Harold Frederick Pearson (7 May 1908 – 2 November 1994) was an English

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 lea ...

who played at

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. He joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in 1925 and made his debut in December 1927 in a Division Two match against

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

. Pearson was on the 1931 FA Cup winning team. In 1932, he earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Pearson also kept goal in the 1935 FA Cup Final. In 1937, he 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 Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

where he played until his retirement in 1940.

Early life

Pearson was born in Tamworth. As a youngster he played football for Glascote United, Glascote Methodists, Belgrave YMCA, Belgrave United, Two Gates F.C., Nuneaton Town and

Tamworth Castle Tamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a Norman castle overlooking the mouth of the River Anker into the Tame in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. Before boundary changes in 1889, however, the castle was within the edge of ...

. He joined

as an amateur in April 1925 and turned professional a month later.

Football career

Harold Pearson made his debut in December 1927, in a Division Two match against

. In 1930–31, he helped the club to achieve promotion to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

and played in the 1931 FA Cup Final, in which Albion beat

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

2–1. In 1932, he earned his only

for

, marking the occasion with a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a 3–0 win over

. Pearson kept goal in the 1935 FA Cup Final, but this time earned only a runners-up medal as his team lost 4–2 to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. After making 303 appearances for West Bromwich Albion, he joined

for a £300

transfer fee In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...

in August 1937. He remained with Millwall until his retirement in 1940, though he did appear as a guest player for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

later in

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Personal life and death

Pearson's father Hubert Pearson was also a goalkeeper. The two played together at Albion until Hubert's retirement in May 1926. Pearson died in November 1994 at the age of 86. At the time, he was believed to be the oldest surviving former England international.

Notes

:A. Some sources say that he played for Nuneaton Borough, however the team were known as Nuneaton Town at the time Pearson played for them.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Harold 1908 births 1994 deaths Footballers from Tamworth, Staffordshire English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Nuneaton Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Millwall F.C. players West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players 20th-century English sportsmen