John Arthur Pearson (born 23 April 1935) is an English former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager who played in the Football League for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and Queens Park Rangers. An inside left, he later had a long 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 ...

Playing career

Brentford

An inside left, Pearson began his career at Third Division South club

, after joining from Chase Of Chertsey in 1951. He was a part of the Brentford youth team which reached the semi-finals of the 1952–53

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. He made his professional debut in a 3–0 victory over Colchester United on 10 September 1955. It proved to be his first of four appearances during the 1955–56 season. Pearson failed to establish himself in the first team at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

and made just one further appearance, before being released at the end of the 1957–58 season.

Queens Park Rangers

Pearson transferred to West London rivals Queens Park Rangers in June 1958. He had a good start to his career at Loftus Road, scoring six goals in 16

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 ...

appearances during the 1958–59 season. He scored three goals in five appearances during the 1959–60 season, before departing the club.

Non-League football

After his release from Queens Park Rangers, Pearson dropped into

, playing for Kettering Town,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, Folkestone Town, Stevenage Town, Crawley Town, Yiewsley and

Chertsey Town Chertsey Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chertsey, Surrey, England. The club currently competes in the Isthmian League South Central Division. The home of Football The club was established as Chertsey Football ...

Management career

While with Chertsey Town, Pearson served as player-manager at the club.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, John 1935 births Footballers from the London Borough of Hounslow People from Isleworth English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Dover F.C. players Southern Football League players Men's association football inside forwards Folkestone F.C. players Stevenage Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Hillingdon Borough F.C. players Chertsey Town F.C. players Living people Chertsey Town F.C. managers English football managers