Members News: Sky Blues Defensive ‘Psycho’ Hits 61Today. ‘Happy Birthday’, Stuart!
Stuart in the Sky Blue
We have our first Sky Blue ‘Birthday Boy’ to congratulate today. The Association sends its best birthday greetings to our member, former Sky Blue full back Stuart Pearce. Stuart was born in Hammersmith, London on 24 April 1962 so is celebrating his 61st birthday today! Congratulations.
The Sky Blues was Stuart’s professional club. In November 1983, former Sky Blue player and ‘gaffer’ (and now a fellow Association member) Bobby Gould spotted the former electrician playing for non-league Wealdstone and paid them £50k for his signature. Bobby pushed Stuart straight into the Sky Blues first team where he immediately did not look out of place. His tough tackling, no nonsense approach made him an instant fans favourite at Highfield Road and later earned him the nickname ‘Psycho’ from Forest and England fans. Stuart was not the first ex Sky Blue (and CCFPA member) to get that soubriquet as our 70s striker David Cross also gained that nickname!
Stuart Pearce & Ian Butterworth at CCFC
Stuart spent a short but eventful couple of seasons with the Sky Blues as they stared relegation in the face both times and did not blink. His penalty at Stoke City, securing both points in May 1985, completed the first of three wins in their last three games necessary to keep us up that season.
By the time he left for Nottingham Forest at season’s end he had not only clocked up 54 Sky Blues appearances (four goals) but help make a tidy profit for CCFC (Cloughie’s Forest had to pay £300k for him and fellow CCFPA member Ian Butterworth). At Forest, Stuart became a legend over his twelve years there, most of it as club captain, winning two League Cups and a Full Members Cup. There he also began his well respected international career from 1987-1999 gaining 78 England Caps (five goals) captaining the side nine times. Spells at Newcastle United (1997), West Ham United (1999) and Manchester City (2001) followed.
‘Psycho’ Pearce in Sky Blue action
Soon entering management (having had a brief caretaker spell at Forest) Stuart took the ‘gaffer’s’ spot after being coach at Manchester City (2005), England U21s (2007) and Great Britain’s Olympic XI (2011-12) and Nottingham Forest (2014-15). In his nearly twenty years’ top level professional career from 1983-2002 Stuart clocked up more that 700 appearances netting over a century of goals. Now an MBE, in 2016, he briefly and temporarily came out of retirement age 53, signing a one-match deal with Gloucestershire outfit Longford, a team dubbed ‘The worst in Great Britain’ in order to support the grass roots game!
Sarah welcomes Psycho to the Association presenting him with his official CCFPA tie
Most recently, after a spell working at Portsmouth, in November 2017 Stuart joined former club West Ham United as assistant to manager David Moyes leaving the Hammers at the end of the 2017-18 season when Moyes moved on.
However, in August 2020 Stuart rejoined the Hammers as a first team coach to work alongside Kevin Nolan and Paul Nevin, who had also signed new contracts. He left this post at the end of the 2021-22 season to pursue other interests.
Mr & Mrs Stuart Pearce
Now an MBE, Stuart joined CCFPA just four years ago in April 2018 when our Membership Secretary Sarah Morris spotted him on a scouting mission at a Leicester City v Stoke City game and he willingly signed up when approached.
He was back in the City (right) with his wife for a sad occasion a year or so ago, at the memorial service at Coventry Cathedral for a fellow CCFPA member the Sky Blues former player and gaffer and club Life President John Sillett.
We hope you have a great birthday today Stuart and look forward to seeing you at a Sky Blues game or CCFPA event whenever your current commitments allow.
