How Saddleworth holds a place in the heart of Marcus Stewart

THE ACCENT may be distinctive – it is anything but Saddleworth.

But that does not detract from Marcus Stewart’s love of the area.

And the table the former footballer stood at chatting to Paul Scholes was just about the most highly qualified to talk about the game.

After all, they did score 377 goals between them.

Stewart may be as Bristol as they come – hearing others trying to order the Japanese lager he was drinking in his thick West Country burr exemplified that – but part of his heart lies in Saddleworth. A regular visitor, he was among friends at Grasscroft’s Farrars Arms pub as Kevin Sinfield returned home in is latest fundraising challenge.

Marcus Stewart (right) with Rob Norbury at the Farrars Arms

What his mate did for motor neurone disease charities, raising more than £1 million, certainly struck a chord as the 52-year-old ex-striker, who starred in the Premier League and at clubs around the country, lives with the condition.

And the connection with Saddleworth, which comes mainly through sons Finlay and Kian, means he has support at both ends of the country.

Stewart explained: “My ex-partner is from Oldham and moved back here with the kids.

“18 years ago, I decided to buy a house near them, as well as having ne in Bristol. Since then, I’ve come up to see the boys every single weekend.

“I love it up here, it’s very different to Bristol. We live on then seaside down there but this is the countryside.

“I’ve made some great friends. Kevin one, Paul another and I’ve become great mates with Rob Norbury, who runs The Farrars Arms.”

Stewart, who was at The Farrars arms with wife Louise, even admitted the thought of making that connection stronger by moving to Saddleworth has been discussed.

He told the Independent: “We’ve a good friends group up here and we’ve actually contemplated moving up here but I said to Lou, ‘It’s five degrees warmer down south.

“You notice it big time. I wouldn’t say it’s any less sunny or rainier here but it’s just that bit warmer.

“But there’s the warmth of the people here. I’ve made a lot of good friends here that I can go to the pub with or for a coffee, like I have in Bristol.”

Stewart was diagnosed with MND in September 2022, but the only noticeable symptoms come in his left arm.

“I feel a bit of a fraud sometimes,” he admitted.

“I’m fine. I’m in pretty good nick considering a lot of ither people with MND. I can still have a pint, I can still walk, I can still drive.

“For me, life as it stands hasn’t changed that much. You see other people with MND in their wheelchair and they can’t speak, so hopefully that doesn’t come to me soon.

“If there’s no cure or treatment, then it will do but I still have hope. I always live in hope.”

And it is that hope – as well as the funds and awareness – that Sinfield has provided through his challenges.

Sometimes daily life poses its challenges for Stewart, but he remains optimistic a medical breakthrough may come.

“My wife will tell you I get angry,” he added. “Some mornings when I can’t do something like take my socks off or put them on or open a jar or a can of beans, I can’t do that.

“So, I have to ask someone and I don’t like asking someone. I’ve always been quite independent, so that frustrates me a lot.

“I think I’ve got a little bit of time on my hands for there to be some sort of cure or treatment. Hopefully in my time, that might happen.”

“And Kevin’s a juggernaut, isn’t he? He’s just a great guy who genuinely cares about people. In normal life, In think that’s Kev.

“But he’s taken it upon himself to care for us really. It started with his mate Rob and he’s giving hope to the other 5,000 people in the country who have MND.

“It’s great he stopped off at so many different places, so people with MND could actually see him in person. Instead of just on the TV. It’s a bit more real – for him when he sees them and for them, they see him in the flesh.

“And the biggest thing he’s given through all this is hope. That’s what he does, along with the awareness and fundraising that goes a long way, hope comes hand in hand with that.

“If there’s money going to the scientists, to fundraising, to helping people – there’s got to be hope.”