Portrait of a hero
20/04/05 | by Neil Heath

We haven’t had any heroes at Forest this season or indeed for a while. There have been flashes of heroism – David Johnson in 2002/03 and perhaps Andy Reid last season – but there’s not been a consistent hero, not one who hasn’t let us down. So, inevitably, your mind goes back to the times when we did, the days of Stuart Pearce.

I’ve been working at a school as an Artist-in-Residence, painting portraits. I work within a classroom so I often chat to the pupils. One lad asked me if I was going to be doing a portrait of a current Forest player. Who the hell do you do? Who warrants that adoration and effort on my part to produce a painting? Not one of them! So I decided to paint a portrait of a true Forest hero: Stuart Pearce.

I feel sorry for the younger Forest fans who never experienced ‘Psycho’; the chanting of his name as he led the Reds on to the pitch, the overriding emotion as he approached the Trent End fists clenched, screaming at us, and then, as he turned away, his contorted face turned to a smile as if to say, “They’re up for it, so am I, let’s get on with it”. It’s the players’ responsibility to get the crowd going and Pearce did it before a ball was even kicked.

During a match, a marauding run, near-hospitalising, but fair, tackles, blistering shots and free-kicks were something we saw from Pearce nearly every week. It seemed that way anyway – I can’t remember a bad performance from Stuart Pearce. What I do remember is how flat life was when he was out injured and his replacement Brett Williams was wheeled out – how awful that was.

In 1990, I cried more because it was Pearce that’d had his penalty saved and not for the reason that England had been knocked out of the World Cup. In 1996, I couldn’t watch as he took another penalty against Spain. I’d spent six years defending him after his last one and felt just as emotional as he did when he buried it past Zubizuretta. 

The Forest fans that have seen my portrait of Stuart Pearce feel quite sad. It’s not constructed as most would expect it to be – arms aloft, screaming at the viewer. Also, it’s not been painted in bright, vivid colours as if it was yesterday. The colours and forms are fading just like our memories of the days when he graced the City Ground turf. The background too is not what you’d expect – there’s no crowd or players, just a haze of dreamlike purples and violets. And, above all, the great man doesn’t look happy; he’s sad that the club he loves is on the scrap heap. 

The icon of our increasingly distant success is gone, consigned to memory and, unfortunately for some, only to photographs and videotape.

• Neil would listen to offers of around £500 for ‘Psycho’. Please contact Neil via heathy278@neilheath.co.uk if you’re interested in buying the painting. He’d also like to know if you actually like it!