Ian Pearce
Personal information
Full name Ian Anthony Pearce[1]
Date of birth (1974-05-07) 7 May 1974[1]
Place of birth Bury St Edmunds, England[1]
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 West Bromwich Albion
(Head of Recruitment)
Youth career
Oxted & District
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Chelsea 4 (0)
1993–1997 Blackburn Rovers 63 (2)
1997–2004 West Ham United 142 (9)
2004–2008 Fulham 57 (1)
2008 → Southampton (loan) 1 (0)
2008–2009 Oxted & District
2009 Kingstonian 1 (0)
2009–2010 Lincoln City 14 (0)
2011–2012 Kingstonian 3 (0)
Total 285 (12)
International career
England U20
1995 England U21 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ian Anthony Pearce (born 7 May 1974) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is the head of recruitment at West Bromwich Albion.

As a player he was defender from 1990 until 2012, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he won the title in 1995. He also played top flight football for Chelsea, West Ham United and Fulham. He played in the Football League for Southampton and Lincoln City, as well as for non-league sides Oxted & District, Kingstonian and Lingfield. He was capped three times by the England U21 team in 1995.

Since retiring he has since worked on the coaching staff at Lincoln City and worked as a scout for Brighton & Hove Albion before taking up his current role with West Brom.

Club career

Chelsea

Pearce started his career at Oxted & District FC before signing for Chelsea during the 1991–92 season.[3] He made his debut on 11 May 1991 in a 2–2 draw with Aston Villa.[4] He made five substitute appearances in three seasons for the west London club,[5] before moving to Blackburn Rovers in October 1993 for a fee of £300,000.[6][7]

Blackburn Rovers

Pearce's Blackburn debut was in a League Cup third-round replay against Shrewsbury Town on 9 Nov 1993, in which Pearce scored the winning goal in extra time.[8] He scored his first League goal in April 1994 after coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win at West Ham United, a result which guaranteed Rovers a place in Europe for the first time in their history.[9][10] He moved to centre-half the following season, forming a formidable partnership with Colin Hendry, and won a Premier League medal in the 1994–95 season.

West Ham United

Pearce moved to West Ham United for £2.3 million on 9 October 1997.[6][11] After playing regularly in his first two seasons with the club, and being named as runner-up in the 1999 Hammer of the Year award,[12] he played just 37 minutes in 1999–2000 after injuring knee ligaments in a clash with teammate Stuart Pearce.[13] Pearce was out for 14 months, returning on 28 October 2000 against Newcastle United. He failed to find his true fitness, and only made 17 appearances in the 2000–01 season. He was able to take part in pre-season training for the first time in five years in 2002–03, and despite some further niggling injuries, made 33 appearances in all competitions. He continued his form into the 2003–04, registering 26 starts in the First Division, before moving to Fulham in the January transfer window.[14][15]

Fulham

Pearce signed for Fulham in January 2004 in a deal which involved an undisclosed transfer fee and Andy Melville moving to West Ham.[16] He started nine games of that season as Fulham's first choice centre back. He made his debut in a match against Tottenham Hotspur at Loftus Road on 31 January 2004.

However, in his 2004–05 season, he was hampered with a back injury sustained in December 2004. He did manage to play a few reserve games at the end of the season, but did not play for the first team. In August 2005, he was close to signing for Norwich City, but pulled out because of family reasons.

Pearce was praised as 'Best player in pre season' by then Fulham manager Chris Coleman. His admirable resolve was demonstrated when in a 1–1 draw against Portsmouth he played through a painful foot injury only to score an equaliser before time and secure a critical point for Fulham.[17]

On 22 February 2008, he joined Southampton on a 30-day loan deal. Injury restricted him to one appearance, in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe United.

Pearce had a trial for Brentford and played against Staines Town in a 3–0 win.

Later career

Pearce joined Surrey South Eastern Combination side Oxted & District, the club where his career began, in September 2008 and scored on his debut.[18] Pearce signed for Kingstonian of the Isthmian League Premier Division on 21 August 2009 as an attacking midfielder and forward and made his competitive debut for the club against Aveley. He left the club on 27 September.

On 9 October 2009, in addition to his contract as assistant manager, Pearce signed a playing contract with Lincoln City.[19] On 17 October, Pearce made his playing debut for Lincoln, coming on as a substitute in their 1–0 away defeat to Northampton Town.[20] He was sent off as an unused substitute in a match against Cheltenham Town on 14 November 2009.[21] He returned for Kingstonian on 19 March 2011, in the 2–0 win over Lowestoft Town.[22] He also played for Lingfield in 2011, where he linked up with fellow ex-pro Nicky Forster.[23][24]

International career

Pearce was part of the England under-20 team that came third in the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship, playing in all six matches and scoring one goal.[25] He was capped three times for England at under-21 level in the mid-1990s, but never made the senior national side.

Coaching career

On 30 September 2009, Pearce signed for Lincoln City as the club's assistant manager to newly appointed Chris Sutton, a former teammate at Blackburn Rovers.[4] He left when Sutton resigned on 29 September 2010.[26]

In 2014, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion as a scout.[3] On 1 November 2018, he joined West Bromwich Albion as head of recruitment.[27]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
1990–91ChelseaFirst Division100000-10
1991–92200000-20
1992–93Premier League100000-10
1993–94Blackburn RoversPremier League512021-92
1994–9528010102[lower-alpha 1]0320
1995–9612100305[lower-alpha 2]0201
1996–971200000-120
1997–98500000-50
1997–98West Ham UnitedPremier League3014110-352
1998–993320000-332
1999–20001000001[lower-alpha 3]020
2000–011511010-171
2001–02920000-92
2002–033022010-332
2003–04First Division2411010-261
2003–04FulhamPremier League1300000-130
2004–051200010-130
2005–061001010-120
2006–072211000-231
2007–08100010-20
2007–08SouthamptonChampionship100000-10
2009–10Lincoln CityLeague Two1001000-110
Career total 277121411318031214
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Cup and Charity Shield
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League and Charity Shield
  3. ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Honours

Blackburn Rovers

Cricket

In 2009 Ian Pearce made his debut for Oxted and Limpsfield Cricket Club (Sunday XI) who compete in the Surrey League. As of 2020, Pearce has a top score of 89, with an average of 16.12, and in the field has affected 4 run outs and taken 18 catches.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ian Pearce". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
  3. 1 2 "England's last side to reach a World Under-20s semi-final: where are they now?". The Telegraph. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Ian Pearce". 11v11.com. Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Player Database: Ian Pearce". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Ian Pearce". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Will May blossom in United's garden?". The Guardian. 13 August 1994. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com. Ian Pearce, the £300,000 signing from Chelsea last October
  8. ↑ Bateman, Cynthia (10 November 1993). "Understudy stars in the taming of the Shrews". The Guardian. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Wheelock, Paul (10 February 2016). "FLASHBACK: West Ham United 1 Blackburn Rovers 2". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "West Ham United v Blackburn Rovers, 27 April 1994". 11v11.com. Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "This week's transfers". The Guardian. 20 September 1997. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Hammer of the Year". West Ham United F.C. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Ian Pearce". ESPN. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  14. ↑ "Ian Pearce". westhamstats.info. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  15. ↑ Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 162. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  16. ↑ "Pearce joins Fulham". BBC Sport. 20 January 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  17. ↑ "Fulham 1–1 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  18. ↑ Box Turnbull, Greig (1 October 2008). "You're dropped! £3.5M SOCCER STAR FALLS 11 LEAGUES". The Mirror. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Pearce Pens Playing Contract". Lincoln City F.C. 9 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  20. ↑ "Northampton 1–0 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  21. ↑ "Lincoln City 1–1 Cheltenham". BBC Sport. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  22. ↑ "Ian Pearce". kingstonian.net. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  23. ↑ "FA CUP LIVE: Lingfield v Horsham". West Sussex County Times. 21 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
  24. ↑ "Ex-pros heading for The Salts?". Rye & Battle Observer. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  25. ↑ "Fulham's U-20 World Cup Links: Part One". Fulham F.C. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  26. ↑ "Sutton leaves Lincoln". Sky Sports. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  27. ↑ "Albion appoint new Head of Recruitment". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  28. ↑ "Ian Pearce: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  29. ↑ "Oxted and Limpsfield CC".
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