Mark Pearson (28 October 1939 – 2 September 2023) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Career

Born in

Ridgeway, Derbyshire Ridgeway is a village in North East Derbyshire in the county of Derbyshire in England. Location Ridgeway lies just south of the South Yorkshire border, around 5 miles southeast of Sheffield City Centre. The village is surrounded by a number of h ...

, Pearson joined

as a trainee in 1955 and signed professional forms two years later. He made his first-team debut as an 18-year-old on 19 February 1958 as part of the makeshift side that beat

in United's first game after the Munich Air Crash. He was involved in two of the three goals, and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

correspondent was impressed: Pearson, nicknamed "Pancho" due to the Mexican appearance that his sideburns gave him, played for the club until 1963, making 80 appearances and scoring 14 goals, when he was sold to Sheffield Wednesday for a £17,000 fee. He did not make United's side for the

1963 FA Cup Final The 1963 FA Cup Final was the final of the 1962–63 FA Cup, the 82nd season of England's premier club football competition. The match was played at Wembley Stadium (which was fully roofed for the first time) on 25 May 1963 and contested by Manch ...

, where they defeated

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

3–1 to clinch their first major trophy of the post-Munich era. Despite his regular action for United in the immediate aftermath of the Munich crash, and the deaths of

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

and

Liam Whelan William Augustine Whelan (1 April 1935 – 6 February 1958), also known as Billy Whelan or Liam Whelan, was an Irish footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who were killed in the Munich air disaster. He was 22 years old when ...

, Pearson was soon faced with competition for a regular place in the team when crash survivors

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cu ...

and

Dennis Viollet Dennis Sydney Viollet (20 September 1933 – 6 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. He was famous as one of the Busby Babes and survived the Munich air disa ...

regained fitness, and gained a fresh rival that summer when United signed

Albert Quixall Albert Quixall (9 August 1933 – 12 November 2020) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside-forward. He joined Sheffield Wednesday as a youth and debuted in their professional side in 1951. He played almost 250 league game ...

. Over the next few years, competition for places became tighter due to the arrival of new signings David Herd and

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

, as well as the form of younger players including

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as t ...

. In 1965, after two seasons at

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

, Pearson joined

and played a pivotal role in the club's escape from relegation in the 1965–66 season. Fulham seemed doomed until a 2–0 win against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, runaway league leaders and eventual champions, in which

Ian St John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key mem ...

was sent off for punching Pearson, sparked them into a sequence of 10 wins from their last 13 matches. He left Fulham for

in 1968, playing just five league games before retiring the following year at the age of 29.

Death

Mark Pearson died on 2 September 2023, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, Susan, and their two daughters, Jackie and Sarah.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Mark 1939 births 2023 deaths People from North East Derbyshire District Footballers from Derbyshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Bacup Borough F.C. players English Football League players