Early life and early career Shaun Mark Pearson was born on 28 April 1989 in
York, North Yorkshire. He attended Woodthorpe Primary School, before moving to
Norfolk with his family aged 11. Between 2005 and 2007 he studied Sports at Easton College, Norwich. He began his career with
United Counties Football League side
Spalding United. His appearances during the 2007–08 season earned him the Supporters Player of the Season award, which captured the attention of local rivals
Stamford. In his only season with The Daniels he went on to clinch a similar award to the one he had achieved with Spalding the previous season.
Boston United In the summer of 2009, Pearson made a second move in two seasons by joining
Northern Premier League Premier Division side
Boston United on 8 July 2009. Pearson became one of the club's favoured centre halves in the plans of management duo
Rob Scott and
Paul Hurst. At the end of the season Pearson and Boston earned promotion to the
Conference North division after beating
Bradford Park Avenue in the play-off final. During the course of the 2010–11 season United's management duo had departed to take over from
Neil Woods at
Grimsby Town and speculation mounted that Pearson would be joining his former mentors at
Blundell Park, Pearson was quick to quash the rumours saying that although he wanted to become a professional footballer he wanted to do it with Boston and was hopeful he could aid the club's promotion bid to the
Conference Premier. The rumour had also unsettled Boston chairman David Newton who said his main aim was to keep Pearson at
York Street following two outstanding seasons. After failing to earn promotion with United, Pearson admitted he could be about to join Scott and Hurst at Grimsby.
Grimsby Town On 27 June 2011 Grimsby made an official bid for Pearson that was rejected by Boston for being "way too low" under what the club had wanted for the player. Eventually Pearson became a Grimsby player with The Mariners also recruiting fellow Boston player Anthony Church. Both moves caused issues between the two clubs and a court tribunal had to be set in November 2011 to settle the compensation Grimsby would have to pay Boston for both players. No sooner than a month into his career at Grimsby, he had fetched his first trophy for the club in helping Town lift the
Lincolnshire Senior Cup after beating
Lincoln City at
Sincil Bank. Pearson made his professional debut for The Mariners in a 5–0 defeat against
Braintree Town. He would wait until 20 March 2012 before he finally netted his first goal for The Mariners in a 2–1 victory away at
Hayes & Yeading United. Pearson's goal turned out to be the winner as he scored a "thumping header" from a
Peter Winn cross in the 56th minute. On 9 April 2012 Pearson scored both goals in a 2–0 win over
Gateshead, the first a header and the second he managed to turn the ball over the line after his initial header had been cleared off the line. He ended the season having scored 3 goals in 33 appearances. Pearson continued his form and run in the team initially partnering
Fleetwood Town loanee
Nathan Pond for the first half of the 2012–13 season. The club had already defended the
Lincolnshire Senior Cup by yet again beating local rivals
Lincoln City on a penalty shootout at
Sincil Bank. The club also went on a healthy run in the
FA Trophy and after defeating
Dartford over two legs in the semi-final they met
Wrexham in the final at
Wembley Stadium, but even with Pearson shaking off an injury to play, Town suffered a 4–1 defeat on penalties after the game had ended 1–1 after normal time. Pearson scored his second goal of the season on 3 April 2013 in a 3–1 win over
Macclesfield Town, the win help aided Town's promotion push, that was eventually halted when they lost over two legs to
Newport County in the play-off semi-finals. Ahead of the 2013–14 season Pearson put pen to paper on a new one-year contract, with the player saying
Blundell Park was the best place to be for his development. He played in the
2015 Conference Premier play-off final against
Bristol Rovers at
Wembley on 17 May 2015; following a 1–1 draw after extra time, Grimsby lost 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, having made 146 league appearances for the club, Pearson put pen to paper on a new two-year contract. A number of sides were chasing his signature, Pearson said: ''"I COULD have gone elsewhere for more money, but I've loved every minute of my time here and I couldn't see myself anywhere else."'' Pearson played in Grimsby's 3–1 victory over
Forest Green Rovers in the
2016 National League play-off final at
Wembley, seeing Grimsby
promoted to
League Two after a six-year absence from
the Football League. He made his
League Two debut with the club on 6 August 2016 in the opening game of the
2016–17 season in Grimsby's 2–0 home victory against
Morecambe. After making 38 appearances and scoring two goals for Grimsby in the
2016–17 season he was released by the club on 18 May 2017.
Wrexham On 19 May 2017, Pearson signed for National League side
Wrexham on a two-year contract. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, all of Wrexham's players were
furloughed and Pearson worked as a pizza delivery driver and night shifts at
Tesco.
Return to Grimsby Town On 4 June 2021, Pearson re-signed for National League side
Grimsby Town on a two-year contract. Grimsby secured promotion with victory in the
play-off final, though Pearson was an unused substitute at the
London Stadium. On 2 December 2022, Pearson rejoined former club
Boston United on a one-month loan. Grimsby Town announced that Pearson would be retiring from professional football at the end of the 2022–23 season, with the game against
AFC Wimbledon on 8 May 2023 spelling the end of his career. The club announced Pearson would be remaining with the club and would be part of
Paul Hurst's back room staff. Upon retiring,
Hollywood actor and Wrexham co-owner
Ryan Reynolds described Pearson as "one of the best". ==International career==