This day 1983 - Our 1st loanee & the start of a true 1986 Boro legend

[erimus74]

5th November 1983

Boro 2 Cardiff 0

Our 1st ever loan signing & what a signing he became, a true legend to Middlesbrough Football Club & we, as fans, are grateful that he was happy to sign & play for the Boro

Kelham O'Hanlon was our No1 keeper, after taken over from big Jack' 'Charlton's Champions' legend keeper Jim Platt
I actually didn't mind Kelham, he was a young keeper thrown in to a struggling 2nd division team who had no money & IMHO was ok, all about opinions mind

The previous week we had beaten Shrewsbury Town 4-0 at Ayresome Park, recording our 1st win since the 10th October, with goals from Heine Otto, & Paul Ward (his one & only Boro 1st team goal) with a brace from Dave Currie, incidentally, that was our biggest winning margin since beating Norwich 6-1 on the 4th of October 1980

After beating Shrewsbury Town & with Kelham O'Hanlon unavailable for a number of games, including the upcoming visit of Cardiff City, Boro manager Malcolm Allison, was forced to go looking for a standing keeper to play for the foreseeable & what a find he turned out to be

Malcolm Allison had gone to Man Utd asking if we could please loan their 2nd keeper Stephen Pears, whoever gave big Mal the heads up should be proud of himself, SP jumped at the chance to play 1st team football & put himself in the frame for the gloves at Old Trafford, or failing that, potential buyers

I was out that saturday morning buying a two tone vauxhall chavette saloon from a bloke who lived at the top of Ormesby Bank, over the road from the Pied Piper, this sale dragged on & the clocked was ticking down close to kick off, eventually the car was mine
After buying the car I drove home to West Lane where I lived & legged it to Ayresome Park to meet my dad in the chicken run & with 5 minutes to spare before kick off, the club had promised me they wouldn't kick off till I was in the ground, but I thought best & got there at 5 to 3 😁

The game finished & what a debut, the ground was buzzing with Pearsy MOTM performance, the holgate singing, 'Sign him on' his performance was outstanding, who can remember his MOTM display at home to Leicester in December 89 after coming back from a long injury layoff, this was just as good, he thwarted Cardiff time after time

Boro ran out 2-0 winners, with Dave Currie scoring his 9th goal of the season & Andy Crawford scoring his one & only Boro goal on his 3rd appearance of 9

Stephen Pears went on to play 12 games that season, 6 on the bounce, 3 goals conceded, Kelham came in for 6 games then Pearsy was brought back for a 2nd loan period of 6 games, conceding 5 goals
His performances were recognised & a potential target for Malcolm Allison to buy in the summer of 1984, IIRC, the price tag increased to £80k which forced the Boro to withdraw from his signature, for at least 12 months anyway
Boro had to wait till the summer of 85 when the late, great Willie Maddren was manager who convinced chairman Alf Duffield the lower value of £60k asking price for SP was worth every penny, Alf relented & WM went to Man Utd with a £60k cheque to bring Stephen Pears to Ayresome Park & eventually a well deserved testimonial with Pearsy scoring the last penalty at AP

The Boro team that beat Cardiff
Stephen Pears - Outstanding that day & in his time at the Boro, his birthdate is the same as my sons
Darren Wood - Ever present for the whole season, excellent & very talented player
Tony Mowbray - Legend, wore 3 different shirt No's so far that season, 3,8 & 12
Heine Otto - MOTM & another very talented player, too good for the Boro, who played every game of the season
Mick Baxter (RIP)- Missed the final game of the season, otherwise ever present
Irvine Nattrass - Played every minute of the season, must have been the only season in his career
Paul Ward - Wore 6 different shirt No's that season, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 & 12
Mick Kennedy (RIP)- Missed a few games that season, down to his style of play, not surprising, I loved Mick Kennedys time at the Boro & sad to see him leave for Pompey
Dave Currie - 15 goals that season
Stephen Bell (RIP) - Another excellent, talented footballer who should have been nursed & protected more
Andy Crawford - 9 games, one goal

[borope]

Pears was a great keeper. Changes to the backpass rule didnt help him as he wasnt the best kicker of a ball.

[tunstall]

Remember him one v one against Kerry Dixon at Ayresome Park. Quality save.

[borope]

Always backed him in a 1 on 1.

[erimus74]

Remember him one v one against Kerry Dixon at Ayresome Park. Quality save.

His one on ones were unbelievable

[markmywords]

Remember his debut and the mentioned game against Leicester he was outstanding both games. He had a personal dual with Kevin Campbell of Leicester.

[Nosmo-King]

That team was half a team really. Quality - Pears Nattrass, Wood, Bell, Mogga, Otto.

Could have done well with a few more half decent players.

[erimus74]

Remember his debut and the mentioned game against Leicester he was outstanding both games. He had a personal dual with Kevin Campbell of Leicester.

Thats his name Kevin, I couldnt remember his 1st name

[markmywords]

Remember his debut and the mentioned game against Leicester he was outstanding both games. He had a personal dual with Kevin Campbell of Leicester.

Thats his name Kevin, I couldnt remember his 1st name

He was only young then and I think he was on loan to Leicester from Arsenal. I know he played for Arsenal during his career.

[erimus74]

Remember his debut and the mentioned game against Leicester he was outstanding both games. He had a personal dual with Kevin Campbell of Leicester.

Thats his name Kevin, I couldnt remember his 1st name

He was only young then and I think he was on loan to Leicester from Arsenal. I know he played for Arsenal during his career.

Yea it was 100% him, got the match on video too 👍

[ccole]

I think he was the highest paid player at the time when he signed. £30k per year.

Great servant for our club.

[TeessideTopgun]

Great Keeper 👍 UTB