London-born striker Barney Stewart joins Albion off the back of a fantastic scoring season in Scottish football last time around.
Departing Falkirk after two years with the SPFL side, Stewart returns to England looking to grab his first chance in the English Football League with both hands after seeing his career rapidly ascend.
Hailing from England’s capital, Barney’s footballing education in a professional setting began a lot later than the average academy player – spending his teenage years in QPR’s academy.
However, most of Stewart’s game time came at local teams in West London and his sport-heavy mentality meant he pursued other hobbies away from the football pitch; including rugby, tennis, and even Gaelic football.
A young and ambitious player, Barney was slowly developing a mentality suited to the game he wished to break into – something which gained further traction when he moved over the border to play for Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
It was a move which made sense owing to the forward’s family connections in Scotland and, in conjunction with starting a Sport and Exercise Science degree, Stewart’s time with the university side gave him better opportunities.
A clear incentive in playing for sixth-tier Heriot-Watt was the pathway it could provide him into the country’s senior system – which is exactly what it did. Having scored an abundance of goals (over 40) across the EoSFL (East of Scotland Football League) and BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sports) Football League, the forward made the inevitable jump into the professional game with Falkirk.
From there, Barney didn’t look back - signing for the Bairns (aged 20) in October 2024 and making his debut against Queen’s Park three months later.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for Stewart during his opening term in professional football; playing 16 matches, scoring and providing two apiece, as Falkirk’s table-topping campaign saw them lift the Scottish Championship trophy.
This set the 22-year-old up for an influential season in 2025/26, beginning his year out on loan at Scottish second-tier outfit Dunfermline Athletic, where he netted eight goals in 12 matches.
Barney showed in the first half of the campaign he was more than ready to take his place in Falkirk’s starting line-up – something he did with aplomb from January 2026 onwards.
And the forward returned to his parent club with newfound international honours under his belt as a reward for his fine goalscoring form at Dunfermline – getting a maiden call-up to Scotland’s Under-21 side in November 2025.
He featured four times for the Tartan Army’s youth team, making his debut off the bench during a 2-0 European Championship qualifying win over Gibraltar, prior to claiming another cap in a 1-0 triumph over Bulgaria.
A first Scotland U21 start came in a stalemate with Czechia in the new year – where the young striker played 60 minutes – before Stewart suffered a first international defeat against Portugal.
It proved to be an important experience for the determined Barney, who returned to his parent team revitalised – scoring 10 goals and notching two assists over 21 appearances as Falkirk finished sixth in the SPFL.
With an impressive 20 goal contributions (18 goals, two assists) to his name last season, Stewart will be intent on showing boss James Morrison those same levels of impact ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
