PEARCEY WAS THE ULTIMATE

I PLAYED with many lads who came through from Non-League football, but the best was undoubtedly Stuart Pearce.

I was captain of Coventry City during the 1983-84 season when he came to us from Wealdstone. Famously, he was working as an electrician at the time.

For a lad of 21 with no professional experience it was a hell of a jump – Alliance Premier League all the way to the old First Division.

But Pearcey made the single best debut I’ve ever seen, something that is still talked about in Coventry to this day.

We beat Terry Venables’ QPR 1-0 at home and he was flawless – shy and quiet but totally fearless. I remember thinking to myself ‘God Almighty, we’ve found one here’.

Bobby Gould, our manager at the time, was someone who prided himself on spotting players at the lower levels, and especially in Non-League.