Krystian Pearce

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Krystian Pearce
Personal information
Full name	Krystian Mitchell Victor Pearce
Date of birth	5 January 1990 (1990-01-05) (age 18)
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Centre-back
Club information
Current club	Birmingham City
Number	30
Youth clubs
2000–2007	Birmingham City
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2007– 2007–2008 2008	Birmingham City → Notts County (loan) → Port Vale (loan)	00 0(0) 08 0(1) 12 0(0)
National team2
2006–2007 2007–	England U-17 England U-19	13 0(2) 05 0(2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:05, 4 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:59, 2 June 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Krystian Mitchell Victor Pearce (born 5 January 1990) is an English professional footballer currently playing as a central defender for Birmingham City. He represented England at the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, where they reached the final, and at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In September 2007 he made his debut for the England under-19 team, the year above his actual age group. He made his debut in the Football League on 17 November 2007 while on loan to Notts County. He is yet to make his first team debut for Birmingham, though he has been an unused substitute.

Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Style of play 4 Honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

Pearce was born in Birmingham and joined Birmingham City's Academy when he was ten years old. He began as a striker ^[1] but converted to play in defence. He was first given a squad number in January 2007 when included in the travelling squad for the FA Cup replay at Newcastle United but did not make the final 16.^[2] Two months later he signed his first professional contract which is due to expire in 2009.^[3] He made frequent appearances for Birmingham City's reserve team, winners of their division of the Pontin's Holidays reserve league,^[4] and captained the under-18 side which reached the quarter-final of the FA Youth Cup^[5] where they were beaten by Manchester United.^[6] Singled out in Academy manager Terry Westley's 2006–07 end-of-season report as "the one name that does stand out in terms of what he has achieved",^[7] Pearce was chosen as Academy Player of the Season.^[8]

He was given a squad number for the 2007–08 season and included in Birmingham's squad for the League Cup match at Blackburn Rovers,^[9] but remained an unused substitute.

On 8 November 2007 Pearce signed a one-month loan deal at Football League Two side Notts County in order to gain experience.^[10] He made his competitive debut two days later in the starting eleven for Notts County's 3–0 FA Cup first round win over Histon,^[11] and the following Saturday made his Football League debut for the club, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 defeat at home to Macclesfield Town.^[12] On 8 December 2007 he scored his first senior goal, in a 2–1 win against Shrewsbury Town,^[13] contributing to him being named in the League Two Team of the Week,^[14] after which his loan was extended for a further month.^[15] A sending-off for a clumsy challenge^[16] failed to dampen County's wish to extend the loan again,^[17] but Birmingham recalled the player at the expiry of the second month^[18] so that new manager Alex McLeish could assess him as possible cover during Radhi Jaïdi's absence at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.^[19]

On 31 January 2008 Pearce joined Port Vale of League One on loan for an initial period of one month to gain experience at a higher level.^[20] This loan spell was disrupted by another red card, this time for two bookings,^[21] resulting in a two-game ban which left the player anxious to make amends.^[22] His loan was twice extended, up to the maximum permissible 93 days,^[23][24] though an ankle injury cut short his stay with the club.^[25]

In May 2008 Pearce signed a new two-year contract with Birmingham, in recognition of his performances while on loan and his potential to develop into a first-team player.^[26]

[edit] International career

Pearce was first capped at under-17 level for England on 26 October 2006 in a UEFA mini-tournament against Portugal under-17^[27] and was part of the squad which qualified for the final stages of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship held in Belgium in May 2007.^[28] He started all of England's games in those finals,^[29] scoring their opening goal, his first at international level,^[30] and helping them to reach the final where they lost to Spain under-17.

England's performance in the UEFA championships earned them qualification for the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea. Again Pearce was in the starting eleven for each of England's games, and scored the second goal in their win over Syria U-17 in the round of 16, described in FIFA's match report as: "Once again, another Porritt cross caused problems for Mohamad Aljomaa's side, the ball fell to centre half Krystian Pearce, who showed all the composure of a striker, taking two touches before hitting a low shot into the net."^[31]

During both the European and World tournaments, Pearce formed a sound defensive partnership with team captain Jordan Spence of West Ham United;^[32][33] Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's Director of Football Development, tipped the pair for future success.^[34] He is described in an article on the FA's website as "arguably England’s best player at the World Cup".^[35]

In September 2007 Pearce was called up to the England under-19 squad for the qualifying tournament for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, despite being a year younger than most of the squad.^[36][37] He played the whole of England's first two games and was rested for the third, coming on at half time and scoring the third goal in a 3–1 win.^[38] Called up for a friendly against Russia under-19 in March 2008, Pearce was withdrawn and allowed to play for his loan club Port Vale, on the grounds that both England under-19 coach Brian Eastick and Birmingham City saw "playing in a League One game against Gillingham as being beneficial to his development".^[39] He was part of the under-19 squad which topped their group at the elite qualification stage, thereby qualifying for the finals of the European Championship, starting in their second match and coming on as a very late substitute in the third.^[40]

[edit] Style of play

Pearce is good in the air, as one would expect of a large man, and has pace and composure.^[3] He is equally comfortable with the ball at his feet^[1][41] and does not lack confidence.^[32][42] Birmingham Academy manager Terry Westley says, "He has pace and power in abundance and he will be an absolute giant when he stops growing. He's strong, he's tidied up his feet and he's another ... who is not flash or arrogant. He thrives on being pushed."^[43] His nickname is "Chief", because "one of the [Birmingham] coaches said he saw a movie and there was a chief in it who didn't talk much but everyone looked up to him and respected him. I am like that so everyone gave me the name."^[32]

[edit] Honours

• with Birmingham City
  • Academy Player of the season 2006–07.
  • Pontin Holidays Reserve League Division One Central champions 2007.
• with England under-17
  • UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship runners-up 2007.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Krystian Pearce career stats at Soccerbase
• Birmingham City player profile (registration required)
• Football Association player profile
• "Krystian faith" – article on The FA website

v • d • e Birmingham City F.C. – current squad 1 Maik Taylor • 2 Kelly • 4 Martin Taylor • 6 Ridgewell • 7 Larsson • 8 O'Connor • 10 Jerome • 11 McSheffrey • 12 Nafti • 13 Doyle • 14 Murphy • 15 Queudrue • 16 McFadden • 20 De Ridder • 21 Parnaby • 22 Johnson • 23 Kapo • 24 Jaïdi • 25 Aluko • 26 Muamba • 30 Pearce • 31 Mutch • — Carsley • Manager: McLeish

Persondata
NAME	Pearce, Krystian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Pearce, Krystian Mitchell Victor
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	1990-05-01
PLACE OF BIRTH	Birmingham, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH