Earnie Stewart

Earnie Stewart

Personal information
Full name	Earnest Stewart
Date of birth	(1969-03-28) 28 March 1969
Place of birth	Veghel, Netherlands
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	UDI'19
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1990	VVV	62	(15)
1990–1996	Willem II	170	(49)
1996–2003	NAC	199	(50)
2003–2004	D.C. United	47	(4)
2004–2005	VVV	6	(1)
Total		484	(119)
International career
1990–2004	United States	101	(17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Earnest "Big Ern" Stewart (born 28 March 1969) is a retired American soccer player who was a regular midfielder for the U.S. national team from 1990s until his retirement in 2005. He is currently the Director of Football Affairs at Dutch Eredivisie club AZ and will become Sporting Director at the Philadelphia Union on 1 January 2016.

Early life and education

Stewart, the son of an African American U.S. Air Force airman Earnie Stewart, and his Dutch wife Annemien Stewart, grew up in the Netherlands, and began his professional career in that country in 1988 with VVV. He spent two years at the Dutch First Division (second-level) club before moving to Eredivisie side Willem II in 1990. By the end of 1990, he made his first appearance for the U.S. national team against Portugal.

Career

In his first season at Willem II, he finished third on the goal-scoring list for the Dutch First Division, with 17. He went on to score 49 goals in six seasons there. In the meantime, he developed into a regular for the U.S. national team, starting all four games that the U.S. played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Most notably, he scored the goal that gave the U.S. its winning margin against Colombia in group play, the first World Cup game won by the U.S. since 1950.

By 1996, Stewart had moved to NAC Breda, eventually spending more than six seasons at NAC. The club was relegated in 1999, but Stewart helped the club win the First Division in 2000, thereby earning promotion back to the Eredivisie. During his years at NAC, he also played in all of the U.S. team's matches at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, becoming one of only five U.S. men to play in three World Cups.

In January 2003, he left the Netherlands to play in Major League Soccer, and was allocated to D.C. United, where he won the MLS Cup in his second season. His scoring numbers did not equal his earlier high standards, as he tallied just four regular season goals and one playoff goal in MLS. He left DC after the 2004 season, coming back to the Netherlands and his original club, VVV-Venlo, where he became technical director following his retirement in 2005.

Stewart became the eighth U.S. man to make his 100th international appearance in a 2004 World Cup qualifier against Grenada. His 111 goals as a professional in the Netherlands makes him the highest-scoring American in international club play. He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2001.

He was named technical director of NAC Breda of the Dutch Eredivisie on 14 May 2006.

Earnest Stewart was appointed as AZ’s Director of Football Affairs in June 2010. The 41-year-old American succeeded Marcel Brands, who left AZ for PSV. Stewart left his post as Technical Director at NAC Breda by mutual consent. Stewart stated in the past that he had a long-term goal of returning to United States soccer in an executive role: "One ambition I do have is to go back to the United States and to be of importance to soccer."

Stewart accomplished just that when, on 26 October 2015, the Philadelphia Union officially announced that Stewart would take on the role of Sporting Director for the club.

Career statistics

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	June 13, 1993	Chicago, Illinois	Germany	2–4	3–4	1993 U.S. Cup
2	August 31, 1993	Reykjavik, Iceland	Iceland	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	June 22, 1994	Pasadena, California	Colombia	2–0	2-1	1994 World Cup
4	March 25, 1995	Dallas, Texas	Uruguay	2–0	2–2	Friendly
5	March 16, 1997	Palo Alto, California	Canada	3–0	3-0	1998 World Cup Qualifying
6	May 24, 1998	Portland, Oregon	Kuwait	1–0	2-0	Friendly
7	June 3, 2000	Washington, D.C.	South Africa	4–0	4-0	2000 U.S. Cup
8	July 23, 2000	San Jose, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	1–1	1–2	2002 World Cup Qualifying
9	August 16, 2000	Foxborough, Massachusetts	Barbados	6–0	7-0	2002 World Cup Qualifying
10	November 15, 2000	Waterford, Barbados	Barbados	2–0	4-0	2002 World Cup Qualifying
11	February 28, 2001	Columbus, Ohio	Mexico	2–0	2–0	2002 World Cup Qualifying
12	March 28, 2001	San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Honduras	1–0	2-1	2002 World Cup Qualifying
13	June 20, 2001	Foxborough, Massachusetts	Trinidad and Tobago	2–0	2–0	2002 World Cup Qualifying
14	September 1, 2001	Washington, D.C.	Honduras	1–0	2–3	2002 World Cup Qualifying
15				2–3
16	July 6, 2003	Columbus, Ohio	Paraguay	2–0	2–0	Friendly
17	July 26, 2003	Miami, Florida	Costa Rica	2–2	3–2	2003 Gold Cup

U.S. National Team Appearances/Goals

National Team	Year	Apps	Starts	Goals	Assists
United States
	1990	1	1	0	0
	1991	0	0	0	0
	1992	7	2	0	0
	1993	6	3	2	1
	1994	7	5	1	0
	1995	9	9	1	2
	1996	5	5	0	1
	1997	7	6	1	0
	1998	9	8	1	0
	1999	5	4	0	1
	2000	8	7	4	4
	2001	10	10	5	0
	2002	10	9	0	0
	2003	13	7	2	0
	2004	4	1	0	1
Total		101	77	17	10

[4]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1988–89	VVV-Venlo	Eredivisie	27	3
1989–90		Eerste Divisie	35	12
1990–91	Willem II Tilburg	Eredivisie	33	17
1991–92			33	8
1992–93			22	4
1993–94			32	7
1994–95			32	10
1995–96			18	3
1996–97	NAC Breda	Eredivisie	28	9
1997–98			30	6
1998–99			28	7
1999-00		Eerste Divisie	29	8
2000–01		Eredivisie	28	8
2001–02			31	10
2002–03			15	2
U.S.			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
2003	D.C. United	Major League Soccer	21	1
2004			26	3
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2004–05	VVV-Venlo	Eerste Divisie	6	1
Total	Netherlands		427	115
	U.S.		47	4
Career total			474	119

External links

• Stewart to Join NAC Breda
• Moneyball comes to AZ Alkmaar