I wasn’t even going to ask Marcus.
Making an attempt to influence him to surrender his time and exit of his method to do a Sky Sports activities interview a few Premier League season greater than 20 years prior to now simply did not appear proper.
Not when two years in the past he obtained nearly essentially the most devastating information you’ll be able to think about. He has Motor Neurone Illness.
The merciless, relentless sickness that, lately, we have seen Rob Burrow, Doddie Weir and much too many others struggle so bravely. One which claims greater than 2,000 lives on this nation yearly.
However I used to be incorrect. Fully incorrect. Leaving him out would have been the error. He’d have seen it on Sky and would have identified he was neglected as a result of he was unwell. It was my job to ask, and his choice whether or not to say sure or no.
He mentioned sure.
And so right here he’s, strolling across the aspect of the pitch at Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium, one other of his former golf equipment and never too removed from dwelling, to do the interview.
I ought to say at this stage – the interview is for a function being broadcast this Sunday forward of Ipswich vs Aston Villa.
A chunk on the astonishing Ipswich aspect of 2000/01 who got here up through the play-offs and inside a whisker of Champions League soccer.
Marcus, if you do not know, was the workforce’s star striker and completed that season second solely to Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink within the race for the Premier League Golden Boot.
He was a outstanding striker. And as I am about to be taught, an much more outstanding man.
Not one of the memorable moments from that season get him too excessive. Regardless of scoring 19 occasions within the league that season, he says he was “never on a roll”.
On the similar time, he by no means let the low moments get on prime of him.
“I would love to have played for England,” he says of the cap for his nation that by no means fairly got here.
“Every Euros, every World Cup, I always buy an England top and I sing the national anthem as loud as I can. I’m very patriotic.
“So to play for England would have been mint. But it surely did not occur, it’s what it’s.”
The last bit is key to understanding his mindset. It is what it is. When the conversation turns to his health, it’s this way of thinking that has helped him deal with having his world turned upside down in the last couple of years.
“MND lives with me, I do not reside with MND,” he says in a voice of absolute defiance. “That is it, my life retains going.
“I dealt with disappointments quite easily when I played football. Don’t know how, don’t know why but adversity to me was a fuel, it wasn’t a negative, and it’s the same with this.
“There is a bit of fireplace in my stomach nonetheless and really not often does the considered what may occur with MND get into the again of my thoughts.”
We know, of course, how cruel the disease is. Half of people diagnosed with MND die within two years. There is no known cure or effective treatment.
Marcus, though, considers himself “one of many fortunate unfortunate ones”.
Stewart has supported fellow footballer Steven Darby, who was additionally recognized with MND in 2018. In 2023 the pair accomplished a 178-mile spherical journey from Anfield to Valley Parade to lift cash for the Darby Rimmer MND basis
Two years after his analysis, he nonetheless appears to be like like what he’s: a person who was an elite athlete not so way back. “It’s my left hand [that’s affected] and my right hand is starting to be affected,” he explains.
“Imagine when you’ve been to the gym and your arms feel really heavy. I can just about grip stuff with this hand (his right). This hand (his left) – not at all.
“However I can nonetheless get by with issues. I can nonetheless drive, that is not an issue, I can nonetheless stroll, I can nonetheless choose a cup of tea up nearly.
“For me to get dressed in the mornings is quite tough and I’ve still got both arms to use, some people can’t do that.
“I believe lots of people undergo with that. That individuals have to assist them, that they don’t have their independence anymore.
“It does whip your independence away. Sometimes within two months, sometimes a bit longer. I’m slow at the moment, my independence is going slowly – but I’ve still got it.”
His willpower to not let MND dictate how he lives his life means he continues to work in soccer – as a first-team coach at Yeovil City.
It additionally means he has devoted himself to elevating consciousness and making an attempt to struggle the illness. Alongside together with his spouse Louise and quite a few family and friends, Marcus has shaped Group Stewart.
Already the fundraising effort of that workforce stands at nearly £375,000 – with far more to return.
A Soccer Towards MND Gala Dinner will happen at Outdated Trafford in November, with tickets nonetheless accessible. A March of the Day charity stroll from Wembley to Portman Street is deliberate for subsequent March.
He would not see his work to assist discover a remedy as significantly outstanding. Equally, he would not like to think about himself as somebody ‘struggling’ from MND. He is dwelling his life. It’s what it’s.
“I don’t like the word suffering. I don’t think I even like the word fighter,” he says, looking for the appropriate phrases to explain his method to what has occurred to him.
‘I am going to inform you what I’m, I am defying MND, that is what I am doing.”
