Stuart Pearce's son was helped by Sir Alex Ferguson but didn't follow dad into football
Stuart Pearce shared a heart-warming anecdote featuring Sir Alex Ferguson about his recently deceased son, who tragically died last Thursday in a tractor accident
The son of England football legend Stuart Pearce has been killed in a tractor crash at the age of 21. Harley Pearce died last Thursday after losing control of the farm vehicle on a country road near his family home in Wiltshire.
It is thought that the tractor sustained a possible tyre blow-out which caused him to veer off the road. Gloucestershire Police confirmed a man in his 20s died at the scene in Witcombe.
Harley was the youngest of Pearce’s two children with his ex-wife, Liz. They also share an older daughter, Chelsea, from their 20-year marriage, which ended in 2013.
Harley didn't follow his father into football and instead ran his own company, Harley Pearce Agricultural Service, and worked on farms across the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire border. He lived near Marlborough in Wiltshire.
However, he also appeared to be a football fan, with Stuart, who enjoyed a long football career playing for the likes of Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Manchester City, once sharing a touching story about how he helped Harley win his school’s Fantasy Football League when he was just eight years old.
During his tenure as the England U21s head coach between 2007 and 2013, Stuart once rang former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to ask whether he was planning to play Phil Jones or Chris Smalling, under the guise that he wanted the information for his England team.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Pearce explained how his son was just one point behind his school headmaster in the popular game with only one game left to play of the season.
After Ferguson gave him the answer, Pearce's son signed that player for his Fantasy Football side (he could not recall whether it was Jones or Smalling), and the subsequent clean sheet points United earned during the game saw him win the league.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Pearce said: "I done Fantasy Football with my son Harley, he was eight years old at the time, and they done it at the school with all the kids and all the teachers.
"We worked our way up the league to that final week where it was my son Harley and the headmaster were neck and neck at the top of the table.
"I think we were one point behind. I picked the phone up to Alex Ferguson on the Wednesday before this game on the Saturday and I asked him the question under the guise of the England under-21 manager 'who are you going to be playing - Jones or Smalling in the back, because I'm thinking of coming to the game to watch them?'
"He told me which one he was going to play. I transferred a player, that player went into our Fantasy team and we won."
Pearce added: "All I can say in my defence is Campione, campione!"
Following the announcement of Harley's death, a family tribute read: "Our family is truly shocked and utterly heartbroken at the loss of our cherished son and devoted brother, Harley. A soul who left an unforgettable imprint on all who knew him.
"He was a golden boy with an infectious smile, and this shocking tragedy will leave a huge hole in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to have known him.
"With a quiet, understated strength and deep kindness, we are so proud of the young man he had become, exhibiting a wonderful work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit in the farming industry.
"He will always be our shining star. Rest in Peace, our beautiful son and brother. You will never ever be forgotten."
Emergency services were called at around 2.30pm on Thursday to a report of a collision involving a tractor on the A417, Old Birdlip Hill in Witcombe. A source told the Daily Mail: "From what we've been told is Harley's tractor had a blow out and he lost control."
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