Stephen Pears
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Pears | ||
| Date of birth | 22 January 1962 | ||
| Place of birth | Brandon, County Durham, England | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Middlesbrough (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1979–1985 | Manchester United | 4 | (0) |
| 1983 | → Middlesbrough (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 1985–1995 | Middlesbrough | 327 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) |
| 1996–1998 | Hartlepool United | 15 | (0) |
| Total | 358 | (0) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Stephen Pears (born 22 January 1962) is an English former footballer. Born in Brandon, County Durham, he played as a goalkeeper for Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Hartlepool United in a career spanning 20 years. 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.[1]
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 with Dion Dublin. [1]
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 the Riverside 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 for David James, and was issued with the number 27 shirt.
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. He moved up from his Academy coach role to become the club's goalkeeping coach in 2007 when Paul Barron left for Newcastle United in 2007.