Stuart Pearson will be working the hospitality lounges at Old Trafford on Sunday should Manchester United need inspiration to foil Liverpool’s dream of winning four trophies in Jurgen Klopp’s farewell season.
Pearson was United’s opening scorer in the famous 1977 FA Cup Final, which saw Liverpool denied a historic Treble, having already been crowned First Division champions with a European Cup final on the horizon.
Then again, United trailed their biggest rivals in the league, but ‘Pancho’ Pearson turned the form on its head by firing past Ray Clemence at Wembley to seal a 2-1 win for Tommy Docherty’s underdogs.
The cause has come up every time Pearson has greeted supporters at the Theater of Dreams over the past three decades. “I’m still introduced by the man on the microphone as the man who beat the Scousers,” he grins. “The ball bounced a lot, so I hit it early to keep the finish low.
The following weekend I met Clem in the England team. He said he thought I would take an extra touch. I said, ‘Ray, you know me better than that, I just need one touch!’
Manchester United trailed their biggest rivals in the league but ‘Pancho’ Pearson turned the form on its head by firing past Ray Clemence at Wembley to seal a 2-1 victory for Tommy Docherty’s underdogs.
Pearson was United’s opening scorer in the famous 1977 FA Cup Final, which saw Liverpool denied a historic Treble, having already been crowned First Division champions with a European Cup final on the horizon.
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(L-R) Stuart Pearson, Tommy Cavanagh, Tommy Docherty, Lou Macari, Gordon Hill and Frank Blunstone celebrate after Manchester United’s FA Cup final victory over Liverpool at Wembley
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Pearson is now 74. The dark locks are long gone, but his candid approach remains, a personality of his time.
He worked for the electricity company for three years, climbing 150-foot poles before getting the chance to become a professional footballer with his hometown club Hull City.
Docherty was assistant manager and when the Scot took over at Old Trafford, he called on Pearson to join him in 1974.
Pancho not only had a change of pace, he was good in the air and enjoyed the physical side of the game despite his relatively small stature.
If you watch footage of the ’77 final, you’ll see Pearson celebrating the goal with his trademark clenched fist – a nod to his days as a junior boxer. The right hand is also bandaged at Wembley, as a result of a recent war wound.
“I had some dealings with a supporter earlier this week,” he unexpectedly reveals.
‘We went out for a drink on the Tuesday before Wembley and some guy started to give me a real challenge in the toilets.
‘He thought he was clever, so we had a bit of a ding-dong and I broke his nose.
‘The news has not come out. I had a quiet chat with our physio Laurie Brown who said it was probably broken and he put something on it.
‘I can’t even remember what the argument was about. Many years later a boy came up to me at five-a-side at the Sale Leisure Center and told me it was his father I had hit.
“He wasn’t angry, he said his old man was an idiot!”
United were in the Second Division when Pearson signed. They were immediately promoted, losing to Southampton in the 1976 FA Cup final, but returned to Wembley in triumph twelve months later.
“Tommy never gave a team speech about the opposition. It was always about us,” Pearson recalls of the build-up.
“We worked on the pattern of play once a week, with Alex Stepney throwing to the full-backs, who went wide and found me and Jimmy Greenhoff up front.
Not like nowadays you pass him backwards 10 times before you cross the center line!
“The fans loved our ’77 team with wingers Hilly (Gordon Hill) and Steve Coppell and two strikers. One of the most exciting squads United have ever had.
‘I like the potential of the young lad, Rasmus Hojlund, but he needs service to score 25 goals a season.
‘Antony has been poor until now. Marcus Rashford was not in the form of last season. He should look at (Alejandro) Garnacho, who is not that good yet, but the way he sprints to win the ball is what fans like.
‘I call United ‘us’, but if someone plays badly I will say so. I owe it to the supporters.’
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That honesty is well received in the lounges, but was too much for MUTV, which took Pearson off the air in 2004.
He had already gone off-piste by saying Juan Veron ‘couldn’t handle a fish meal’ when the subject of Rio Ferdinand came up.
“Two old people came over and said they felt sorry for Rio being banned for eight months for missing a drug test,” says Pearson.
‘They asked in the studio what I thought and although I didn’t comment on whether he was innocent or guilty – I didn’t know that of course – I said I didn’t particularly feel sorry for him because he would still be at 80 . large per week.
‘The next morning the station manager called to say, ‘Sorry Stuart, we’re going to have to put an end to it.’ I replied, “Then why did you ask me a stupid question.”
United celebrated their Liverpool victory in style to the point where United’s club secretary tried to prevent any more champagne from being purchased. He later reversed himself after the players insisted they would pay for it themselves. ‘Cheeky fool. We had just won the cup,” is Pearson’s position.
It should have been the start of a glorious period for United, but Docherty was sacked after it was revealed he was having an affair with Brown’s wife.
“I saw Tommy after the final and he told me he had spoken to chairman Louis Edwards and that he would be fine,” Pearson said.
‘He even offered me a new contract for £500 a week because I was playing regularly for England. He was fired the next day. We heard that Sir Matt Busby, a devout Catholic, did not like what had happened.
“Tommy had talked about signing Peter Shilton that summer, which I think would have helped us become champions.
‘I told new manager Dave Sexton about the new contract Tommy had offered but he wouldn’t approve it.’
It was the beginning of the end for Pearson at Old Trafford. A knee injury required three operations, although there was a glorious footnote to his career when he signed for West Ham in 1979 and won the FA Cup against Arsenal the following year.
‘John Lyall changed tactics for the final, with David Cross on top and me deeper. “Arsenal didn’t know how to pick me up and it was great to win another cup final with Trevor Brooking’s goal.”
Considering he won the cup the week he had a pub brawl, Pearson is probably relieved he won’t have to face the criticism that Rashford and his team-mates do.
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Pearson is now 74. The dark locks are long gone, but his candid approach remains, a personality of his time
‘The time for the players to go out is when you score every week. Everyone loves you and is happy that you are having a good time. The problem is that you’re out even though you’re not playing very well,” he says.
‘Of course times have changed. I wouldn’t go out after the Tuesday before a game at the weekend, but I know a number of players at Hull who would have a few pints on the Friday evening before a game because they couldn’t sleep otherwise.
‘I’d love to see United beat Liverpool again, but you can’t honestly say which United will turn up; they are inconsistent. I joke to people that I’ve lost my hair over the years just by looking at them.
“Luke Shaw is one of my favorite players, he is very stable, but he is injured. Casemiro was great last year, but has had a more difficult time this season.’
Liverpool are invincible in cup competitions this season. If United can break the trend this afternoon, there will be clenched fists everywhere.
