Portsmouth ‘have a plan’ for keeper who had successful loan spell at Crawley Town
The 20-year-old ended the 2024-25 campaign on a high after featuring in Crawley’s final four matches of the League One season which included a clean sheet against champions Birmingham City on his debut.
Steward was a big hit with the fans and impressed manager Scott Lindsey.
And our sister title the Portsmouth News spoke to Pompey’s Sporting Director Richard Hughes about their plan for Steward. Hughes told Neil Allen: “When Crawley rang me about Tobes last season, it was really easy because his training standards are through the roof.
“He lives in the gym, he lives his life right, he does everything you want a young footballer to do and, when you get the phone call from someone asking what he’s like, it’s the easiest conversation because he’s a top, top pro and has given himself every chance of progressing in the game.
“Now everyone can have those standards and be in the gym, but actually he’s a very good goalkeeper as well, which really helps. We spend a lot of time championing Toby, we have video reels to hand when people ask what he’s really good at, areas for improvement.
“We have a plan for him, we want to keep him developing, and we are cautiously optimistic that the fact he has gone and done really well in League One at the business end of the season for a team in a relegation scrap will open pathways for him to hopefully find another loan.
“That would be our aim and our hope, to keep plying his trade somewhere, hopefully in the Football League, but, if not, it will be at a competitive level for him to keep progressing.
“If he had done what he’d done without Crawley it would have been a really successful year for him. Then to cap it off with those extra few games really put some bells on and made it a great season for Toby – and one he deserves.”
Southampton eye move for former Portsmouth favourite as fierce rivals battle Leicester City for former Stoke City man
Asmir Begovic could be back at Fratton Park next season – as a Southampton player, according reports.
The former Blues keeper is said to be wanted by their fierce rivals, as he becomes a free agent this summer and leaves Premier League Everton.
Everton keeper out for next move as free agent
Begovic is also being eyed by Leicester City after their relegation to the Championship alongside rock-bottom Southampton, who endured a dismal top-flight campaign.
The man who turned out for Pompey at the highest level after coming through the ranks at Fratton Park, spent last season as a back-up to England’s Jordan Pickford at Goodison Park.
That came off the back of a full 2023-24 season with QPR in the Championship, where the Bosnia & Herzegovina international got 46 appearances under his belt.
Begovic, who is now 38, is said to be content with taking on another understudy role as his career heads towards its sunset, according to Football Insider report.
The 6ft 5in man came through the ranks at Fratton Park, being recruited when he arrived on trial from Canada and was immediately offered a deal after impressing with Spurs also interested.
Begovic gained exposure to first-team football at Macclesfield, Bournemouth and Yeovil, before being given his Pompey debut at the end of the 2008-09 season in a 3-1 Fratton Park win over Sunderland.
The following season saw Begovic make his Blues breakthrough in earnest under Paul Hart, going on to make 17 appearances as his club became the first Premier League side to go into administration.
Spurs and the £1m wrangle for Pompey keeper they never owned
The keeper was then sacrificed with Pompey in financial meltdown – and the bemusing situation of Spurs demanding £1m for a player they never owned in a long-running financial wrangle.
About The Author
