Krystian Pearce

Birmingham City

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. He began as a striker 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. 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. 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.

2007–08 season

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…

Pearce was born in England, and is of Barbadian descent through his father. He was first capped at under-17 level for England on 27 October 2006 in a UEFA mini-tournament against Portugal, 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. He started all of England's games in those finals, and scored their opening goal, his first at international level, helping them to reach the final in which they lost 1–0 to Spain. 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." During both the European and World tournaments, Pearce formed a sound defensive partnership with team captain Jordan Spence of West Ham United; Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's Director of Football Development, tipped the pair for future success. Pearce was described in an article on the FA's website as "arguably England's best player at the World Cup". In September 2007, Pearce was called up to the England under-19 squad for the qualifying…

Pearce is good in the air, as one would expect of a large man, and has pace and composure. He is equally comfortable with the ball at his feet and does not lack confidence. According to Birmingham Academy manager Terry Westley, "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."

Club

International