Christopher Leslie Pearce (born 7 August 1961) is a Welsh former

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 ...

. A

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, he made 304 league appearances in a 14-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. A former

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

apprentice, he turned professional at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in 1979. He was loaned out to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, before he was allowed to sign with Rochdale permanently in 1982. He moved on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in June 1983, and helped the "Valiants" to win promotion out of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1985–86. He joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in May 1986, before he was bought by

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 ...

for £4,000 in July 1987. He won a

Football League 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 Leag ...

runners-up medal with the "Clarets" in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and helped the club to win the Fourth Division title in 1991–92. He later played for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, before spending time with non-league clubs

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

, and

Rossendale United Rossendale United Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in the village of Newchurch within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. The club was founded in 1898. Nicknamed the Stags, they had a long and eventful run wh ...

Career

Pearce was an apprentice at

, but was never offered a professional contract at Molineux. He instead turned professional with

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...

in 1979. He spent three years at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

, but never made a first team appearance. He did though play five

games on loan at

in the 1980–81 season. He was also loaned out to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

, but never made a first team appearance for the "Tykes". He returned to Rochdale on a free transfer for the start of the 1982–83 campaign. Described as "brave and agile", he also appeared to be vulnerable on crosses. He played 36 league games at

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Rochdale ward name is Spotland and Falinge. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 10,805. It lies on the River Spodden, and is the home of Spotland Stadium ...

, before

Jimmy Greenhoff James Greenhoff (born 19 June 1946) is an English former association football, footballer. He was a skilful Forward (association football), forward and although capped five times at England national under-23 football team, under-23 level, once a ...

replaced Peter Madden as manager, and selected Graham Crawford for the end-of-season run-in. He was signed by John McGrath's

as an understudy to

Barry Siddall Barry Alfred Siddall (born 12 September 1954) is an English former professional football goalkeeper. When he retired from the game he had 614 appearances to his name over a 21-year career in the Football League, playing for numerous clubs. He p ...

in June 1983. He featured eight times in the 1983–84 season, as the "Valiants" suffered relegation out of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. He became new manager

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

's preferred choice in goal, and played 43 games in the 1984–85 campaign. However, he lost his first team place at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

to new signing Jim Arnold – who went on to win the club's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

award, and featured just six times in the 1985–86 Fourth Division promotion winning campaign. He was given a free transfer in May 1986, and moved on to

. He played 25 Fourth Division games for

Dixie McNeil Richard "Dixie" McNeil (born 16 January 1947) is an English former footballer and manager, who played as a striker. Playing career As a schoolboy, McNeil signed for Leicester City after playing for the local club Holwell Works, but he was re ...

's "Dragons" in the 1986–87 season, and also played in Europe against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...

. Pearce was signed by

manager Brian Miller for a £4,000 fee as a replacement for Joe Neenan in July 1987. He was one of eight "Clarets" players to make his debut in a 3–0 defeat to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

on 15 August 1987. The team soon gelled though, and Pearce played a total of 59 games in the 1987–88 campaign. The last of these games was the Football League Trophy Final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, which ended in a 2–0 defeat to

. He played 47 games in the 1988–89 campaign, and only missed the chance to become an ever-present for two seasons running due to a facial injury in April. He remained the first choice goalkeeper ahead of David Williams under new manager

Frank Casper Frank Casper (born 9 December 1944) is an English former professional football player, coach and manager, born in Barnsley. As a player, he made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League as a striker for Rotherham United and Burnley. He ...

, and played 49 matches in the 1989–90 season. He featured 55 times in the 1990–91 campaign as Burnley reached the play-off semi-finals, where they were beaten by

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. On 29 January, he kept a clean sheet against

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...

in the

after making "a string of top class saves". However, he played just 14 league games in the 1991–92 season, as Burnley won promotion as champions of the Fourth Division. At various point in the season he was on the bench as David Williams, and loanees

Andy Marriott Andrew Marriott (born 11 October 1970) is an English-born Welsh professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is a journeyman player, having represented various clubs, and has also played for the Welsh national team. Football career Ma ...

, Mark Kendall, and

Nicky Walker Joseph Nicol Walker (born 29 September 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for several clubs in Scotland and England. Walker was selected for many Scotland squads during the 1990s, earning two internat ...

all got the nod ahead of Pearce. He was released in April 1992, though had become a "cult figure" at Turf Moor during his 236 league and cup games. Pearce played nine Second Division games for Bradford City in the 1992–93 campaign, though failed to impress for

Frank Stapleton Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. H ...

's "Bantams", and moved into

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

football with

and

. He also spent time with

North West Counties The North West Counties A.R.L. were a series of rugby league regional leagues in the North West of England. Most clubs at open age level joined the North West Men's League in 2011 and 2012 but it carried on until folding part way through the 2014- ...

club

. After leaving professional football he worked as a

driving instructor A driving instructor is a person who is hired by a new driver who is learning how to improve their skills - often for an upcoming practical test. Different countries have different rules regarding permits and other regulations. Driving instructors ...

and

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

, before working for a firm that supplies machines to the paper industry.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

fourth-place promotion: 1985–86 Burnley *

runner-up:

: 1991–92

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Chris Footballers from Newport, Wales Welsh footballers Association football goalkeepers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players 1961 births Living people