Stephen Pears started his career at Manchester United as an understudy to Gary Bailey.
In this match, Pears was allowed to take a penalty which gave him the prestige of being the last person to score a goal at Ayresome Park.
Pears then moved on to Liverpool to provide goalkeeping cover for David James, and was issued with the number 27 shirt.
Pears was the Middlesbrough Academy goalkeeping coach where he helped to bring through the likes of Ross Turnbull and David Knight.
[3] On 4 July 2014, Pears was announced as assistant manager and goalkeeping coach at Hartlepool United.