Pearce: Jason Daniel (Jason)

2012-2015 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Centre-Back

Born: Hillingdon, London: 06-12-1987

Debut: Shrewsbury Town (h): 11-08-2012

5’10” 12st (2011)

Pearce started his football career with Portsmouth as an apprentice in 2004 and he signed professional forms in January 2006. Still only eighteen he was loaned out to Bognor Regis Town, where he scored once, in the sixtieth minute of a 3-1 win over Weston-Super-Mere on 14th October 2006, in fourteen League starts between 19th August 2007 and 4th December 2006 and Woking, where he also scored once, in the thirty-second minute of his debut in a 2-3 away loss to Dagenham and Redbridge on 6th January 2007, in fifteen starts and three games from the bench in a four month stay from January 2007 to the end of the season. He was transfer to Bournemouth on 9th August 2007, on a two year contract, not having played a senior game for Portsmouth, at no fee, but Pompey were to receive half of any fee for a future transfer from Bournemouth. A left-sided central defender, Pearce soon settled into the Bournemouth first team squad, scoring once in thirty starts and three games from the bench in League games in his first season of 2007-08, when the club was relegated to League Two from League One after finishing twenty-first. He followed that up by scoring twice in forty-four League starts in 2008-09, when the club finished twenty-first once more but narrowly avoided further relegation. He scored once in thirty-nine League starts in 2009-10, when they were promoted back to League One after finishing Runners-up to Notts County. Then in 2010-11 he scored three times and was ever-present in the League and played in both play-off semi finals. He was elected "Player of the Year" by the club at the end of the season. He was made team captain on 4th January 2010 and led the Cherries to the play-offs before being defeated 4-2 on penalties by Huddersfield Town after drawing the home leg 1-1 and then holding Town 3-3 after extra-time before he was sent off in the one hundred and twelfth minute. It proved to be his final game for Bournemouth as he was transferred back to Portsmouth for £500,000 on a three year contract on 24th June 2011. While at Dean Court he scored seven goals in one hundred and sixty-two League games of which three were as a substitute, he scored once in nine starts and one game from the bench in the F.A. Cup, started four games in the League Cup, and also started two play-off and five Johnstone's Paint Trophy games. He missed the first three games of the season for Portsmouth due to the red card in his final game for Bournemouth and made his debut in a 1-0 home win over Reading on 16th August 2011. He had the oppurtunity to join Ipswich Town in January 2012, but chose to stay and try help Portsmouth to avoid relegation. In his second stint at Fratton Park he scored twice in forty-three League starts and also started one F.A. Cup tie as after the club went into administration they were deducted ten points and instead of being eighteenth they finished twenty-second. He was elected "Player of the Year" by Portsmouth at the end of the season. The administration also forced Pompey to sell their better players and Pearce was one of the first to go. On 4th May 2012 he was sold to Leeds United for an undisclosed fee, thought to be £500,000, on a four year contract and he was given the No. 5 shirt. Pearce was the regular Leeds Centre-Back for most of the season and stand-in Captain whenever Lee Peltier was absent. He lost his first team spot after being sent off at home to Watford on 10th November 2012. Alan Tate was loaned to cover for his three match suspension, but then Pearce found himself on the bench as Tate was preferred. He regained his spot for a short while after Tate had left, but then he was on the bench once more as the pairing of Lee Peltier and Tom Lees was the first choice. But then Lees was suspended and then Peltier was injured which saw him reinstated as first choice Centre-Back for the final seven games of the season under Brian McDermott. Pearce remained first choice central defender in 2013-14 missing only one game, when his partner gave birth to their child. He was appointed Captain of Leeds United at the start of the 2014-15 season. He lost his first team spot to Giuseppe Bellusci and his captaincy to Stephen Warnock for the home game with Derby County on 29th November 2014, which Leeds won 2-0. He regained his defensive position but not the captaincy while Bellusci was injured for the next three games, but Bellusci recovered for the Boxing Day 0-2 home loss to Wigan Athletic and Pearce was on the outer, making only a fleeting substitute appearance, when Alex Mowatt was sacrificed after Giuseppe Bellusci had been sent off in the closing minutes of the 1-0 home win over Bournemouth on 20th January 2015. It proved to be his final contribution to Leeds. On 30th January 2015 he signed a long term contract with the Latics who parted with £300,000 to clinch the deal. He made his League debut for Wigan in a 1-0 win at Reading on 17th February 2015 and scored the only goal of the game in the seventeenth minute. He also scored a sixty-ninth minute equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Fulham on 10th April 2015. The game had a distict "Leeds" flavour about it with Ross McCormack opening the scoring for Fulham in the fourth minute for Jermaine Pennant to equalise in the twenty-second minute for Wigan and then Matt Smith restored Fulham's lead after thirty-five minutes, while Wigan keeper, Scott Carson, denied the home side any further score! Pearce helped Wigan to avoid relegation, making sixteen starts in the League.