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Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player. He last managed EFL Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough. As a coach he has taken charge of Hull City, Southampton, Carlisle United, Leicester City, Derby County, OH Leuven, and Watford; and was assistant manager for England Under-21s and Newcastle United.
In the following season, Shrewsbury finished one place higher but injuries restricted Pearson to 26 games. Injury prevented him from playing at all in 1984–85, when Shrewsbury again finished eighth in the table, but he returned in 1985–86, making 35 appearances as Shrewsbury dropped to 17th.
In 1986–87 he was an ever-present, making 42 appearances and contributing three goals, as the Shrews finished in 18th place. He started the next season, before being signed by Sheffield Wednesday's manager Howard Wilkinson on 12 October 1987 for a fee of £250,000.
In his six years with Shrewsbury Town, he made a total of 181 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals.
In 1999, he was recruited as Stoke City's first-team coach by Gary Megson. Although Megson was sacked later that year by the club's Icelandic consortium, Pearson was kept on for a further two years under Guðjón Þórðarson, before being sacked in 2001.
Pearson moved to West Bromwich Albion in November 2004 as assistant manager to Bryan Robson, and took over as caretaker manager when Robson left the club in September 2006. Albion won three and drew one of his matches in charge, before stepping down from the role in preparation for the arrival of new manager Tony Mowbray.
On 19 October 2006, he was linked with the Sheffield Wednesday manager's position but instead took over as assistant manager of Newcastle United, replacing Kevin Bond, who was dismissed following allegations he was prepared to take bungs for players whilst at Portsmouth.
On 1 February 2007, Pearson was confirmed as assistant coach to Stuart Pearce, the England U21 team manager, until after the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. As Pearce's contract limited him to involvement in only one friendly before the Championship, Pearson led the under-21s in their 3–3 draw against Italy on 24 March 2007, the first game at the new Wembley Stadium.
When Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder resigned on 6 May 2007, Pearson took charge of the remaining game of the season, away to Watford. Pearson stayed on at Newcastle as a coach following the arrival of Sam Allardyce as manager at the club. On 9 January, following the departure of Allardyce, he was re-appointed as caretaker manager for Newcastle's trip to Manchester United. Newcastle lost 6–0, after a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick, a brace from Carlos Tevez and a Rio Ferdinand goal. On 16 January 2008, after Kevin Keegan had been announced as the next permanent manager of the club, Pearson took charge of the team for the 3rd round FA Cup replay against Stoke City, which Newcastle won 4–1. On 8 February, Pearson left the club.
On 4 May 2008, with only one game to go, at home to Sheffield United, the Saints were in 22nd place and facing relegation to League One. After going 1–0 down, Pearson's side pulled off a comeback to win the game 3–2, with two goals scored by Stern John (who was also sent off) and one by Marek Saganowski. Southampton secured Championship status for another season, at the expense of Leicester City, who could only manage a 0–0 draw with Premier League-bound Stoke City, and were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their 124-year history . On 30 May 2008, Pearson was replaced by Dutch coach Jan Poortvliet after only three months in charge.
Veteran full-back Chris Powell also joined Pearson's coaching staff as a player/coach in the summer of 2009, as Leicester continued their upsurge in form under Pearson the following season in the Championship. Leicester completed a full calendar year of being undefeated at home, before a 2–1 defeat against Preston North End on 26 September 2009 ended the longest unbeaten home run in the country. Leicester spent almost the entire season in the play-off positions and an impressive month of February saw Pearson pick up the Championship Manager of the Month award. Leicester finished in 5th place in their first season back in the Championship, earning a place in the Championship play-offs and a chance of back-to-back promotions. They were defeated by Cardiff City following a penalty shoot-out in the play-off semifinal, despite fighting back from a 2-goal aggregate deficit in the second leg to briefly lead 3–2.
At the end of the season, Pearson took a hard line on Leicester defender Wayne Brown, who had publicly said in front of his teammates – including some of ethnic minority backgrounds – that he had voted for the far-right British National Party in the general election on 6 May. He dropped Brown from the side for the play-offs. During the close season, Brown left the club to sign for Preston North End.
Despite his relative success in his two years at Leicester, he often had a very strained relationship with chairman Milan Mandaric and chief executive Lee Hoos. In the summer of 2010, Mandaric showed a consortium of potential club buyers round the club without Pearson's knowledge and invited Paulo Sousa to the second leg of the play-off semifinal. The club then allowed Hull City to speak to him. Pearson said: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what's happening" – suggesting the club did not want to keep him. He then left Leicester to take the job at Hull City and Paulo Sousa was later appointed as his successor.
Hull started the 2011–12 season with the club sitting one point outside the play-offs, having a game in hand in the middle of November; however, on 7 November 2011 Pearson requested permission to talk to his former club Leicester.
Pearson was sent to the stands in a 2–2 draw against his former club Middlesbrough, after the referee had allegedly "barged" into Leicester's dressing room unannounced, to which Pearson reacted angrily. The referee then left it to the fourth official to tell him he had been sent off. Pearson then appealed his sending off, saying, "I was giving my players instructions and there is no chance I will tolerate anyone coming in there who has nothing to do with my team. I'm within my rights to tell him to get out – he was telling me to hurry up. I can't wait to see the fall-out and I can't wait to appeal." Pearson's appeal was successful, and he faced no disciplinary action from the Football Association (FA). After an inconsistent season, Leicester ended the season ninth in the Championship.
Leicester made a slow start to the 2012–13 season, losing three of their first five league games and suffering a surprising defeat in the second round of the League Cup at the hands of League Two side Burton Albion; however, a run of five straight victories saw Leicester sitting top of the table after 12 games and also earnt Pearson a nomination for Championship Manager of the Month in September. However, a drop in form in mid-season saw Leicester fall to fifth. The signing of Chris Wood, though, saw a rejuvenated Leicester go on another run of five consecutive wins, with Leicester reprising 2nd place in the Championship table, behind leaders Cardiff City, and Pearson this time won the Championship Manager of the Month award for January 2013. Again, a drop in form followed Leicester City's rise to second spot, and they only made the Championship play-offs on goal difference following their last gasp 3–2 win against neighbours Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season. After winning the first leg against third-placed Watford 1–0, Pearson's Leicester City narrowly lost the second leg of the play-offs 3–1, after Anthony Knockaert missed a last-minute penalty which would have sent them to Wembley.
The 2013–14 season saw Leicester recover from their play-off defeat of the previous season, starting well and sitting in first place at Christmas. It was during this time that the club started a club-record run of consecutive league victories, winning nine games from 21 December 2013 – 1 February 2014, which saw the club pull 10 points clear at the top of the Championship and earnt Pearson the Championship Manager of the Month award for January 2014. Continuing good results, which saw Leicester play 20 league games unbeaten until the end of March, also earned Pearson the award again in March 2014. Leicester ended the season as champions, winning promotion to the Premier League.2013–14 Football League Championship#League table
In February 2015, following a home defeat by Crystal Palace in a game in which, at one point, Pearson put his hands around Palace's James McArthur's neck, while on the ground, the press reported that Pearson had been sacked. In a "night of confusion," it was reported by The Guardian that club staff, and even Pearson himself, had been told that he was sacked. However, the same evening, the club issued a statement stating that such claims were "inaccurate and without foundation." Following victories against West Ham United, West Brom, Swansea City and Burnley, with just one defeat, against Chelsea, during the month of April 2015, Pearson won the Premier League Manager of the Month for the first time. On 29 April 2015, following a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea, Pearson was again embroiled in controversy, when he called a journalist an "ostrich", "stupid" and "daft" during a post-match news conference. He apologised for his comments the following day.
On 16 May 2015, Leicester City confirmed their Premier League status following a goalless draw with Sunderland, becoming only the third team to escape relegation having been bottom at Christmas. Leicester finished the season in 14th place.2014-15 Premier League#League table
On 30 June 2015, however, Pearson was sacked, with the club stating that "the working relationship between Nigel and the Board was no longer viable." The sacking was linked to his son James's role in an alleged racist sex tape made by three Leicester City reserve players in Thailand during a post-season tour. He was replaced at Leicester City by Claudio Ranieri, who took Leicester to the Premier League title the following year as 5000–1 outsiders. Sports journalists gave Pearson credit for building the team that won the title, as did player Riyad Mahrez.
On 19 July 2020, Pearson was sacked with two games remaining in the 2019–20 season. Watford were seven points adrift at the bottom of the league when Pearson took charge, and three points above the relegation zone when he was sacked. Following Pearson's sacking, Watford went on to lose their remaining two games and were relegated.
In March 2020, Pearson fell ill and isolated for ten days under COVID-19 protocols. In June 2020, a blood test confirmed he had previously contracted the disease. While still at Watford he suffered from secondary symptoms, including an irregular heartbeat, high resting pulse and swollen lips that saw him miss a press conference, although he only informed a small number of staff at the club of his condition. In August and September 2020, after his departure from Watford, Pearson endured a bout of rheumatoid arthritis that saw him suffer with swollen joints. He struggled to move during this period, slept heavily and had a shortness of breath. In September 2021, Pearson caught COVID-19 again and self-isolated for ten days.
Outside football, Pearson is a keen outdoorsman and hiker. He once encountered a pack of wild dogs while hiking alone in the Carpathian Mountains. In 2022, he bought three acres of ancient woodland in Somerset, which he now manages. He enjoys oil painting, and has expressed an interesting in participating in the Mongol Rally. Had he not been a professional footballer, Pearson would have considered a career as a navigator in the Royal Air Force.
In October 2023 just before Pearson left his last managerial appointment at Bristol City, it was reported he was suffering from a neurological condition, and had been using the assistance of crutches to walk. In December 2024 he announced that he had to learn to walk again and that his condition was improving.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Shrewsbury Town | 1982–83 | Second Division | 1 |
| 1983–84 | Second Division | 0 | |
| 1984–85 | Second Division | 0 | |
| 1985–86 | Second Division | 1 | |
| 1986–87 | Second Division | 3 | |
| 1987–88 | Second Division | 0 | |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 1987–88 | First Division | 2 |
| 1988–89 | First Division | 2 | |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 1 | |
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 11 | |
| 1991–92 | First Division | 2 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 1 | |
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 0 | |
| Middlesbrough | 1994–95 | First Division | 2 |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 2 | |
Middlesbrough
Individual
Individual
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