Pearce Cyril Image 1 Charlton Athletic 1934

Description

Shirebrook, Derbyshire born centre forward Cyril Pearce began his football career with hometown Midland League club Shirebrook, playing for Warsop Main Colliery in 1926, Staveley Town in 1927, returning to Shirebrook in 1928, from where he was signed by Second Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1928, spending 1928-29 at Molineux without making Wolves’ first team. Pearce joined Third Division (South) club Newport County in the summer of 1930, making his Football League debut at outside right at Gillingham in September 1930.

Pearce came back into the team at centre forward six weeks later at the end of October and immediately made a big impact, scoring in each of his next 7 matches, a total of 14 goals including hat-tricks against Bournemouth and Swindon Town. He was Newport’s top scorer with 24 goals in 30 matches, but at the end of the season he was signed by Swansea Town, where he lit the blue touch paper with with 16 goals in his first 9 matches for The Swans which included 4 goals against Notts County and a hat-trick at Port Vale the following week.

After 35 goals in 41 matches Pearce was signed by Charlton Athletic, but despite being by far their top goalscorer with 23 goals in 30 matches, including hat-tricks at West Ham United and Grimsby Town, they were relegated in 1933. Pearce then top scored once again in 1933-34 as Charlton finished fifth in the Third Division (South) with 29 goals in 37 matches, including hat-tricks against Crystal Palace, Newport County and Watford, but he then lost his place (almost certainly through injury) in March 1934 and didn’t play at all during 1934-35, making only 8 further appearances for The Addicks through to the summer of 1937, when he was released to re-join Swansea Town after 55 goals in 75 matches for Charlton Athletic. He scored 8 further goals in 15 matches for The Swans during 1937-38 but returned to the Midland League in the summer of 1938 with Frickley Colliery, moving on to play for Shirebrook Miners Welfare in 1939 before the outbreak of the Second World War.