forties. It is fiercely competitive and entirely unforgiving, and it is precisely what Stewart needed.

"When I went and played juniors, being in an adult environment, I really took to it and fell back in love with football," Stewart told BBC Scotland in 2022. "You're not treated like a youth player, you're treated like an adult."

Playing for Ardeer Thistle and then Kilwinning Rangers, the then-18-year-old rediscovered both his form and his appetite for the game. One match against Pollok left him with a nose pointing sideways and a scar he still carries. There was no sympathy forthcoming from the terraces. He got up and got on with it.

Dad paid the transfer fee

His performances at Kilwinning eventually attracted interest from SPFL third-tier side Albion Rovers — but the deal almost fell apart over a £500 shortfall. Kilwinning were asking £1,500; Rovers could only stretch to £1,000. Stewart's father, Cameron — a former junior sweeper himself — quietly made up the difference. It is, by any measure, the most profitable £500 ever spent in Scottish football.

"Dad says me living out my dreams is enough for him," Stewart has said. "I've got a lot to thank him for." The striker jokes that the return on investment has come in the form of complimentary match tickets, though the value of that asset has risen considerably since those Rovers days.

Sunderland cult hero, Southampton resurrection

From Albion Rovers, Stewart worked his way up through St Mirren and Ross County before making the move south to Sunderland, where his goals drove the club out of League One and into the Championship. The Stadium of Light faithful named him 'The Loch Ness Drogba' — an affectionate tribute that captures both his physicality and his cult status on Wearside.

Southampton signed him in 2023, but a punishing run of injuries disrupted what should have been a natural next step. The Saints were relegated from the Premier League, and Stewart spent much of his time at the club fighting to get fit rather than firing them forward.

Since January, though, the goals have come. Nine in total, including a strike against Arsenal in an FA Cup quarter-final victory and a crucial effort in the play-off semi-final second leg against Middlesbrough that helped send Southampton through to the final. His 33 appearances this season represent his most in a campaign since 2021-22 — a marker of the physical resilience it has taken to get here.

World Cup call-up completes the picture

Scotland manager Steve Clarke named Stewart in his World Cup squad this week, rewarding a forward who has turned a late-blooming club career into an international one. The noises out of the Scotland camp suggest Clarke values him as exactly the kind of big-game contributor his record at Southampton this term confirms him to be.

First, though, there is the small matter of a Championship play-off final — and the possibility of top-flight football returning to St Mary's. For a striker who once needed his father to pay a £500 transfer fee to keep his career alive, that would be some story.

Frequently asked

Who is Ross Stewart and what club does he play for?
Ross Stewart is a 29-year-old Scottish striker currently playing for Southampton in the EFL Championship. He previously played for Sunderland, Ross County, St Mirren and Albion Rovers, as well as junior clubs Ardeer Thistle and Kilwinning Rangers.
Has Ross Stewart been called up to the Scotland World Cup squad?
Yes. Scotland manager Steve Clarke named Stewart in his World Cup squad after the striker scored nine goals for Southampton from January onwards, including strikes against Arsenal in the FA Cup and against Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off semi-final.
What are the Scottish juniors and why did Ross Stewart play there?
The Scottish juniors are a semi-professional league structure with their own governing body separate from the Scottish FA. Stewart dropped into that level after being released by St Mirren, Celtic and Partick Thistle, using it to rebuild his confidence and form before earning a return to senior football with Albion Rovers.