Born of Scottish parents in Wallingford, a market-town on the Oxford-Reading road, Alex Pearce had a trial for Oxford United – and for Arsenal, too – but became very much a Reading player, albeit one who was repeatedly loaned out: he was not yet 20 when Championship Southampton became his fourth such club.

He came forward from centre-back on his debut for the Saints, to head a goal at Preston, to start a comeback, from 2-0 down, that ended in a 3-2 win.

He soon returned to Reading, where he began the 2009-10 season as captain. He then played every minute as the Royals pipped the Saints to the Championship title in 2012, which meant that, in 2012-13, he at last got to play in the Premiership. Having played for the Republic of Ireland at schoolboy level and for Scotland’s U19s and U21s, Alex was capped by the Republic in September 2012 having been Reading’s Player of the Year 2011-12. He finally left Reading in 2015 to join Derby County permanently and then Millwall.