Former England star Stuart Pearce came out of retirement at the age of 53, to play for ‘the worst team in England’.
Former England full back Stuart Pearce was drawn out of retirement in a bid to help Longford AFC, who sit firmly at the bottom of the local Gloucestershire league.
Pearce – nicknamed Psycho – hadn’t played for 14 years, but manager Nick Dawe introduced his star man to try and level things in the second half when Longford were 1-0 down against Wotton Rovers.
Just two minutes after entering the game Pearce, who won 78 caps for England, nearly scored from a corner, proving that the cultured left foot is still there.
Despite lots of pressure in the second half, Longford were unable to get the scores even, but Pearce was positive;
“It was great to be back on the pitch. The lads were brilliant and really gave it their all. The result was unfortunate, but it was always going to be a difficult task. They’ve got the players to turn this around and now that we’ve seen a real improvement in their confidence, hopefully they’ll push on and start climbing up the table.”
The signing of Pearce during the January transfer window was orchestrated by Direct Line who saw the signing as an opportunity to make a ‘Direct Fix’, but despite signing a player who reached the last four of the World Cup in Italy in 1990, and the same stage of Euro ’96, it wasn’t enough to get Longford on the winning side.
