ENGLAND legend Stuart Pearce was back at Bisham Abbey to train with his new Longford AFC team-mates who have been dubbed ‘the worst side in Britain’.
Former Wealdstone, Coventry and Nottingham Forest left-back Pearce is preparing for his debut with the Gloucester Senior League Division Two side and got to know his fellow players at the former England national team training ground.
As part of Direct Line’s #DirectFix campaign, Pearce has been drafted in out of retirement to help Longford turn around their disastrous season.
They are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table having lost all 21 of their games so far this campaign with their goal difference standing at an ugly -188.
Pearce, 53, helped manager Nick Dawe take the training session held at Bisham Abbey to put the players through their paces and try and raise morale.
The former Manchester City and England U21 boss said: “It was great to meet the lads for the first time after my debut had to be unfortunately called off. We have a great bunch of players here at the club and it was great to share my knowledge from when I used to train here with England and, bring some of my managerial experience to the table too.
“Hopefully this experience will help fix the confidence of the team, which should show through their performance on the pitch.”
Longford manager Dawe added: “The training session was great for me. Stuart was very respectful of my role as the club’s manager, however, we all definitely learned something from him.
“He’s been in management for a while now and has gained some brilliant experience which can only be a positive for myself and the team.”
