‘Nobody else’ – Stuart Pearce crowned team player of 2025 in emotional talkSPORT awards

Stuart Pearce hates the limelight, but nobody else is more deserving of being crowned talkSPORT’s team player of the year for 2025.

That’s the verdict from chief football commentator Sam Matterface, who honoured the ‘best teammate anybody could ever have’.

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England legend Pearce headlines an illustrious group of winners in the inaugural Sammies, aka talkSPORT Daily’s 2025 awards ceremony.

The 63-year-old was given a special mention by Olly Clink and talkSPORT’s lead football commentator, Matterface.

The latter also ran the rule over his commentary moment of the year, best atmosphere, manager, and of course, the top man and woman…

talkSPORT’s commentary moment of the year

NOMINEES

• Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City; FA Cup final – Jim Proudfoot, Stuart Pearce and John Salako
  
• England 2-1 Italy; Women’s Euros – Joe Shennan and former Lioness striker Tash Dowie
  
• Manchester United 5-4 Lyon; Europa League quarter-final second leg – Alex Crook and ex-England striker Lianne Sanderson – WINNER!

Harry Maguire capped off the most remarkable turnaround when his 121st-minute goal ensured United secured a 7-6 win on aggregate.

His header capped off a frenetic period of extra time in which five goals were scored, the first time for a major European game, with the Red Devils finding the net three times in the space of seven minutes.

Sam Matterface explained: “Alex Crook and Lianne Sanderson put all of that into context, encapsulated it brilliantly.

“Great articulation, brilliant descriptions, kept a handle on the chaos, didn’t lose their minds. They were obviously emotional because both were very attached to Manchester United, but the way they encapsulated those six minutes, that six minutes is one of the hardest six minutes to do, and they did it very, very well.

“So the two of them did a brilliant job.”

Atmosphere of the Year

Our chief football commentator has been in the booth for more than 110 live matches in 2025, including both domestic cup finals at the national stadium.

However, Matterface reasoned that ‘sometimes the whole place needs to enjoy a moment’ and only half the crowd do at Wembley.

That was far from the case in February, when Newcastle reached the Carabao Cup final after beating Arsenal 2-0 at St. James’ Park.

The Magpies replicated their scoreline from the first leg, in which Mikel Arteta was ridiculed for his comments about the ball.

“St. James’ Park, a special place anyway,” Matterface said on the atmosphere of the year. “But 50,000 on a night that means so much.

“It is visceral, it is raw, it is intense, and it is intimidating. And Arsenal actually felt the weight of that that night.”

Game of the Year

NOMINEES

• Chelsea 3-0 Paris Saint-Germain; Club World Cup final.
• Tamworth 0-3 (AET) Tottenham; FA Cup third-round
  
• Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid; Champions League quarter-final first-leg
  
• Newcastle 2-3 Liverpool; Premier League
  
• Man United 4-4 Bournemouth; Premier League – WINNER!

Matterface admitted ‘recency bias’ may be a factor in his decision to pick the eight-goal thriller earlier this month as his game of the year.

Despite taking the lead three times in the match, United risked losing a home match when leading at half-time for the first time since losing to Ipswich Town in May 1984.

Second-half goals from Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha flipped the fixture on its head again, before a late strike from Junior Kroupi earned Bournemouth a point.

Amid the drama on the pitch, Kobbie Mainoo’s brother sparked his own headlines with a provocative T-shirt in the Old Trafford stands.

Matterface told talkSPORT: “It was a match that just had almost everything. I mean, it was error-strewn.

“It was the best I’d seen Manchester United play in an attacking sense for years. The atmosphere was off the charts…It finishes 4-4.

“That in itself is just off the scale. So that for me has got to be the game of 2025.”

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Team Player of the Year

Matterface then paid an emotional tribute to one of our own when honouring the player who represented their team in the best possible manner and helped their team succeed the most in 2025.

Stuart Pearce, a cherished part of our talkSPORT family, suffered unimaginable loss when his son, Harley, tragically passed away.

The 21-year-old was devastatingly involved in a fatal tractor crash on October 16, which sparked an outpour of emotion around the nation.

“This guy hates the limelight, hates any fuss whatsoever being given to him. But he is one of the most entertaining people I know.

“He is brilliant with the quizzes, as Roy Keane would say. He tells me which gigs to go to. He helps out the team with stupid jokes and little words of advice at just the right time.

“He’s one of the most experienced men that I get to spend time with. He’s a former England captain, a former England manager, and a former England assistant manager.

“He is a Premier League legend. He is an England legend. He has had two major incidents in 2025, which have really, really made him suffer, although he will never, ever mention it because he just doesn’t want anybody’s attention or sympathy.

“He was in the hospital in Newfoundland when I rang him from Copenhagen in March because he had a heart issue.

“He then had an unspeakable tragedy happen to him in the second half of the year. But he turns up every week. He checks on everybody else.

“In fact, he asked me the other day about something that I was struggling with, and I thought, ‘How on earth have you remembered that with all the stuff that’s going on in your life?’

“He is a grafter. He is the best teammate anybody could ever have. And he is Stuart Pearce. And he wins the talkSPORT Team Player Award, and nobody else gets a mention.”

Big Game Player of the Year

WINNER: Cole Palmer

Declan Rice’s masterful two free-kicks against Real Madrid, and the average Bruno Fernandes performance, got a mention here.

However, for Matterface, Chelsea’s Palmer was the unrivalled choice for making the biggest contribution for his club in 2025.

“He won the Conference League,” talkSPORT’s chief commentator said. “The final basically turned on him, grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and winning the game, despite Enzo Maresca’s rather mind-bending team selection and tactical approach, actually.

“He actually said, ‘I got bored, so I decided to do something.’
Which is what changed the whole narrative of that Cup final.

“Then he went and won the Club World Cup final, basically single-handedly. That was just unbelievable. It was a virtuoso performance against PSG, which was the best team in Europe at that time.

“So I think he deserves credit for that. And then he stole the show at the presentation with his interaction with the President of the United States. So it was definitely his day.

“When you go back over the course of the season, Liverpool won the Premier League, but the standout performances all happened in the first half of the season. That wasn’t in 2025.

“There’s a lot of good contenders, but for me, he’s the one who, when Chelsea really needs someone to stand up, he’s the one who delivers.”

Manager of the Year

WINNER: Oliver Glasner

Matterface put his occasional verbal sparring bouts with Ange Postecoglou aside to doff his cap to the former Tottenham boss for his Europa League triumph and his bold Nottingham Forest move.

Maresca deserves a nomination for winning two trophies, with Arne Slot also mentioned for last season’s Premier League title win.

But as per Matterface, ‘the man who has been the most consistent and has steered his team to a historic achievement is Oliver Glasner.’

“Leading Crystal Palace to the FA Cup for the first time, delivering a major trophy for that club for the first time, continuing to deliver this season as well after losing Eberechi Eze, as it shows what a class manager he is for me.

“They’ll definitely miss him when he leaves. He’s not going to be an easy man to replace. He is top, top quality.”

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Player of the Year

Women’s Player of the Year: Chloe Kelly

“Football is about delivering in top moments, and it’s about goals, and it’s about winning moments, and England would not have won anything, not a single thing, without Chloe Kelly.

“Not only has she won this European Championship, she won the last one as well. And her interactions off the bench, her introductions in key moments, completely changed that game.

“She showed a cool head with the penalty kicks that she took as well. She was absolutely sensational.

“Obviously, she had a very difficult year in 2025. Manchester City tried to freeze her out, then wouldn’t let her go to Manchester United.

“She went to Arsenal, we know the success that she had there. Then she went on with England to become an integral part, a finisher in that team again.”

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Men’s Player of the Year: Cole Palmer

“Morgan Rogers would probably get the award for Breakout Star, although the end of last season wasn’t as great and the start of this season was a little bit more sedate. He’s certainly come into his own in the last three months or so, and certainly he’s started to score some terrific goals. So he deserves a mention.

“Declan Rice delivered for Arsenal in big games, like massive games, chest pumped out. He was the one who was dragging them through, but they haven’t won anything.

“Salah, well, he didn’t really feature in the stats in 2025. Yeah, they won it off the back of what was a good first half of the season, but really, 2025 as a calendar year. Not really for me.

“Manchester City had a bit of an off-season last season. Erling Haaland started this year brilliantly, with 35 goals in 27 games for club and country at the time of recording. I’ve got to say that he has been terrific in the first six months of this season. And that includes for Norway as well, by the way. Look at some of the performances he’s put in there. Terrific.

“But I think, despite persistent injury, if you win two trophies for your club and you are the star of both shows, you’re probably the Men’s Player of the Year. So the Men’s Player of the Year is Cole Palmer.”