Stephen Pears played the vast majority of his 359 Football League games for Middlesbrough, and he is rated as one of the Teesside club's finest ever goalkeepers. Keith Houchen brought Pears to Hartlepool at the start of the 1996/97 season and he played 19 games for a struggling Pools side, keeping three clean sheets. He retired from playing shortly afterwards and went on to occupy a number of coaching roles back at Middlesbrough. In July 2014, Pears was appointed assistant manager to Colin Cooper at the Vic, replacing Craig Hignett who had left during the previous season. In addition to this role, Pears was also given the job of goalkeeping coach.