English Championship
2011-2012 / Reading
Alexander James Pearce (born 9 November 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Bracknell Town.
Pearce was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire and attended The Oratory School in Woodcote until Sixth form, when he dedicated his time towards attending Reading's youth academy. He signed a three year professional contract with Reading on 23 October 2006 and made his Reading debut in an FA Cup third round game against Burnley on 9 January 2007, coming off the bench to replace Ívar Ingimarsson in the 74th minute.
On 9 February 2007, he joined Northampton Town on a month's loan. He made his league debut in Northampton's 1–0 loss to Nottingham Forest, but received praise from manager Stuart Gray for his performance. He scored his first goal for Northampton in a 2–1 win over Scunthorpe on 8 April 2007. His loan was extended to the end of the 2006–07 season on 8 March 2007, returning to Reading in time to skipper the reserve team in the Premier Reserve League national final. In the final, Reading were crowned champions after a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers, with goals from Alan Bennett and Pearce, to secure the trophy that had been won by Manchester United for the previous two years.
On 2 November 2007, Pearce joined Bournemouth on loan until 8 December, which was subsequently extended to 3 January 2008. On 21 December 2007, it was announced that Pearce had signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract. Nick Hammond said Pearce "has a superb work ethic and mentality which gives him every chance of a long and successful career here at Reading."
2011-2012 / Reading
On his return from loan he played in the FA Cup fourth round replay against Spurs on 15 January 2008 at the Madejski Stadium, with the new England boss Fabio Capello in the stands. Pearce was handed his full debut at the start of the game, and put in a very solid performance before being sacrificed at half time as Steve Coppell made a tactical change and went from 5–4–1 to 4–4–2. Coppell said "People will think the substitution was based on performance, but that couldn't be further from the truth. We just had a game plan and stuck to it."
