The son of England football hero Stuart Pearce has tragically died at the age of 21 in a tractor accident. Harley Pearce died last Thursday when she lost control of her farm vehicle on a country road near her family’s home in Wiltshire.
It is believed the tractor may have had a flat tire and veered off the road. Gloucestershire Police confirmed that a man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene in Whitcombe. Harley was the youngest of two children born to Pierce and his ex-wife Liz. The couple, who were married for 20 years before splitting in 2013, also have a daughter, Chelsea. Unlike his father, Hurley did not pursue a career in football. Instead, he ran his own business, Harley Pearce Agricultural Services, and worked on farms along the Wiltshire/Gloucestershire border. He lived near Marlborough in Wiltshire.
But Hurley also seems to have been a football fan. His father, who had a long career with Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Manchester City, once told a heartwarming story about how he helped Harley win his school’s fantasy football league when he was just eight years old.
While head coach of England Under-21s from 2007 to 2013, Stuart even rang former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, pretending he needed information for the England squad, and asked if he was planning to use Phil Jones or Chris Smalling. In an interview with talkSPORT, Mr Pearce revealed how his son narrowly missed out on the headteacher by just one point in the popular fixture with just one game left in the season.
Following Ferguson’s tip-off, Pearce’s son added the player to his fantasy football team (he couldn’t remember if it was Jones or Smalling), and Pearce won the title due to United’s clean sheet points during the match.
Pierce said, “I played fantasy football with my son Harley, who was 8 years old at the time. We did it at school with all the kids and all the teachers. We worked our way up through the league until the final week, where my son Harley and the principal were neck-and-neck.”
“I think we were one point behind. I called Alex Ferguson on the Wednesday before this game on Saturday and asked him, pretending to be the England Under-21 manager, ‘Who are you going to play against, Jones or Smalling? Because I’m going to watch the game?’
“He told me which team he was going to play for, I transferred a player, he joined our fantasy team, and we won.” Pearce added, “All I can defend is Campione, Campione!”
After Harley’s death, his family released the following memorial. “Our family is truly shocked and completely heartbroken by the loss of Harley, our beloved son and devoted brother. A soul who left an indelible mark on all who knew him. He was a golden boy with an infectious smile, and this shocking tragedy will leave a gaping hole in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to know him.”
“We are so proud of the man he has grown to be, a man of quiet, unassuming strength and deep kindness who demonstrated great work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit in the agricultural industry. He will always be our shining star. Rest in peace, our beautiful son and brother. You will never be forgotten.”
Emergency services were called to reports of a tractor collision on the A417 at Old Birdlip Hill, Whitcombe, at around 2.30pm on Thursday. A source told the Daily Mail: “What we’re hearing is that the Harley tractor suffered a flat tire and lost control.”
