Harold Frederick Pearson (7 May 1908 – 2 November 1994) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Football career

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. He joined West Bromwich Albion as an amateur in April 1925 and turned professional a month later. His father Hubert Pearson was also a goalkeeper and the two were together on Albion's books until Hubert's retirement in May 1926. Harold Pearson made his debut in December 1927, in a

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL 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. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. In 1930–31 he helped the club to achieve promotion to the First Division and played in the

1931 FA Cup Final The 1931 FA Cup Final was a football match between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham, played on 25 April 1931 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece event was the final match of the 1930–31 staging of English football's pri ...

, in which Albion beat Birmingham 2–1. In 1932 he earned his only cap for England, marking the occasion with a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in a 3–0 win over Scotland at Wembley Stadium. Pearson kept goal in the

1935 FA Cup Final The 1935 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday won 4–2, with goals scored by Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer (2). Wally Boyes and Teddy Sandford scored West B ...

, but this time earned only a runners-up medal as his team lost 4–2 to Sheffield Wednesday. After making 303 appearances for West Bromwich Albion, he joined Millwall for a £300 transfer fee in August 1937. He remained with Millwall until his retirement in 1940, though he did appear as a guest player for West Ham United later in Second World War. He died in November 1994 at the age of 86. By then, 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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Harold 1908 births 1994 deaths Sportspeople from Tamworth, Staffordshire English footballers England international footballers Association football goalkeepers Nuneaton Borough 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 FA Cup Final players