James_Pearson_(footballer,_born_1993)

James Pearson (footballer, born 1993)

James Pearson (footballer, born 1993)

English footballer


James Pearson (born 19 January 1993) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

Early life

Pearson is the son of Nigel Pearson, a former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough defender, who has later managed teams such as Hull City and Leicester City. James still resides in Sheffield where he was born while his father was playing for Sheffield Wednesday. He attended Westbourne School in Sheffield, and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire.[3]

Career

Early career

Pearson's youth career began at Rotherham United. He was released from the club in the summer of 2009.[3]

Leicester City

On 19 September 2012, Pearson joined, on a 12-month contract, Football League Championship side Leicester City, who were then managed by his father Nigel,[4] the season before they returned to the Premier League after a ten-year absence.

On 11 March 2014, James Pearson joined League One club Carlisle United on loan for the rest of the 2014–15 season, along with Watford's Reece Brown.[5] The next day, he made his professional debut, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 defeat at Sheffield United.[6] He went on to represent Carlisle in a draw against Stevenage and a loss to Notts County,[7] before returning to Leicester, where he extended his contract by one more year on 2 June.[8]

On 26 August 2014, Pearson made his Leicester City debut, along with Ryan Watson and Michael Cain, in the 1–0 League Cup second round home defeat to League Two Shrewsbury Town, playing the whole match.[9]

On 27 October, Pearson joined Conference Premier side Wrexham on a month-long loan,[10] eventually extended into January 2015.[11] He played five league games for Wrexham, in addition to two FA Trophy games and three rounds of the FA Cup, ending with a 3–1 defeat at top-flight Stoke City in the third round on 4 January.[12]

In March 2015, Pearson joined Peterborough United on loan until the end of the 2014/15 season.[13] He did not make an appearance for the club.

On 17 June 2015, Pearson's contract was terminated by Leicester City following a racist orgy during the club's promotional tour in Thailand.[14]

Barnet

Following his departure from Leicester, Pearson trained with his former club Rotherham,[15] before joining Barnet on 2 February 2016,[16] "on a non-contract basis".[17] In March 2016, he signed a contract to keep him at the club until summer 2017.[18] Pearson suffered a knee injury in 2016–17 pre-season which kept him out for the entirety of the campaign. He was released at the end of the season.[19]

Coventry City

Pearson joined Coventry City on a non-contract basis on 4 August 2017.[20] He was released on 30 August having made no appearances.[21]

Kidderminster Harriers

In September 2017, he joined Kidderminster Harriers on a deal until the end of the season[22]

Macclesfield Town

In July 2018, Pearson joined newly promoted Macclesfield Town on a one-year deal.

Retirement

In October 2020, Pearson revealed in an interview with The Guardian that he had retired from football due to injury.[23]

Controversy

In May 2015, during an Asian promotional tour, Pearson and teammates Tom Hopper and Adam Smith, took part in a sordid racist sex tape filmed on the club's end-of-season tour of Thailand",[14] a copy of which was obtained and published by the Sunday Mirror.[24] According to the media reports, "One of the men in the video ... can be heard using a racist insult against a woman."[24] The three players apologised for their behaviour.[24] All three were sacked on 17 June.[14] In relation to the tape, Nigel Pearson too was sacked as Leicester manager by the club's Thai owners, on 30 June 2015.[25]

Career statistics

More information Club, Season ...
  1. Appearances in the FA Trophy
  2. Appearance in the EFL Trophy

References

  1. "Professional Retain List & Free Transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 3 June 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. James Pearson at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  3. "Nigel Pearson signs son James for Leicester City". BBC Sport. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  4. "Carlisle sign Leicester's James Pearson & Watford's Reece Brown". BBC Sport. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  5. "Sheff Utd 1-0 Carlisle". BBC Sport. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  6. "James Pearson". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  7. "Deals for Development Squad Duo". Leicester City FC. 2 June 2014.
  8. "Leicester 0-1 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  9. "Leicester City defender James Pearson joins Wrexham on loan". BBC Sport. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  10. "Wrexham extend Leicester defender James Pearson's loan". BBC Sport. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  11. Reddy, Luke (4 January 2015). "Stoke-Wrexham 3-1". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  12. "Leicester City: Three players sacked following racist sex tape". BBC Sport. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  13. "James Pearson signs for Barnet!", Barnet F.C. website, 2 February 2016
  14. "Pearson Added To Kidderminster Squad". Non League Pitchero. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  15. Fisher, Ben (7 October 2020). "'Players were in tears': what it was really like as Macclesfield collapsed". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  16. "Leicester City trio apologise for behaviour on Thailand tour". BBC News. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  17. "Nigel Pearson: Leicester boss's sacking linked to son's actions". BBC Sport. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  18. "Games played by James Pearson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  19. "Games played by James Pearson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  20. "Games played by James Pearson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  21. "Games played by James Pearson in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  22. "Games played by James Pearson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  23. "Games played by James Pearson in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  24. "Games played by James Pearson in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2019.

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