Sadly departed Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United man played understated role in history of English football
Anyone wandering into the Westfield Pub in Wyke, West Yorkshire, on a Friday evening probably wouldn’t look twice at the man quietly sipping his pint at the end of the bar after a long week’s work.
nor the nearby Robin Hood pub, another favourite, nor earlier that day at the Dominion Machinery plant in Hipperholme at which the man worked.
Perhaps he was talking about cricket, in which he was an accomplished club off-spinner, his family or engineering. Perhaps he spoke about old times.
It was on those tales of old times that you’d probably be keenest to tune your ear to.
Because the old man, short in stature, who walked with a limp, could tell first-hand stories of Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton, of Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls are among the clubs to have lodged tributes to former player Mark Pearson, who died this week at the age of 83.
A tireless, tough and versatile attacking player who scored 11 goals in 42 appearances for the Owls between 1963 and 1965, he was a key part of First Division sides alongside the likes of Don Megson, David Layne, Johnny Quinn, Peter Swan and John Fantham.
A fiercely competitive player and no stranger to a toe-curling tackle, successive leg fractures effectively ended his Wednesday career when he left for Fulham in 1965 – where he re-joined Vic Buckingham, the legendary Wednesday manager who had brought him to Hillsborough from Manchester United.
It was at Old Trafford that he was sprung into the limelight in the most perilous of circumstances as one of the youngsters who stepped into the places of those who perished in the Munich Air Disaster on February 6 1958.
Taking on uneviable pressure, he made his debut for Matt Busby’s side – managed by his assistant Jimmy Murphy with the iconic Scot still recovering in hospital – in United’s first match back; ironically played against Sheffield Wednesday and just 13 days on from the unthinkable tragedy.
As one of four debutants, the 18-year-old produced a fearless display which prompted The Times’ match report to heap praise on the teenager: “It was the performance of two young men, Cope at centre-half and Pearson at inside-left, that left us rubbing our eyes in astonishment. Their maturity, polish, and skill left one wondering what other magic is hidden away in Old Trafford.”
Manchester United won the FA Cup clash 3-0, with Pearson having had a hand in two of the goals. He remained a mainstay in the Murphy side that fought against the odds to reach the FA Cup final and that were so narrowly edged out by AC Milan in the semi-finals of the European Cup that same season.
He went on to score 14 goals in 80 appearances for the Old Trafford side and his intertwined relationship with Wednesday continued when their signing of Owls legend Albert Quixall – the first in the club’s post-Munich era – damaged his first team chances. Another signing, Denis Law wasn’t a bad one either.
He signed for the Owls in October 1963, with only injuries said to have prevented him from extending his career into the 1965/66 campaign that saw them reach the FA Cup final.
A three-year stint at Fulham followed, before shorter spells at Halifax Town and Bacup Borough.
He retired to West Yorkshire at the age of just 29 to take up engineering, summers spent on the cricket field and Friday evenings as the man in the pub.
On the announcement of his death, Manchester United released an obituary.
It was made clear that Mark Pearson had played an important role in the rebuild of one of the great sporting institutions in the world.
Leave a Reply