Like industry legend Tony Cable , I am a Chelsea supporter . Yet I have always carried a bit of a soft spot for Nottingham Forest . This goes way beyond watching them when I was at university in Nottingham . In fact it goes all the way back to the late 1980s and early 90s when Forest were a force to be reckoned with . Regularly challenging at the top of the league and reaching cup finals , they were managed by the great Brian Clough and played entertaining football thanks to stars like Neil Webb , Des Walker , Nigel Clough and , of course , Stuart Pearce . In a distinguished playing career , Pearce was capped 78 times by England . As well as Forest , he also played for the likes of Newcastle , West Ham and Manchester City , making more than 700 club appearances , scoring 82 goals . Before signing professional terms for Coventry , Pearce was juggling a semi-professional career at Wealdstone with a job as an electrician . ‘ It was a fantastic job ,’ says Stuart . ‘ I used to love the diversity of it . I really enjoyed it and the camaraderie on the building sites was fantastic in those days , so that was an added bonus .’
So what first attracted Stuart to the trade ? ‘ When I was at school I didn ’ t really have anywhere to go and work so I worked in a warehouse for a year . Then my sister suggested I did a day release from that job as an electrician ,’ he explains . ‘ My brother worked for Brent Council as an electrician so I spent a year at Willesden College doing my first year of an apprenticeship , and then from there I joined my brother at the council as an electrician . I used to help him out during my school holidays and it wasn ’ t something that I really thought about going into , but it worked out really well for me .’
Career highlight ?
Captaining England .
Toughest opponent ?
Mark Ward ( West Ham and Everton ). Not one of the high flying names that you might think of but he was a little jinky winger .
Best ever teammate ?
Best ability-wise ; Paul Gascoigne . Best consistency-wise ; Des Walker .
‘ Go and get yourself a trade , it ’ s something that stays with you for the rest of your life .’
Favourite goal ?
The free kick for Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Final in 1991 against Tottenham – because of where it was scored and the occasion .
|
Fantastic grounding
These days many of the top football clubs sign up promising footballers before they are even in their teens , and with lucrative contracts on offer to those who make it professionally it is difficult to blame young players for focusing solely on breaking into the first team and earning the big wages . But Stuart is keen to highlight the advantages of learning a trade away from the game .
He says , ‘ I don ’ t think there ’ s anybody that wouldn ’ t benefit from doing something that ran alongside their football playing career . It ’ s stood me in great stead going forward in life and it gave me a fantastic grounding . The footballers ’ union is very strong and they will back you financially and give you support in anything that you want to do , whether it be a language or a trade .’
Another famous England footballer , and a previous keynote speaker at NICEIC Live , is Geoff Hurst , who actually embarked on a successful career in the financial services industry after he hung up his boots . It ’ s difficult to see many top ex-professionals following a similar route these days , surely ?
Stuart argues , ‘ Well it is and it isn ’ t in some ways . At the top end of football there ’ s a lot of money but in the bottom end of the game there isn ’ t as much , so if you finish playing at the age of 35 you ’ ve still got a long life to lead . If you can prepare yourself in those years leading up to 35 and go into another business after football then it ’ s all well and good .’
|
Stuart , however , managed to forge a career path in the sport he loves after he finished playing for Manchester City at the age of 40 .
‘ I was really fortunate ,’ he explains . ‘ Kevin Keegan , who was manager at the time , asked me if I ’ d stay on the coaching staff , so I finished one job as a player and went straight into coaching . I was fortunate that I had a job to walk straight into . Also , three years prior to that I ’ d embarked on taking my coaching badges so I had prepared myself for the next stage in my life .’
Despite his successful football career , the electrical trade is still something Stuart has a burning passion for and he is quick to recommend it to school and college leavers today , as he concludes , ‘ You ’ re always going to need the tradesmen . I would almost certainly advise anybody go and get yourself a trade , it ’ s something that stays with you for the rest of your life .’
|
Stuart Pearce was capped 78 times by England and made more than 700 club appearances .
Meeting the exhibitors at NICEIC Live South .
|
|||
28 | July 2017 |