Richard James Pears (born 16 July 1976) is an English former professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

Born in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Pears began his career as a trainee with

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, turning professional in July 1994, having made his league debut the previous season. He played 60 league games for Exeter before being released at the end of the 1996–97 season. He briefly joined local rivals

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, but left without appearing for the

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

side. Pears then began his career in non-league football, joining Cullompton Rangers and subsequently playing for Heavitree United before joining Clyst Rovers. He moved to

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

in October 1998, playing in the winning

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

side at the end of that season. He remained with Tiverton until January 2004 when he joined Mangotsfield United in a player-exchange deal, Darren Edwards moving in the opposite direction. In August 2004, Pears left Mangotsfield to join Exmouth Town as player-assistant manager., leaving to join Willand Rovers in the June 2005. In September 2005, Pears returned to Tiverton Town, Pears rejoined Willand Rovers in June 2006, but left at the end of the 2006–07 season as he could not commit to the travelling involved, partly due to his work requirements with Exeter City Council. In June 2007, despite being linked with a move to Elmore, Pears was appointed as manager of Exmouth Town. In May 2008 he was appointed as co-manager of Cullompton Rangers, alongside Lee Annunziata. In February 2010 he returned to

for his third stint at the club, to provide cover to Martyn Rogers injury, and suspension hit side. In June 2010 he was appointed manager of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. After managing Exmouth Town from 2012 until 2017, he was appointed manager of Barnstaple Town in May 2017. He resigned as the club's manager in December. During the summer of 2018 Pears was announced as the new manager of Sidmouth Town. However, he left to take over as manager of Buckland Athletic on 15 October 2018. He left Buckland in September 2019. Pears is currently the Assistant Manager at Bideford AFC.
Bideford AFC website

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pears, Richard Living people 1976 births English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Exeter City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Cullompton Rangers F.C. players Clyst Rovers F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Mangotsfield United F.C. players Exmouth Town F.C. players Willand Rovers F.C. players English football managers Exmouth Town F.C. managers Cullompton Rangers F.C. managers Royal Marines A.F.C. managers Barnstaple Town F.C. managers Sidmouth Town A.F.C. managers Buckland Athletic F.C. managers Footballers from Exeter English Football League players