Alex Pearce

Alexander James Pearce (born 9 November 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Millwall and the Irish national team. He made two international appearances for the Scotland under-21 team but has played for the Republic of Ireland at full international level, having scored on his debut against Oman.

For the Australian rules footballer, see Alex Pearce (Australian footballer).

Alex Pearce
Pearce with Reading in 2008
Personal information
Full name Alexander James Pearce[1]
Date of birth (1988-11-09) 9 November 1988[2]
Place of birth Wallingford, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Millwall
Number 15
Youth career
2001–2006 Reading
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2015 Reading 212 (14)
2007 → Northampton Town (loan) 15 (1)
2007–2008 → Bournemouth (loan) 11 (0)
2008 → Norwich City (loan) 11 (0)
2008 → Southampton (loan) 9 (2)
2015–2019 Derby County 47 (3)
2016 → Bristol City (loan) 7 (0)
2019 → Millwall (loan) 11 (0)
2019– Millwall 29 (0)
National team‡
2006–2007 Scotland U19 3 (0)
2008 Scotland U21 2 (0)
2012– Republic of Ireland 7 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:22, 20 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:03, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

Club career

Reading

Pearce was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire and attended The Oratory School[2][3] in Woodcote until Sixth form, when he dedicated his time towards attending Reading's youth academy. He signed a three-year professional contract with Reading on 23 October 2006 and made his Reading debut in an FA Cup third-round game against Burnley on 9 January 2007, coming off the bench to replace Ívar Ingimarsson in the 74th minute.

On 9 February 2007, he joined Northampton Town on a month's loan.[4] He made his league debut in Northampton's 1–0 loss to Nottingham Forest,[5] but received praise from manager Stuart Gray for his performance.[6] He scored his first goal for Northampton in a 2–1 win over Scunthorpe on 8 April 2007.[7] His loan was extended to the end of the 2006–07 season on 8 March 2007,[8] returning to Reading in time to skipper the reserve team in the Premier Reserve League national final.[9] In the final, Reading were crowned champions after a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers, with goals from Alan Bennett and Pearce, to secure the trophy that had been won by Manchester United for the previous two years.[10]

On 2 November 2007, Pearce joined Bournemouth on loan until 8 December,[11] which was subsequently extended to 3 January 2008.[12] On 21 December 2007, it was announced that Pearce had signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract. Nick Hammond said Pearce "has a superb work ethic and mentality which gives him every chance of a long and successful career here at Reading."[13]

On his return from loan he played in the FA Cup fourth round replay against Spurs on 15 January 2008 at the Madejski Stadium, with the new England boss Fabio Capello in the stands. Pearce was handed his full debut at the start of the game, and put in a very solid performance before being sacrificed at half time as Steve Coppell made a tactical change and went from 5–4–1 to 4–4–2. Coppell said "People will think the substitution was based on performance, but that couldn't be further from the truth. We just had a game plan and stuck to it."[14]

Pearce made another loan move on 31 January 2008, this time joining Championship side Norwich City until the end of the 2007–08 season.[15] Upon his return to Reading he scored his first goal for them in a League Cup win over Luton Town on 26 August 2008.[16] He then went on loan to Southampton on 31 October 2008 until the end of December.[17] He made his debut at Preston North End on 1 November, scoring Southampton's first goal as they came from 2–0 down to claim a 3–2 victory.[18]

Following the departure of Reading's manager Steve Coppell and the arrival of his replacement, Brendan Rodgers, Pearce was appointed Reading's vice captain.[19] Due to an injury to new club captain Ívar Ingimarsson, Pearce started the 2009–10 in the first team side as captain. Pearce won Player of the Season for Reading in the 2011–12 Football League Championship winning season and was solid at the back all year whilst scoring goals of his own.[20] Pearce signed a new two-year contract on 21 June 2013.[21]

Derby County

Pearce signed a three-year contract with Derby County on 8 June 2015, with his Reading contract expiring at the end of the 2014–15 season.[22][23] He made his debut for Derby in a League Cup tie against Portsmouth on 12 August 2015.[24]

On 19 January 2016, Pearce joined Bristol City on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 season.[25]

On 29 October 2016 he scored his first goal for Derby in a 2–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.[26]

Millwall

On 4 January 2019, Pearce joined Millwall on loan for the second half of the 2018–19 season.[27] He was released by Derby County at the end of the 2018–19 season.[28] He signed for Millwall on 14 May 2019 on a free transfer.[29]

International career

Despite being born in England, Pearce qualified to play for Scotland through his parents, and represented them at youth level.[4] He made his debut for the Scotland U21 team in their 4–1 defeat to Norway U21 in Kilmarnock on 20 May 2008.[30][31]

Also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland,[32] having played for Ireland at schoolboy level[33] he made the switch to represent Ireland. In October 2011, he stated "The country I have always wanted to play for is Ireland."[33]

Pearce was called into the full Ireland squad on 8 September 2012 ahead of an international friendly against Oman three days later.[34] He scored a goal on his debut in a 4–1 victory on 11 September 2012.[35] On 3 September 2014, he scored the second goal of a 2–0 win over the same opposition.[36]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 18 July 2020[37]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Reading 2006–07 Premier League 001000— 10
2007–08 Premier League 002010— 30
2008–09 Championship 16110311[lower-alpha 1]0 212
2009–10 Championship 2541020— 284
2010–11 Championship 211102000 241
2011–12 Championship 4651000— 475
2012–13 Premier League 1901010—210
2013–14[38] Championship 4531000—463
2014–15[39] Championship 400603000490
Total 212141501211024015
Northampton Town (loan) 2006–07 League One 151000000 151
Bournemouth (loan) 2007–08 League One 11000001[lower-alpha 2]0 120
Norwich City (loan) 2007–08 Championship 1100000— 110
Southampton (loan) 2008–09 Championship 920000—92
Derby County 2015–16[40] Championship 001010—20
2016–17[41] Championship 200020—40
Bristol City (loan) 2015–16 Championship 700000—70
Millwall (loan) 2018–19 Championship 1104100—151
Millwall 2019–20 Championship 2902000—310
Career total 307172211512034619
  1. Appearance in the Championship play-offs
  2. Appearance in the Football League Trophy

International goals
As of match played 29 March 2016[42]
#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetition
1.11 September 2012Craven Cottage, London, England Oman4–1Friendly
2.3 September 2014Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Oman2–0Friendly

Honours

Reading

Individual

See also

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Derby County" (PDF). English Football League. p. 14. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 330. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. "ISFA – Current Professional Players". ISFA.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012.
  4. "Pearce secures loan move as he looks to gain valuable League experience". readingfc.co.uk. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  5. "Nottm Forest 1–0 Northampton". BBC Sport. 10 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
  6. "High praise for Pearce following his impressive League debut for Northampton". readingfc.co.uk. 13 February 2007. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
  7. "Northampton 2–1 Scunthorpe". BBC. 8 April 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  8. "Pearce extends his Cobblers loan". readingfc.co.uk. 8 March 2007. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2007.
  9. "Pearce and Cox back in the fold ahead of Bolton Wanderers reserve play-off". readingfc.co.uk. 10 May 2007. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  10. "Reserves are crowned the Premiership champions". readingfc.co.uk. 11 May 2007. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  11. "Cherries Finalise Loan Swoop". afcb.co.uk. 2 November 2007. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  12. "Trio extend loan stints". readingfc.co.uk. 12 December 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
  13. "Defender signs until 2010". readingfc.co.uk. 21 December 2007. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
  14. "Verdict on Federici, Cox, Pearce & Lita". readingfc.co.uk. 16 January 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  15. "Royals duo make City loan". readingfc.co.uk. 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
  16. "Reading 5–1 Luton". BBC. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  17. "Alex Pearce arrives". www.saintsfc.co.uk. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  18. "Remember, Remember the 1st of November ... McGoldrick, Surman and Pearce!". www.saintsfc.co.uk. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  19. "Ivar announced as new captain". readingfc.co.uk. 6 August 2009. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  20. "Pearce named Player of the Season". Reading Football Club. 1 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  21. "Pearce signs new contract". Reading F.C. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  22. "Derby County Sign Republic Of Ireland International Alex Pearce". Derby County F.C. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  23. "Darren Bent and Alex Pearce join Derby County". BBC Sport. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  24. "Portsmouth 2–1 Derby". BBC Sport. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  25. "Pemberton's delight at loan duo". www.bcfc.co.uk. Bristol City F.C. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  26. "Derby 2–0 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  27. "Pearce makes Millwall loan move". www.dcfc.co.uk. Derby County F.C. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  28. "Ashley Cole: Former England left-back set to retire after Derby exit". BBC Sport. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  29. "Alex Pearce makes Millwall move permanent". Millwall F.C. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  30. "Mixed emotions for Pearce". readingfc.co.uk. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  31. "Scotland U21 1–4 Norway U21". BBC Sport. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  32. "Fresh talent on Long list". Herald. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  33. "Reid 'unlikely' to make Irish return under Trapattoni". Irish Independent. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  34. McClean survives after tweet apology
  35. "Republic of Ireland 4–1 Oman". RTÉ Sport. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  36. "R. of Ireland 2–0 Oman". BBC Sport. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  37. "Alex Pearce". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  38. "Games played by Alex Pearce in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  39. "Games played by Alex Pearce in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  40. "Games played by Alex Pearce in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  41. "Games played by Alex Pearce in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  42. "Alex Pearce". eu-football.info. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
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