Thomas Usher Pearson (6 March 1913 – 2 March 1999) was a Scottish professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
.
Playing career
Born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, Pearson played for Murrayfield Amateurs, and had a trial for Heart of Midlothian, but signed professional terms with
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
in March 1933. He played over 200 games for Newcastle before and after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, scoring a total of 52 goals. Pearson was renowned as a skilful and entertaining outside-left, although he won no major honours at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...
.
Pearson made a guest appearance for
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
during a wartime international against
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in Newcastle when outside left
Eric Brook
Eric Fred Brook (27 November 1907 – 29 March 1965) was an English footballer who played in the outside left position. Brook was also an England international. He was a muscular player with 'one of the fiercest shots in pre-war football' p25 a ...
was injured before the game. Pearson was at the match as a spectator, but agreed to turn out for England. He was capped twice by Scotland in 1947, which uniquely meant that he had played for both Scotland and England.
In 1948, he was signed by
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
for £4,000, and quickly became a crowd favourite, renowned particularly for his 'double shuffle', which baffled opposing players and spectators alike. Pearson retired at the age of 40, and took up a career as a sports writer, often covering Aberdeen for the ''
Scottish Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the highest circulation of paid newspapers in the UK. Its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday'' was launch ...
''.
Managerial career
In November 1959, Pearson was appointed manager of Aberdeen, in spite of his lack of coaching or managerial experience, and the six years he had spent outside the game, albeit as an observer. Unusually, his predecessor,
Davie Shaw
David Shaw (5 May 1917 – 14 October 1977) age 60 was a Scottish professional football player, coach and manager.
Playing career
Shaw was a left back who played for Hibernian before and after World War II, including an appearance in the 1 ...
stayed on at the club in his former capacity as coach. Pearson's time in office coincided with the departure or retirement of a number of key players, and long-term injuries to others, alleviated only briefly by the emergence of Charlie Cooke, soon on his way to Chelsea. There were a sequence of
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Summer Cup final, ultimately lost to Hibs in 1964, Pearson's reign ended with his resignation on 13 February 1965.