Stuart James Pearson (born 21 June 1949) is an English former footballer. His nickname was "Pancho". He was a skilful forward who played in three FA Cup finals, two 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 ...

and one with West Ham United.

Playing career

Hull City

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 Christopher Roy Chilton (25 June 1943 – 20 May 2021) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Hull City and Coventry City. Chilton was born in Sproatley, East Riding of Yorkshire. Chilton played as an insi ...

left in 1971. An assistant manager to Terry Neill at the time was Tommy Docherty, who subsequently became manager of

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 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 fa ...

. 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 West Ham United in August 1979.

West Ham United

He helped the Hammers win the

1980 FA Cup Final The 1980 FA Cup Final was contested by West Ham United and Arsenal at Wembley. West Ham won by a single goal, scored by Trevor Brooking. To date, it is the last time a team from outside the top flight has won the FA Cup. It was West Ham's third ...

, 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. 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 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 in 1985–86 and manager of Northwich Victoria during the first half of 1986–87. 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. Pearson left Albion in 1992 and was assistant manager at Bradford City from 1992 to 1994. He has also been a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

for MUTV. He moved to Spain in the mid-2000s.

Honours

Club

Manchester United * Football League Second Division: 1974–75 * FA Cup: 1976–77 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

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 Democratic R ...

West Ham United * FA Cup: 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