Sky Blues Defensive ‘Psycho’ Hits 62 Today. ‘Happy Birthday’, Stuart!

We have our first Sky Blue ‘Birthday Boy’ to congratulate today. The Association wishes our member, former Sky Blue fullback Stuart Pearce, a happy birthday. Stuart was born in Hammersmith, London on April 24, 1962, and is celebrating his 62nd birthday today! Congratulations.
The Sky Blues were Stuart’s first professional club. Bobby Gould, a former Sky Blue player and ‘gaffer’ (who is now a fellow Association member), noticed the former electrician playing for non-league Wealdstone in November 1983 and spent £50,000 to sign him. Bobby pushed Stuart into the Sky Blues’ first team, where he immediately fit in.

His aggressive tackling, no-nonsense mentality made him an instant fan favourite at Highfield Road, earning him the nickname ‘Psycho’ from Forest and England supporters. Stuart was not the only ex-Sky Blue (and CCFPA member) to get the nickname; our 1970s striker David Cross also did!
Stuart played a short but dramatic couple of seasons with the Sky Blues, who faced relegation twice and did not flinch. His penalty at Stoke City, which secured both points in May 1985, was the first of three wins in their final three games that kept us up that season.

By the end of the season, he had not only played 54 Sky Blues outings (four goals) helped CCFC turn a handsome profit (Cloughie’s Forest had to pay £300,000 for him and fellow CCFPA member Ian Butterworth). Stuart became a legend at Forest throughout his twelve-year tenure, the most of which he served as club captain, winning two League Cups and a Full Members Cup. From 1987 to 1999, he also began his well-respected international career, earning 78 England caps (five goals) and captaining the team nine times. He then went on to play for Newcastle United (1997), West Ham United (1999), and Manchester City (2001).

Stuart, who had a brief caretaker term at Forest, quickly rose to the position of ‘gaffer’ after coaching Manchester City (2005), England U21s (2007), Great Britain’s Olympic XI (2011-12), and Nottingham Forest. Stuart made almost 700 games and scored over a century of goals throughout his nearly twenty-year professional career, which spanned from 1983 to 2002. In 2016, he briefly and temporarily came out of retirement at the age of 53, signing a one-match contract with Gloucestershire outfit Longford, branded ‘The Worst in Great Britain’, in order to support the grassroots game!

Stuart recently joined old club West Ham United as assistant manager David Moyes in November 2017, following a time at Portsmouth. He left the Hammers at the end of the 2017-18 season as Moyes moved on.

Stuart returned to the Hammers as a first-team coach in August 2020, joining Kevin Nolan and Paul Nevin, both of whom had signed new contracts. He departed this position at the end of the 2021-22 season to pursue other opportunities, including media work.
Stuart, who is now an MBE, joined CCFPA just four years ago, in April 2018, when our Membership Secretary Sarah Morris noticed him on a scouting trip during a Leicester City v Stoke City game.

When approached, I happily signed up.

He returned to the City (right) with his wife about a year ago for a sad occasion: a memorial service at Coventry Cathedral for a fellow CCFPA member, Sky Blues former player and manager and club Life President, John Sillett.

We wish you a happy birthday today, Stuart, and hope to see you at a Sky Blues game or CCFPA event whenever your current responsibilities allow.