Brian Charles Dear (born 18 September 1943) is an English former professional

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 lea ...

who played as a striker in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

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

and

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

Career

Dear was born in Plaistow, to parents originating from

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

. Nicknamed ''Stag'', Dear started his career with

, joining the club at the age of 15, and represented England Schools. He made his Hammers debut against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on 29 August 1962, and went on to make 69 league appearances for the club, scoring 33 goals. He was a member of the 1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup-winning side. He holds the record for the quickest ever five goals in an English game, 20 minutes either side of half time, in a home tie against West Brom on 16 April 1965. Out on loan to

, Dear managed to score five goals in seven games. He moved to

for £20,000 in 1969 but, after a short spell at

, moved back to West Ham in October 1970. His second spell at Upton Park was short-lived and Dear featured in only four games during the 1970–71 season. Dear played his last game for the club on 19 December 1970, wearing the number 9 shirt against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The following month, he and three West Ham teammates –

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players, he is England's fifth- ...

and Clyde Best, along with the club's trainer – were all fined a week's wages and banned for two games by West Ham manager

Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager. He is best known for being manager of the England national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for ...

after going out drinking in a nightclub until the early hours of the morning prior to an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third-round tie against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. "The game was played on an awful pitch and we lost 4–0. Blackpool had a lad called

Tony Green Anthony John Green (29 January 1939 – 4 March 2024) was an English sports commentator and television presenter, best known as the scorer and later co-host of the British TV show ''Bullseye'', from 1982 to 1995 and again in 2006 & 2007. Gree ...

, who probably had the game of his life." The directors wanted to sack all five individuals. "I never played very much after that, and at the end of the season I was given a free transfer. I went into

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with Woodford Town. Jimmy only had another year's contract and he too ended in non-League. Bobby played on, but they never made it easy for him and he moved to Fulham."

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...

named Dear as his toughest opponent.

After football

After retiring as a footballer and working as a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

lican for some years, he joined Southend United as catering manager. Dear was awarded the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 2001 in recognition of his charity work. Dear provides a weekly column on West Ham United for the Yellow Advertiser online newspaper.

Honours

West Ham *

: 1963–64 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1964–65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dear, Brian 1943 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Plaistow, Newham English men's footballers Men's association football forwards West Ham United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Woodford Town F.C. (1937) players English Football League players Southend United F.C. non-playing staff Publicans