Krystian Pearce

Krystian Mitchell Victor Pearce (born 5 January 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Kidderminster Harriers and the Barbados national team.

Pearce began his football career with Birmingham City, but never played for their first team.

Singled out in Academy manager Terry Westley's end-of-season report as "the one name that does stand out in terms of what he has achieved", Pearce was chosen as Academy Player of the Season for 2006–07.

Pearce was born in England, and played for England U17 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, and played at the finals of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

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.

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

On 8 November 2007, Pearce signed a one-month loan deal at League Two side Notts County in order to gain experience.

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, 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.

On 8 December he scored his first senior goal, in a 2–1 win against Shrewsbury Town, contributing to him being named in the League Two Team of the Week, after which his loan was extended for a further month.

A sending off for a clumsy challenge failed to dampen County's wish to extend the loan again, but Birmingham recalled the player at the expiry of the second month so that new manager Alex McLeish could assess him as possible cover during Radhi Jaïdi's absence at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.

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.

This loan spell was disrupted by another red card, this time for two bookings, resulting in a two-game ban which left the player anxious to make amends.

This loan was twice extended, up to the maximum permissible 93 days, though an ankle injury cut short his stay with the club.

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.

On 19 August 2008, he joined League One club Scunthorpe United on loan for a month, later extended, initially until January 2009, then until the end of the season, including, if necessary, for the play-offs.

Pearce scored twice for Scunthorpe, once in the league against Swindon Town and once in the Football League Trophy against Rotherham United.

He partnered with David Mirfin for the majority of the 2008–09 campaign, though was dropped for the experienced Andy Crosby with four games left of the season due to niggling injuries and a lack of form – Crosby went on to captain the club to victory in the play-off final.

Two months later he signed his first professional contract, due to expire in 2009.

He made frequent appearances for Birmingham City's reserve team, winners of their division of the Central League.

As captain of the under-18 side, he scored the winning goal which put his team through to the quarter-final of the FA Youth Cup, in which he conceded a penalty as Birmingham lost to Manchester United.

Pearce signed for Peterborough United on a season-long loan on 20 July 2009.

In the starting eleven for the League Cup win against Wycombe Wanderers in August, he had to wait until late September for his first League appearance, as a second-half substitute in a poor team performance as Peterborough lost 2–0 away at Blackpool.

In contention to start the next game, Pearce remained among the substitutes as changes were made in defence, and his 20-minute appearance as Peterborough lost 2–1 at home to Plymouth Argyle was his last League outing for the club.

That turned out to be Pearce's only appearance for Huddersfield, as loan signing Neal Trotman was preferred, and the player left the club at the end of the 2009–10 season having failed to reach agreement on a new deal.

He spent time on loan at Notts County, with whom he made his debut in the English Football League, Port Vale, Scunthorpe United and Peterborough United before leaving Birmingham permanently for Huddersfield Town in 2010.

Pearce remained out of favour as Mark Cooper succeeded Darren Ferguson as manager, and in January 2010 the loan was cut short and the player returned to Birmingham.

On 19 January 2010, Pearce joined League One side Huddersfield Town on an emergency loan deal, to be made permanent the following day.

He made his debut for the Terriers as a half-time substitute in the 5–0 defeat by Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on 2 March.

After a successful trial, Pearce signed a one-year deal with former club Notts County in August 2010.

In March 2011, he suffered serious injury after a clash of heads with teammate Stephen Darby in training, only weeks after a similar collision with Manchester City's Mario Balotelli in an FA Cup match.

He remained unconscious for two to three minutes and was detained in hospital where he was found to have blood on the brain.

He returned to Notts County later that year, and had a spell on loan at Barnet in 2012 before signing for Torquay United in 2013.

After two seasons with Torquay, he spent five years with Mansfield Town in League Two and then half a season with Solihull Moors in the National League.

He joined Hereford in August 2021 and moved on to Kidderminster Harriers in June 2022.

He was promoted out of the National League North with Kidderminster via the play-offs in 2023.

He established himself as a first-team regular and was rewarded with a contract extension until 2013.

He switched in 2018 to represent Barbados, for which he qualified via descent.

Pearce was born in Birmingham and started his career at Sunday league side Kingsdown Colts before joining Birmingham City's Academy when he was ten years old.

He began as a striker but converted to play in defence.