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Stuart Pearson

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For other uses, see Stuart Pearson (disambiguation).

Stuart Pearson
Personal information
Full name Stuart James Pearson
Date of birth (1949-06-21) 21 June 1949 (age 75)
Place of birth Cottingham, England
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1966–1968 Hull City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1968–1974 Hull City 129 (44)
1974–1979 Manchester United 139 (55)
1979–1982 West Ham United 34 (6)
Total 302 (105)
International career
1976 England U23 1 (0)
1976–1978 England 15 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stuart James Pearson (born 21 June 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He appeared in three FA Cup finals, two for Manchester United and one with West Ham United.

Club career

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Hull City

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Pearson started his career with hometown club Hull City, 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 at the time was Tommy Docherty, 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.[1]

Manchester United

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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 in the 1976 FA Cup Final. The next year Pearson helped Manchester United win the 1977 FA Cup Final against Liverpool, scoring the first of Manchester United's goals in their 2–1 win. He was sidelined for nearly all of the 1978–79 season due to a knee injury but made a full recovery before leaving Manchester United for West Ham United in August 1979.

West Ham United

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He helped the Hammers win the 1980 FA Cup Final, with his cross-shot setting up Trevor Brooking for the only goal in a 1–0 win over Arsenal. During interviews after the game, Barry Davies described him as "a big occasion player" and suggested that but for his injuries he would have been England's finest striker.[citation needed]

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.[2]

International career

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Pearson won 15 caps for England between 1976 and 1978, scoring five goals.[3]

Coaching career

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After retiring as a player, Pearson moved into coaching, serving as coach of Stockport County in 1985–86 and manager of Northwich Victoria during the first half of 1986–87.[2] He became assistant manager/coach at West Bromwich Albion in 1988 and acted as caretaker manager for six games in 1991 following Brian Talbot's departure.[2] Pearson left Albion in 1992 and was assistant manager at Bradford City from 1992 to 1994.[2] He has also been a pundit for MUTV.[4] He moved to Spain in the mid-2000s.[5]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hull City[6] 1969–70 Second Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 — — 1 0
1970–71 Second Division 12 1 0 0 0 0 — 1[a] 0 13 1
1971–72 Second Division 38 15 1 0 0 0 — — 39 15
1972–73 Second Division 37 17 4 0 1 0 — 3[b] 0 45 17
1973–74 Second Division 41 11 1 0 5 1 — 3[a] 0 50 12
Total 129 44 6 0 6 1 — 7 0 148 45
Manchester United[7][8] 1974–75 Second Division 31 17 2 0 4 1 — — 37 18
1975–76 First Division 39 13 7 1 3 0 — — 49 14
1976–77 First Division 39 15 7 1 4 3 3[c] 0 — 53 19
1977–78 First Division 30 10 4 3 1 1 3[d] 1 1[e] 0 39 15
1978–79 First Division 0 0 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
Total 139 55 22 5 12 5 6 1 1 0 180 66
West Ham United[8] 1979–80 Second Division 25 5 8 2 3 1 — — 36 8
1980–81 Second Division 5 0 0 0 2 0 1[d] 1 — 8 1
1981–82 First Division 4 1 2 0 0 0 — — 6 1
Total 34 6 10 2 5 1 1 1 — 50 10
Career total 302 105 38 7 23 7 7 2 8 0 378 121
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in Watney Cup
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in Anglo-Italian Cup
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  4. ^ a b Appearance(s) in European Cup Winners' Cup
  5. ^ Appearance(s) in FA Charity Shield

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[9]
National team Year Apps Goals
England 1976 6 3
1977 7 1
1978 2 1
Total 15 5
Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pearson goal.
List of international goals scored by Stuart Pearson
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 11 May 1976 Wembley Stadium, London, England  Northern Ireland 3–0 4–0 1975–76 British Home Championship [10]
2 13 June 1976 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland  Finland 1–0 4–1 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification [11]
3 8 September 1976 Wembley Stadium, London, England  Republic of Ireland 1–0 1–1 Friendly [12]
4 12 June 1977 Boca Juniors Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Argentina 1–0 1–1 Friendly [13]
5 22 February 1978 Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany  West Germany 1–0 1–2 Friendly [14]

Honours

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Manchester United

West Ham United

References

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  1. ^ "Docherty signs up £200,000 Pearson". Daily Mirror. 4 May 1974. p. 40 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d Matthews, Tony (2005). The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion. Breedon Books. pp. 264–265. ISBN 1-85983-474-4.
  3. ^ "Stuart Pearson". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  4. ^ May, John (26 January 2006). "FA Cup flashback". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Stuart Pearson". West Ham United F.C. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Stuart Pearson". Hull City Mad. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Stuart James Pearson". mufcinfo.com. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Stuart Pearson". International Football History and Statistics. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Stuart Pearson". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  10. ^ "England v Northern Ireland, 11 May 1976". 11v11. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Finland v England, 13 June 1976". 11v11. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  12. ^ "England v Republic of Ireland, 08 September 1976". 11v11. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Argentina v England, 12 June 1977". 11v11. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  14. ^ "West Germany v England, 22 February 1978". 11v11. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  15. ^ a b Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 491. ISBN 0354 09018 6.
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