Blues legend Marcus Stewart was back at Portman Road yesterday and spoke to BBC Radio Suffolk’s Life’s a Pitch ahead of the game against Plymouth Argyle about his motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis, his time as a Town player and his thoughts on the current team.
Stewart, whose only previous return to Portman Road since his 2002 departure was as a Sunderland player two years later, was given a rapturous reception by his old fans when he made his way to the dugout to speak to Simon Milton on the PA at half-time.
The 50-year-old received his diagnosis in September and has subsequently raised more than £42,500 for MND charity the Darby Rimmer Foundation with Town doing their part by launching a range of Stewart accessories including replicas of the iconic gloves he wore during his hugely successful spell at the club.
"Firstly, the support from all over the country has been overwhelming,” Stewart said in a lengthy interview with Mark Murphy (3hrs 12mins 34secs). "That’s continued from all my clubs.
"Obviously Ipswich have done what they’ve done with the gloves and the range of clothes with the money from the gloves going to the Darby Rimmer Foundation.
"I’m in pretty good shape really. I consider myself lucky. I’ve only got problems with my left arm and my grip in my left hand where I can’t really pick anything up with it.
"They’re my only symptoms at the moment along with twitches around my body, mostly in my left and right arm and my torso, really. But those twitches don’t keep me awake at night like they do a lot of what I’d call MND fighters.
"That’s all I’ve got. My twitches are quite mild compared with other MND fighters, so I’m in pretty good shape, and long may that continue. The symptoms seem to be quite slow and let’s hope it stays that way.”
Stewart, 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, says he first noticed symptoms when in the gym.
"In lockdown, in three or four workouts over the course of three or four weeks I was doing pull-ups and my hand came off the pull-up bar and I was struggling to pick a dumbbell up with my left,” he said. "And my left hand is my dominant one, I’m left-handed and left-footed.
"Something just wasn’t quite right and I remember looking down at my hand when I was watching TV one night and was about the turn the TV over to a different channel and it looked a bit skinny, like it had lost a bit of muscle mass.
"And then I looked at my arm and my arm was the same, just very skinny. And just went on from there really. It took a long time.
"Once it was confirmed that it was MND, it was a pretty tough week, but since then I’ve just got on with life and living life normally, and thinking normally, doing things normally.
"Obviously I’ve got to adapt a bit when it comes to my left hand and gripping things and using my left arm but I can still use it, it probably has 10 per cent of the strength that it used to have.”
The Bristolian says he’s sought to maintain a positive outlook but admits there are occasions when that’s not easy.
"It was a shock, I must admit,” he said of being given the diagnosis. "Telling family is the toughest thing to do. I’m more concerned about them, to be honest with you, than I am about myself, but that’s just how I am.
"I’m pretty strong psychologically and I’m just getting on with it now for them. In a way, of course they’re concerned about me, but I don’t want anyone to be sad around me.
"That’s simple, it’s not something to be sad about, you’ve got to embrace it, adapt and move on and get on with it. That’s how I want to be and that’s what I’ve said to people.
"We’re going to have moments when we’re going to be sat down and you might get a bit teary but that very rarely happens. If someone starts crying in front of me, I’ll have a go at them, ‘What are you crying for? Just get on with it’.
"That’s just how I am. There are moments when I have a little cry myself, that’s just going to happen when you’re sat there in your own thoughts and feelings get on top of you, you’ve had a tough week, people are always messaging you or people want to do things fund-raising-wise and I don’t even know them.
"It can be overwhelming at times, so I have to control my emotions quite a lot. But there are times when it gets on top of you but those times are very, very rare.”
Stewart believes Town are making great strides under manager Kieran McKenna and sees parallels with his signing at around this stage of the 1999/00 promotion campaign and fellow frontmen George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead joining the Blues this week.
"The club is certainly going in the right direction,” he added. "They’re in League One but hopefully next year it’ll be in the Championship.
"Kieran’s got his recruitment right so far along with the players he’s kept on from previous managers, so only time will tell whether these players are the right ones or not, but they’ve got a great opportunity now to go and make themselves heroes.
"I came in at this sort of time back in 2000. Those guys that have come in, the two strikers, they’ll understand what kind of pressure’s on them as soon as they see the crowd and when they see what type of crowd the club can potentially get every week when they’re in the top half of the table in whatever league, those guys will understand what type of club they’re playing for.
"All I hope is that they don’t get injured, they hit the ground running, they get a goal in the first two or three games. Every striker likes to do that, it settles the nerves and it makes you get a welcome at the club. It helps the lads accept you a bit more when you start scoring goals early.”
Asked if he has a message for his old fans, Stewart said: "Thank you for your support. Not just for what you’ve done with the Darby Rimmer Foundation or to those that have bought the gloves or donated to any MND charity, but for the past. Great times. Loved it. And I appreciate it.”