Stuart Pearce named his favourite ever Nottingham Forest player – it’s not Roy Keane

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With over a decade of association with Nottingham Forest, Stuart Pearce has shared the dressing room with plenty of players, but one has always stood out to him.

A prolific public advocate for all things Forest, Pearce recently hailed Anthony Elanga’s display against Brighton as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side continues to impress the likes of ‘Psycho’.

Pearce even praised the Espirito Santo appointment, recently having initially thought Steve Cooper was hard done by when he was sacked in 2023.

Times weren’t always perfect for the ex-Forest man at the City Ground as Pearce revealed that he had a personal vendetta against Brian Clough in the 1990s, but that hasn’t changed his love for the club that gave him the greatest period of his career as a player.

Reflecting on his place in Forest history, Pearce has thought about the teammates that shared the pitch with him, as one stands out above the rest.

Stuart Pearce named Des Walker as his favourite Nottingham Forest player

Pearce played alongside a young Roy Keane in the heart of the Forest midfield in the 1990s, but the 62-year-old admitted that it was someone in the defence that he remembers most fondly.

At a club Q&A session with Pearce in 2014 when he was Forest manager, Psycho picked out Des Walker as the standout player on the teamsheet.

Pearce said: “I think you can only ask for a low-maintainance footballer that plays to an 8/10 every week for the football club and cares about football, and Des Walker, who I played with for many years, was that.

He played every game, every week. “When he was injured, he played, and I can probably remember the three games he didn’t play particularly well, so that was it; that was Des for you.”

An excellent central defender, Walker has raved about Murillo at Forest, which is as good an endorsement the Brazilian could’ve asked for.

However, Walker did have one moment at Forest that perhaps unfairly will live long in the memory of Reds fans for all of the wrong reasons.

Des Walker scored an FA Cup final own goal for Nottingham Forest

Alongside Forest legends such as Pearce, Keane and Nigel Clough, Walker went into the 1991 FA Cup final against Tottenham with the chance to win the trophy for the first time since the 1958/59 season.

Pearce opened the scoring that day, but a Paul Stewart equaliser took the game to extra time. Just four minutes into the extra period, Walker dramatically headed a Spurs corner into his own net in what ended up being the winning goal.

Winning 59 caps for England, as well as the time under Clough at Forest, Walker had an excellent career, but the lingering memory of the 1991 final must sting to this day.