James Stevens Pearson (1905 – 24 January 1962) was an English 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 played as a full back. He was born in Heywood, Lancashire, and began his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with his hometown club in the early 1920s. In April 1925, Pearson joined

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

side

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, initially as an amateur, although he was offered a professional contract in September of the same year. He made his debut for Nelson on 3 October 1925 in the 0–1 defeat away at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and appeared in the following five matches, but then spent the majority of the 1925–26 season in the reserve team. During the 1926–27 campaign, Pearson was more involved in first-team activities and appeared in more than half of Nelson's league fixtures, although he was never able to properly displace club captain

Clem Rigg Clement Rigg (7 February 1899 – 1966) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back. He played over 250 matches in the Football League for Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a hi ...

from the left-back berth. He returned to the reserves for the 1927–28 season, making only seven senior appearances. Following a disappointing campaign in which the team finished bottom of the division, Nelson retained only six of their professional squad in the summer of 1928, and Pearson was one of several players to leave the club. Pearson subsequently returned to non-League football with

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, a settlement within the village of Martock, Somerset * Hurst, West Sussex, a hamlet * Hurst Spit, a shingle spit in Hampshire ** Hurs ...

of the

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

. He made his debut for the club on 25 August 1928 away at

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

. Pearson was Hurst's first-choice left-back for much of his year with the club and played 30 matches for the first team during the campaign. In September 1929, he left Hurst to sign for Newark Town, where he remained for three seasons before joining

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

in September 1932. Pearson was the cousin of

Ernie Braidwood Ernest Braidwood (14 April 1895 – 16 July 1968) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half. He started his senior career with Chesterfield Municipal before signing his first professional contract with Football League F ...

, who also played professional football for Nelson,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and

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 ...

. He died in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, Lancashire, on 24 January 1962.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, James 1905 births 1962 deaths People from Heywood, Greater Manchester Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Heywood F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Newark Town F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players English Football League players