Alexander James Pearce (born 9 November 1988) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team. He made two international appearances for the Scotland under-21 team but has played for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at full international level.

Club career

Reading

Pearce was born in

Wallingford, Oxfordshire Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish located between Oxford and Reading on the River Thames in England. Although belonging to the historic county of Berkshire, it is within the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire for adminis ...

and attended

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading. Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory has historical ties t ...

Woodcote Woodcote is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about southeast of Wallingford and about northwest of Reading, Berkshire. It is in the Chiltern Hills, and the highest part of the village is above sea level. Woodcote lies betwee ...

until

Sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

, when he dedicated his time towards attending

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

's youth academy. He signed a three-year professional contract with

on 23 October 2006 and made his Reading debut in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third-round game against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on 9 January 2007, coming off the bench to replace

Ívar Ingimarsson Ívar Ingimarsson (born 20 August 1977) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began his career in Iceland with Valur and ÍBV before moving to England where, after an initial loan spell with Torquay Un ...

in the 74th minute. On 9 February 2007, he joined

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on a month's loan. He made his league debut in Northampton's 1–0 loss to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, but received praise from manager Stuart Gray for his performance. He scored his first goal for Northampton in a 2–1 win over Scunthorpe on 8 April 2007. His loan was extended to the end of the 2006–07 season on 8 March 2007, returning to Reading in time to skipper the reserve team in the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

national final. In the final, Reading were crowned champions after a 2–0 win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

, with goals from

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and tw ...

and Pearce, to secure the trophy that had been won by

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

for the previous two years. On 2 November 2007, Pearce joined

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

on loan until 8 December, which was subsequently extended to 3 January 2008. On 21 December 2007, it was announced that Pearce had signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract.

Nick Hammond Nicholas David Hammond (born 7 September 1967 in Hornchurch, England) is an English former football goalkeeper. Playing career Hammond was an Arsenal apprentice, making his league début whilst on loan at Bristol Rovers in 1986, followed by ...

said Pearce "has a superb work ethic and mentality which gives him every chance of a long and successful career here at Reading." On his return from loan he played in the

fourth round replay against Spurs on 15 January 2008 at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

, with the new

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

boss

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...

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 Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

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." Pearce made another loan move on 31 January 2008, this time joining

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

until the end of the 2007–08 season. Upon his return to Reading he scored his first goal for them in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win over Luton Town on 26 August 2008. He then went on loan to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 31 October 2008 until the end of December. He made his debut at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on 1 November, scoring Southampton's first goal as they came from 2–0 down to claim a 3–2 victory. Following the departure of Reading's manager

and the arrival of his replacement,

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed un ...

, Pearce was appointed Reading's vice captain. Due to an injury to new club captain

, 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 The 2011–12 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the league under its current title and nineteenth season under its current league division format. Reading secured the ...

winning season and was solid at the back all year whilst scoring goals of his own. Pearce signed a new two-year contract on 21 June 2013.

Derby County

Pearce signed a three-year contract with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

on 8 June 2015, with his Reading contract expiring at the end of the 2014–15 season. He made his debut for Derby in a

tie against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 12 August 2015. On 19 January 2016, Pearce joined

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. On 29 October 2016, he scored his first goal for Derby in a 2–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Millwall

On 4 January 2019, Pearce joined

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

on loan for the second half of the 2018–19 season. He was released by Derby County at the end of the 2018–19 season. He signed for Millwall on 14 May 2019 on a free transfer. He was released on 20 May 2022.

AFC Wimbledon

Following his release by Millwall, Pearce joined

on 7 June 2022. He scored his first goal for

against

at Fratton Park on 19 December 2023, a result that sent The Dons into the last 16 of the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. He departed the club upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2023–24 season.

International career

Despite being born in England, Pearce qualified to play for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

through his parents, and represented them at youth level. He made his debut for the Scotland U21 team in their 4–1 defeat to Norway U21 in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on 20 May 2008. Also eligible to play for the

, having played for Ireland at schoolboy level he made the switch to represent Ireland. In October 2011, he stated "The country I have always wanted to play for is Ireland." Pearce was called into the full Ireland squad on 8 September 2012 ahead of an international friendly against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

three days later. He scored a goal on his debut in a 4–1 victory on 11 September 2012. On 3 September 2014, he scored the second goal of a 2–0 win over the same opposition.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pearce goal.''

Honours

Reading *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

: 2011–12 Individual * Reading Player of the Season: 2011–12

References

External links

* *
Interview with BBC Sport
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Alex 1988 births Living people People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers English men's footballers English people of Irish descent English people of Scottish descent Men's association football defenders Reading F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Norwich City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Premier League players English Football League players People educated at The Oratory School