Nottingham Forest and Man City fans hold minute’s applause for Stuart Pearce following the England legend’s health scare on flight from Las Vegas
Nottingham Forest and Man City fans paid a heart-warming tribute to Stuart Pearce during their Premier League clash on Saturday afternoon, after the England legend suffered a health scare on a plane this week.
Forest’s former club captain was on a flight from Las Vegas when the incident occurred, which caused the plane to make an emergency landing in Canada.
The nature of the medical emergency is still unknown, but the mere news of it was enough for both Forest and City fans to send their best wishes to the beloved 62-year-old.
They held a minute’s applause in the third minute, a reference to the fact the former defender famously wore the No 3 shirt.
Pearce played and managed both Forest and City in his career. He made 401 appearances for Forest across 12 years – from 1985 to 1997 and 38 appearances for City in 2001-02.
As the City Ground erupted in applause on Saturday, the TNT Sports commentary team also shared some heartfelt words for Pearce.
Nottingham Forest and Man City paid tribute to Stuart Pearce after his health emergency
The former defender, who played for both clubs, had an unknown issue on a flight from Las Vegas this week, which caused it to land prematurely in Canada so he could be attended to
Darren Fletcher said: ‘We send our best wishes to a man who’s a good friend of ours, Ally?’
Co-commentator Ally McCoist replied: ‘Absolutely, without doubt a great friend of ours and we wish him all the very, very best. Get well soon, Pearcey.’
Fletcher added: ‘I know he’s watching somewhere, so get well soon and we’ll see you very soon we hope, mate.’
Forest took to social media to write: ‘Psycho’, followed by a heart emoji. This was Pearce’s nickname, coined by Forest fans in the late eighties and then adopted by England supporters.
In his final year at Forest, Pearce operated as a player-manager in the 1996-97 season. Some 17 years later, he returned to managed Forest for one season in 2014.
Before that, he managed City between 2005 and 2007, as well as the England Under 21s. He was also the caretaker boss for the senior side in 2012.
Pearce, who played 78 times for the Three Lions between 1987 and 1999, was hooked up to a monitor by crew and rushed to hospital upon the emergency landing following his health incident.
The flight was on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner plane and heading from Vegas to Heathrow. It landed at St John’s in Canada early on Monday after staff made the decision to land prematurely.
Pearce and his partner had been in economy on the flight, which left the United States at 8:45pm on Sunday.
He is now recovering in hospital, with the remaining 225 passengers later flown to Heathrow and arriving six hours later than they were due to – at 6:15pm on Monday.
He was in Vegas to watch Warrington Wolves – the rugby league team he supports – face Wigan Warriors before heading home. It is thought the plane was at 30,000 feet when the incident happened.
