Stephen Paul Pearson (born 2 October 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career at Motherwell and joined Celtic in 2004, where he won domestic honours including two Scottish Premier League titles. In January 2007 he moved to Derby County, whom he helped achieve promotion to the Premier League, later having loans at Stoke City and Bristol City, whom he joined permanently in 2012. After featuring for the Kerala Blasters in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League, Pearson returned to Motherwell in 2015 before mutually terminating his contract a year later to return to India with Atlético de Kolkata. He signed for Motherwell for a third time in February 2017. Pearson earned ten caps for Scotland between 2003 and 2007. Club career Early career Pearson was born in Lanark. As a boy, he attended Our Lady's High School in Motherwell and is one of the school's numerous footballing alumni, a list whose notable members include Sir Matt Busby, Billy McNeill, and Bobby Murdoch. Though he grew up a Celtic fan, he began his footballing career at Motherwell, after they watched him score the winning goal in the final of the under-18 Scottish Schools competition. Motherwell were a financially troubled club at this time and in 2002 they were placed in administration to prevent liquidation, with 19 senior players released. This period of adversity did however have one redeeming feature, as many talented young players, notably Pearson and his friend and fellow emerging talent James McFadden, gained instant elevation to first team status and a chance to develop and hone their skills more quickly than contemporaries at other clubs. After a period of acclimatisation under new manager Terry Butcher during which Motherwell finished bottom of the SPL in the 2002–03 season, avoiding relegation only because Falkirk's Brockville Park ground failed to reach SPL standard, by December 2003 the youthful Motherwell team were comfortably in mid-table. Pearson's form was such that he gained a surprise call-up to Berti Vogts' full Scotland squad, winning his first cap in the 1–0 Euro 2004 play-off victory over the Netherlands, and attracted interest from clubs at home and abroad. Celtic However, Motherwell's financial predicament ensured they were unable to refuse any reasonable offers and when Celtic manager Martin O'Neill paid £350,000 of his own personal money in January 2004, Pearson fulfilled a childhood ambition by moving