Ross Stewart has gone from semi-pro football to the Premier League, and from a job in Glasgow's land registry office to the World Cup.

His chance in the professional game, at Albion Rovers, came thanks to a £1,500 transfer fee, a third of which was stumped up by his dad Cameron.

Perhaps it is no surprise, therefore, that this is a centre-forward with his feet on the ground.

Stewart joined Swansea City in August after failing to agree a new contract at Southampton.

The move to Wales was the latest step in the 30-year-old's unusual career path.

As a boy, Stewart spent time in the youth ranks of St Mirren, Celtic and Partick Thistle.

By the time he was 17, however, he was playing outside the professional game for Ardeer Thistle.

He moved on to another minnow, Kilwinning Rangers, before Albion Rovers came calling, albeit without much in the transfer kitty.

"I think Albion Rovers' supporters put together about £1,000, so they were £500 short and my dad chipped in to get the fee that was needed to get it done," Stewart says.

"I'd like to think I've paid him back now with trips and free tickets, but he always jokes about that and we have good banter about it. It's something now that we're very thankful for."

Had the move not happened, Stewart admits, there are no guarantees that his career would have taken off.

Even while playing for Albion Rovers, Stewart continued in the day job, working on Scotland's land register.

"I was dealing with property and title deeds, new housing plots, solicitors," he explains.

"That was me day to day, and then I would go and play my football at night.

"When the chance came to go full-time [in football], they were really good with me… because it was government-based, they let me take a career break.

"I knew if it didn't work out, I always had the option to go back. Thankfully within the first year, I kind of knew that wasn't going to happen."

After one season at Albion Rovers, Stewart – a late developer physically – landed a move to the Scottish Championship, with St Mirren, though he was soon out on loan in the third tier with Alloa Athletic.

Then came what proved a pivotal move, to Ross County. In his first season, Stewart scored 11 goals to help the Staggies win promotion to the Scottish Premiership.

He maintained his goalscoring form in the top flight and, when aged 24, earned a transfer to Sunderland – then in League One - in January 2021.

"Ross is a player that will be great for us in the short term, but he can also develop and improve over the long term," said Lee Johnson, the Black Cats' head coach, at the time.

He was right.

Stewart scored 26 goals – the last of which came in the play-off final - in 2021-22 to help Sunderland to promotion.

He then netted 11 times in only 15 appearances the following season – when his role was limited by injury – before joining Russell Martin's Southampton in 2023.

Stewart's misfortune with injury continued, as he played little part in Saints' Championship promotion campaign under Martin, and then managed 12 appearances – and one goal – in the top flight in 2024-25.

The 2025-26 season brought 11 goals across 35 Southampton games, the last of which was in the play-off semi-final second leg against Middlesbrough.

Stewart thought Wembley beckoned after scoring against Boro - only to discover that Southampton's season was over because of the Spygate scandal.

"I thought the punishment for the club, to chuck us out, was too harsh," he says.

"It was a really surreal day because I got called up for the World Cup in the morning and then in the evening I got the news that we'd been chucked out, so I went from a real high to a real low.

"The decision was made and you can be really upset about it, but it's football, you've just got to move on."

With that, Stewart says he felt the time was right for a change. He "spoke to as many clubs as I could" – including Martin's Leicester – before being convinced to join Swansea on the back of a chat with Vitor Matos.

His family are with him in Wales and, having overcome an early-season quad injury, he is "feeling good" after opening his Swansea account with a thumping finish against Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

There was frustration in midweek, with Stewart "still kicking myself" after hitting the bar just before Portsmouth scored twice in stoppage time to condemn Swansea to defeat.

Had Stewart found the target, Matos' side may well have been top of the table rather than fifth going into Saturday's trip to Birmingham City.

There is time to move back up the table yet, of course.

Stewart suggests his "eye-opening" stint playing outside Scotland's top-four divisions has shaped his view of football.

"I think in this sport there's always so much pressure, but obviously my route - not always guaranteeing that I would be here - I look at it as a bit of a free-hit and I don't feel the pressure as much as perhaps all the players," he says.

"At the time I was a junior and part-time professional, I was working, so I know what the other side is."

That is not to suggest that Stewart lacks ambition.

After a "surreal" trip to the World Cup, the striker's determination to regain his Scotland place under new boss Sebastien Pocognoli is obvious.

At club level, meanwhile, promotion is the goal.

"I want to get back playing in the Premier League," Stewart declares.

"The club's having a real go at trying to do that. That's definitely the aim for me."