Fact File: Nigel Pearson

Following the announcement that Nigel Pearson is Derby County’s new manager, dcfc.co.uk takes a look back Pearson's illustrious career – both as a player and also in management to date.

Playing Career

* Pearson was born in Nottingham on 21st August 1963

* The centre-back’s footballing career began in the early 1980s at local non-league side Heanor Town

* In November 1981, he was signed by Shrewsbury Town, for £5,000, and went on to make on 181 appearances for the Shrews

* His debut in professional football came on the opening day of the 1982/83 season – and scored his first-ever professional goal against Barnsley in March 1983

* His fine form for Shrewsbury saw him signed by Sheffield Wednesday in October 1987, managed by Howard Wilkinson, for a reported fee of £250,000

* In his time at Hillsborough, which ran until the summer of 1994, he made 224 appearances for the Owls

* During the 1990/91 season, as captain, Pearson was part of the Sheffield Wednesday side which gained promotion to the First Division – as well as lifting the League Cup at Wembley Stadium

* In 1992/93, Pearson impressed in the top flight and helped Wednesday reach the League and FA Cup Finals, but a broken leg in the League Cup Semi Final ruled him out for the rest of the season

* Pearson scored Sheffield Wednesday’s first-ever Premier League goal in the 1-1 draw away to Everton on the opening day of the 1992/93 season

* The final stop in Pearson’s playing career was Middlesbrough, who was signed by Bryan Robson for £750,000 in July 1994 – and went on to make 139 appearances for the Teesside outfit

* During his time in the North East, as captain, Pearson played an instrumental role in Middlesbrough’s promotions to the Premier League in 1994/95 and 1997/98

* In his four-year tenure with Boro, Pearson was a runner-up in the FA Cup in 1997 and in the League Cup in both 1997 and 1998

* Pearson announced his retirement from the game in the summer of 1998, ending with 544 appearances and 30 goals to his name

Managerial/Coaching Career

* After moving into coaching at the end of his playing career, Pearson first job in management came at Carlisle United in December 1998

* He helped Carlisle stave off relegation on the final day of the 1998/99 season, with goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scoring a dramatic injury-time goal against Plymouth Argyle to send Scarborough to the Conference instead

* Pearson left Carlisle at the end of the season and joined Gary Megson’s backroom team at Stoke City in 1999, before being retained by Gudjon Thordarson until 2001

* He joined West Bromwich Albion’s coaching staff in 2004 following Bryan Robson’s appointment and, in 2006, he had a spell in caretaker charge after Robson’s departure

* After leaving the Hawthorns, he joined Newcastle United as their assistant manager under Glenn Roeder and had a spell in caretaker charge before the arrival of Sam Allardyce in the summer of 2007

* During his time with the Magpies, he was appointed as England Under 21s’ assistant coach and, in Stuart Pearce’s absence, was in charge of the 3-3 friendly draw against Italy – the first game at the newly-rebuilt Wembley Stadium

* After Allardyce’s departure from St James’ Park in January 2008, Pearson stepped in for a second spell in caretaker charge before leaving after the arrival of Kevin Keegan a few weeks later

* Southampton appointed Pearson as their new manager in February 2008 and oversaw a final day victory over Sheffield United to avoid relegation from the Championship – before departing at the end of the campaign

* In the summer of 2008, Pearson was appointed as manager of Leicester City and, in his first season as manager in 2008/09, guided the Foxes back to the Championship at the first attempt from League 1 – recording a club record 96 points and losing just four times in 46 games

* In the 2009/10 campaign, their first year back in the Championship, Leicester reached the Play-Off Semi Finals but were beaten on penalties by Cardiff City

* The summer of 2010 saw Pearson appointed as the manager of Hull City following their relegation from the Premier League

* As Hull finished 11th in the Championship, Pearson led the Tigers to break a 66-year-old record with 14 consecutive away games without defeat

* After a strong start to the 2011/12 season, with Hull firmly in the promotion race, Pearson left the KC Stadium to return to Leicester City as their new manager in November 2011

* With Leicester in mid-table at the time of his arrival, he rang the changes and guided the side to a ninth-place finish

* In 2012/13, following a strong summer of recruitment which saw the signing of future England forward Jamie Vardy, Pearson guided Leicester to a play-off finish but they were beaten by Watford at the semi-final stage – with a goal from Troy Deeney, moments after Anthony Knockaert had a penalty saved, settling the tie

* Leicester responded superbly in the 2013/14 and romped to the Championship title to reach the Premier League by some distance, which included a fine 20-game unbeaten run

* In winning the league title, Leicester smashed their club record points total, for the second time under his management, by achieving 102 points

* As a result of Leicester’s promotion, Pearson was named as the LMA Championship Manager of the Year for 2013/14

* As the Foxes returned to the top flight, Pearson oversaw a memorable run in the latter stages of the 2014/15 campaign to preserve Premier League football for another season, as well as laying the foundations for their title success in 2015/16

* During that strong end to the campaign, Leicester won seven of their last nine games to become just the third team to avoid relegation after being bottom at Christmas – with Pearson winning the Manager of the Month Award for April

* Pearson has overseen 404 games as a manager in club football – while has seven Manager of the Month Awards to his name