Pierce Bird

Pierce Michael Bird (born 16 April 1999) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Eastleigh.

Pierce Bird
Personal information
Full name Pierce Michael Bird[1]
Date of birth (1999-04-16) 16 April 1999[2]
Place of birth Nottingham, England
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Eastleigh
Number 5
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Dunkirk 3 (0)
2016–2017 AFC Dunkirk 30 (6)
2017–2020 Notts County 24 (0)
2017 → Leek Town (loan) 3 (0)
2018 → Alfreton Town (loan) 4 (1)
2018 → Grantham Town (loan) 2 (0)
2019 → Boston United (loan) 1 (0)
2020– Eastleigh 5 (0)
2020–2021 → Boston United (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
2018– Northern Ireland U21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:26, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:00, 8 February 2022 (UTC)

Career

Dunkirk

Bird played for Dunkirk of the East Midlands Counties League and also their reserve side, AFC Dunkirk of the Nottinghamshire Senior League.[3][4] He made his senior debut for Dunkirk on 9 August 2016 in the 3–2 home win against Holbrook Sports.[5] On 17 August 2016 in the away win at Cotgrave he made his debut for AFC Dunkirk.[6]

Notts County

Bird sealed a trial at League Two side Notts County, and scored the winning goal in the pre-season win at York City,[7] On 31 July it was announced that Bird had secured a one-year contract at Notts County after impressing during his trial period.[8] On 7 November 2017, Bird made his Notts County debut in the EFL Trophy match at Lincoln City, scoring an own goal.[9] On 26 December 2017, Bird made his Football League debut as an 87th minute substitute in the 4–1 win at Morecambe.[10]

On 29 May 2018, Bird signed a two-year contract with Notts County.[11]

On 3 June 2020, out of contract Bird was informed he will not be offered a new contract when his current contract ends on 30 June.[12]

Loan to Leek Town

On 9 September 2017, Bird joined Northern Premier League Division One South side Leek Town on a one-month loan, making his debut the same day in a 3–1 away win at Gresley.[13][14]

Loan to Alfreton Town

On 5 January 2018, Bird joined National League North side Alfreton Town on a month youth loan.[15] He made his debut the next day in the 3–0 win away at North Ferriby United, and also scored the third Alfreton goal.[16]

Loan to Grantham Town

On 1 November 2018, Bird joined Northern Premier League Premier Division side Grantham Town on a one-month loan.[17] He made his debut on 3 November in the 0–2 defeat to Warrington Town.[18]

Loan to Boston United

On 22 November 2019, Bird joined National League North side Boston United until the end of the year.[19] He made his debut the next day in the F.A. Trophy 0–1 defeat at Atherton Collieries, and was substituted after 32 minutes, due to a head injury.[20] On 19 December 2019, Bird was recalled from his loan spell.[21]

Eastleigh

On 11 August 2020, Bird joined National League side Eastleigh.[22] Bird made his debut as a 105th minute substitute in the F.A. Cup 1st Round defeat to Milton Keynes Dons on 8 November 2020. Bird scored in the penalty shoot-out where Eastleigh lost 4-3.[23]

Loan to Boston United

On 18 December 2020, Bird joined National League North side Boston United, until 16 January 2021.[24] He made his debut the next day in the F.A. Trophy win against AFC Fylde.[25]

International career

On 30 August 2018, Bird received a call-up for the Northern Ireland under-21 squad for upcoming games against Luxembourg and Spain. Bird is eligible to represent Northern Ireland at international level through his grandparents.[26][27]

On 6 September 2018, in the friendly against Luxembourg under-21 he made his debut in a 1–0 win. Bird was substituted in the 70th minute.[28]

He made his competitive debut on 11 September 2018 as a 78th minute substitute in Northern Ireland under-21s 2–1 victory away to Spain under-21 in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition.[29]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dunkirk 2016–17[30] East Midlands Counties League 3000000030
AFC Dunkirk 2016–17[31] Notts Senior League Premier Division 306000051357
Notts County 2017–18[32] League Two 1000001[lower-alpha 1]020
2018–19[33] League Two 120001000130
2019–20[34] National League 110000000110
Total 240001010260
Leek Town (loan) 2017–18[35] Northern Premier League Division One South 3000000030
Alfreton Town (loan) 2017–18[36] National League North 41———41
Grantham Town (loan) 2018–19[37] Northern Premier League Premier Division 20———20
Boston United (loan) 2019-20[36] National League North 1020—1040
Eastleigh 2020-21[36] National League 5010—0060
Boston United (loan) 2020-21[36] National League North 4000—1050
Career total 767301081888
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/01/2018 and 31/01/2018". The FA. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  2. "Pierce Bird". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. "East Midlands Counties League-Player season totals-Dunkirk". www.fulltime-league.thefa.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. "East Midlands Counties League-Player season totals-AFCDunkirk". www.fulltime-league.thefa.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  5. "East Midlands Counties League-Dunkirk v Holbrook Sports". www.fulltime-league.thefa.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  6. "Notts Senior League-Cotgrave v AFC Dunkirk". www.fulltime-league.thefa.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. "Trialist Pierce Bird seals Notts County win at York City". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  8. "Notts County secure deal for trialist Pierce Bird". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  9. "Lincoln 2 Notts 1". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. "Morecambe 1 Notts 4". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  11. "Ross signs new deal". Notts County. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  12. "Squad Update". Notts County. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  13. "Bird joins Leek". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  14. "Gresley 1 Leek 3". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  15. "Notts County defender Pierce Bird seals loan move to Alfreton". nottinghampost.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  16. "North Ferriby United 0 Alfreton Town 3". alfretontownfc.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  17. "Duo head out on loan". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  18. "Grantham lose to Warrington in final 10 minutes". granthamjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  19. "Loan switch for Pierce". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  20. "COLLS v PILGRIMS: Late goal knocks Boston United out of FA Trophy". bostonstandard.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  21. "Bird back, Turner out". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  22. "Pierce Bird joins the Spitfires". eastleighfc.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  23. "Report:Eastleigh 0 MK Dons 0 (3-4 pens)". mkdons.com. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  24. "Bird arrives as duo depart". bostonunited.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  25. "Boston United 1-1 AFC fylde (4-2) on Penalties)". bostonunited.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  26. "Notts County defender Pierce Bird wins Northern Ireland under-21 call-up". nottinghampost.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  27. "Five players called up to u21 squad for crucial Spain game". irishfa.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  28. "Smyth and Holden link up for Northern Ireland U21s". irishfa.com. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  29. "Bird goes international". nottscounty.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  30. http://fulltime-league.thefa.com/DisplayTeam2.do?selectedStatisticDisplayMode=1&selectedOrgStatRecordingTypeID_ForSort=&teamID=282022474
  31. http://fulltime-league.thefa.com/DisplayTeam2.do?divisionseason=166272582&id=771738891&seasonTeamID=726043430
  32. "Games played by Pierce Bird in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  33. "Games played by Pierce Bird in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  34. "Games played by Pierce Bird in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  35. https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/leektown/teams/17802/fixtures-results?season=44573
  36. "P. Bird: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
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