- Stephen Pears
Football player infobox2
playername = Stephen Pears
fullname = Stephen Pears
height = height|m=1.84
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|1|22
cityofbirth =Brandon, County Durham
countryofbirth =England
currentclub = Middlesbrough
(Academy Goalkeeper Coach)
clubnumber =
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1979-1985
1983
1985-1995
1995-1996
1996-1998
clubs = Manchester United
→ Middlesbrough (loan)
Middlesbrough
Liverpool
Hartlepool United
Total
caps(goals) = 004 (0)
012 (0)
327 (0)
000 (0)
015 (0)
358 (0)
pcupdate = 17:51, 25 February 2007 (GMT)Stephen Pears (born
January 22 ,1962 inBrandon, County Durham ) is a retired goalkeeper who played for Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Hartlepool United. Pears currently works as the Goalkeeping Coach for the Middlesbrough First team.Career
Stephen Pears started his career at Manchester United as an understudy to
Gary Bailey . However, Pears struggled to displace him and break into the first team. During the 1983-84 season, in order to gain match practice, he was sent to Middlesbrough on loan where he became a fan favourite. Middlesbrough attempted to sign him permanently but the club failed to raise the £80,000 fee. However, Middlesbrough made a second attempt to sign Pears and he transferred to the club permanently in 1985.The following season saw the club get relegated. Despite this, his performances gained him critical acclaim from the fans. In 1987-88, Pears helped the club win promotion. In this season, Pears also set a club record of seven consecutive clean sheets. Some of his most notable performances this year came against Everton in the
FA Cup and against Leicester City in a performance which he dedicated to his late father. Pears went to make over 400 appearances for Middlesbrough from 1983 to 1995. During this time in 1992 he was called up to the England squad but had to pull out of the squad after breaking his cheekbone after a collision withDion Dublin .He was released in 1995 after a sell out testimonial match, which also became the last ever match at
Ayresome Park before Middlesbrough moved to theRiverside Stadium . In this match, Pears was allowed to take a penalty which gave him the prestige of being the last ever person to score a goal at Ayresome Park. Pears then moved onto Liverpool to provide goalkeeping cover. However, after making no appearances he moved onto Hartlepool shortly after where he played 19 times before retiring at the age of 35.Pears was the Middlesbrough Academy goalkeeping coach where he helped to bring through the likes of
Ross Turnbull and David Knight before recently being promoted to first team coach.External links
*soccerbase|id=6213|name=Stephen Pears
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