WHZ View: Top 3 Stuart Pearce moments at West Ham
One man in the Eithad Stadium on Saturday knows what it means to play for both Manchester City and West Ham United.
‘Psycho’ Stuart Pearce represented both sides in his playing career. He signed for West Ham in the summer of 1999, where he stayed until moving to City in 2001.
There he captained the side to the division one title in 2001, gaining them promotion to the top-flight. He returned to manage the club between 2005-07, before going on to become the boss of the England Under-21 side.
Pearce joined David Moyes’ backroom staff at West Ham for a second time on August 17th 2020. He, along with Kevin Nolan and Paul Nevin, have been a driving force in getting the Hammers challenging for the European places.
West Ham Zone look back on his best three moments whilst wearing claret and blue.
Belter at the Boleyn
West Ham faced off with Tottenham in a London derby back in 2001. This game had extra significance, as it was an FA Cup sixth round tie.
The Hammers had fallen behind to a Sergi Rebrov goal, before Pearce struck on 43 minutes. From 25 yards out, he hit a trademark left-footed freekick into the bottom corner of the Spurs net.
The goal was so good that Paolo Di Canio proceeded to hug and kiss Pearce repeatedly. The goalscorer, as ever, kept his cool and walked back to restart the play. A terminator of a footballer.
European heroics
Pearce was part of the West Ham team that won the Intertoto Cup in 1999.
The Hammers had finished 5th in the Premier League in 1998/99, but didn’t qualify for Europe automatically and had to go the long way.
After defeating Jokerit of Finland, Heerenven of Holland and French side Metz in the final we were granted entry to the UEFA Cup. Pearce was part of the side to lift only the second European title in the club’s history.
Hammer of the Year
In his last season with the club, Pearce was named the Hammer of the Year for 2001. It showed just how much the fans appreciated his efforts as a player, beating the iconic Paolo Di Canio to the crown.
He made 42 appearances in the 2000/01 season, scoring three goals as the Hammers avoided the drop, finishing 15th. He also picked up ten bookings, another reason why the fans warmed to him so much, he loved putting a foot in.
In winning the Hammer of the Year, he joined legends such as Julian Dicks, Billy Bonds, Di Canio, Trevor Brooking and Bobby Moore in West Ham folk law.
In other West Ham news, can Jesse Lingard lead us to victory at the Etihad?