Stuart James Pearson (born 21 June 1949) is an English former

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 ...

. His nickname was "Pancho". He was a skilful forward who played in three

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

s, two for Manchester United and one with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Playing career

Hull City

Pearson started his career with hometown club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

, whom he joined as an amateur while doing an apprenticeship as a telephone engineer. He scored 44 league goals for the Tigers after becoming a first team regular when record scorer Chris Chilton left in 1971. An assistant manager to

Terry Neill William John Terence Neill (8 May 1942 – 28 July 2022) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup final ...

at the time was

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

, who subsequently became manager of Manchester United and signed Pearson in May 1974 for £200,000, with reserve player Peter Fletcher moving to Hull as part of the deal.

Manchester United

Pearson was bought by Manchester United after they were relegated to the Second Division and was instrumental in getting the club promoted back to the First Division the next season by scoring 17 goals. Every time he scored a goal he would celebrate with a raised right fist. He was in the team that lost 1–0 to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the

1976 FA Cup Final The 1976 FA Cup Final was the 95th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 1 May 1976 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Manchester United and Southampton. United had finished third in the First Division that season, and were strong fav ...

. The next year Pearson helped Manchester United win the

1977 FA Cup Final The 1977 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1976–77 FA Cup, the 96th season of England's premier cup football competition. The match was played on 21 May 1977 at Wembley Stadium, London, and it was contested by Manchester United and Liver ...

against Liverpool, scoring the first of Manchester United's goals in their 2–1 win. He was sidelined for all of the 1978–79 season due to a knee injury but made a full recovery before leaving Manchester United for

in August 1979.

West Ham United

He helped the Hammers win the 1980 FA Cup Final, with his cross-shot setting up

Trevor Brooking Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England. He spent almost his entire career at West ...

for the only goal in a 1–0 win over Arsenal. During interviews after the game,

Barry Davies Barry George Davies MBE (born 24 October 1937) is an English retired sports commentator and television presenter. He covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC. Although best known for his football commentary, D ...

described him as "a big occasion player" and suggested that but for his injuries he would have been England's finest striker. Pearson retired from league football in 1982 due to a knee injury, but continued to play at a lower level, in South Africa and the NASL.

International career

He won 15

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for England between 1976 and 1978, scoring five goals.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Pearson moved into coaching, serving as coach of

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

in 1985–86 and manager of Northwich Victoria during the first half of 1986–87. He became assistant manager/coach at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in 1988 and acted as caretaker manager for six games in 1991 following

Brian Talbot Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team. Talbot played in midfield for Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albio ...

's departure. Pearson left Albion in 1992 and was assistant manager at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

from 1992 to 1994. He has also been a pundit for MUTV. He moved to Spain in the mid-2000s.

Honours

Club

Manchester United *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

: 1974–75 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1976–77 * FA Charity Shield:

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

West Ham United *

: 1979–80

References

External links

*
Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Stuart Living people 1949 births People from Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire Footballers from the East Riding of Yorkshire English footballers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers Hull City A.F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. managers Northwich Victoria F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers English Football League players Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Stockport County F.C. non-playing staff West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff Association football forwards English football managers FA Cup Final players