West Brom-linked Barney Stewart's remarkable 18-month rise in Scotland | OneFootball

According to ExpressAndStar.com, West Brom have been linked with Falkirk striker Barney Stewart this summer after an 18-month rise in Scotland.

He debuted in the Scottish Championship in January last year, then featured only sporadically in Falkirk’s promotion-winning 2025 campaign. A close-season broken metatarsal stalled him, and he joined local rivals Dunfermline Athletic after regaining fitness.

On loan at Dunfermline, he scored eight in 12 for Neil Lennon’s second-tier side. He returned to Falkirk buoyed by under-21 cameos against Gibraltar and Bulgaria in November.

Back at Falkirk, he hit his first professional hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Hibernian in January, then struck twice in a 5-1 victory against Kilmarnock the next month. Further goals came versus Aberdeen, St Mirren and Motherwell, and he was named Scottish Football Writers’ Young Player of the Season.

He finished with 10 goals and two assists in 21 Falkirk appearances, 18 for Falkirk and Dunfermline combined last term. Under-21 caps against Czech Republic and Portugal followed in March, and interest is growing, with Albion among those linked.

The six ft two in forward has taken an unusual route. London-born, he played Gaelic football, tennis and rugby alongside football, spent two years with Queens Park Rangers, then left at 16 to prioritise studies in Scotland, where his parents are from.

At Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh he scored 85 goals across East of Scotland and BUCS competitions. Falkirk handed him a new deal in January, keeping him until 2028 with an option year.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com