Town legend Marcus Stewart has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
The 49-year-old, one of the scorers in the 2000 play-off final as George Burley’s Blues reached the Premier League before netting 19 times in the top flight the following season as Town finished fifth to qualify for Europe, underwent 12 months of tests prior to receiving his diagnosis.
In a statement released via the PFA, Stewart said: "I would like to take the opportunity to thank those closest to me for their unwavering support since my recent diagnosis.
"As I take the time to adjust, my intention is to continue to enjoy my work in football and spend time with my family.
"In the future, I would like to use my platform within football to help raise awareness around MND, but in the short-term, I would like to ask for privacy on behalf of myself and my family.”
Stewart and his wife Louise have set up a JustGiving page with all proceeds going to the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, which was started by Stephen Darby, the former Liverpool, Rochdale and Bradford full-back, who was diagnosed with MND in 2018.
Several fundraising events are already planned with Stewart's sons, Kian and Finley, who both play rugby union for Huddersfield RFU, set to run the Manchester Marathon and Louise, family and friends taking part in the London Winter Walk marathon.
Striker Stewart started his career with his hometown club Bristol Rovers, coincidentally making his debut and scoring against the Blues in a 3-3 draw at Twerton Park on the opening day of the 1991/92 season.
After five years with the Pirates, Stewart moved on to Huddersfield for a fee of £1.2 million before controversially being sold to Town for an initial £2.5 million in February 2000 at a time when the West Yorkshiremen were among the clubs vying with the Blues at the top of what was then League One, now the Championship.
Stewart scored on his debut, a 2-0 win at Barnsley, and then his home debut, a 2-1 victory over the Terriers less than two weeks after leaving them.
The frontman didn’t score again until the play-offs when he netted twice at Bolton the first leg of the semi-final to claw Town back into the tie having been two goals down, then headed the Blues’ third in the 4-2 victory over the Tykes at Wembley.
Stewart was the star of Town’s 2000/01 campaign as they finished fifth in the Premier League and reached the UEFA Cup, scoring 19 times in the league plus two more in cups, and was understood to have been close to an England call-up.
After an injury-hit 2001/02 season in which the Blues were relegated, Stewart moved on to Sunderland for a fee believed to be £650,000 at the start of the following season. In total, he scored 37 times for Town in 81 starts and 12 sub appearances.
Spells with Bristol City, Preston (loan), Yeovil and Exeter followed with Stewart moving into coaching while with the Grecians. Over his playing career, he made 783 senior appearances and scored 254 goals.
After stints on the staff back at Bristol Rovers and then Walsall, Stewart is currently working as head of player development at Yeovil, a role he started in June.
For more information on MND, visit the MND Association.