Frederick David Sears (born 27 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Isthmian League Premier Division club Chatham Town.

[3] Born in Hornchurch, East London,[2] Sears scored his first goal in the Premier Reserve League South on 20 November 2006 when West Ham drew 1–1 with Portsmouth.

[3] Sears began the 2007–08 season in good scoring form during a prolific run with the clubs' under-18 side, which included a hat-trick against Millwall in early October 2007.

After featuring for 75 minutes, manager Alan Curbishley was verbally abused by the home fans when he withdrew Sears and replaced him with Carlton Cole.

[20] Warnock said he was "delighted" to have Sears on board at the club following his loan signing, praising the player for agreeing to the switch despite late interest from Queens Park Rangers.

[24] He scored his third goal in four games in a 3–0 friendly win over Bristol Rovers on 24 July,[25] before starting in Palace's Championship opening fixture against Plymouth Argyle on 8 August.

[26] Sears started in Palace's next match against Bristol City at Ashton Gate, and looked to have scored his first goal for the club in the fixture on 15 August.

[32] In December, despite still failing to find the back of the net for the club, West Ham announced their intention to recall Sears from his loan to attempt to ease their injury troubles.

[34] Sears returned to West Ham after his Crystal Palace loan and went into the squad to face Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup on 3 January 2010.

[35] He played just once more for the club during the season, with his last appearance coming in the Premier League, once again as a late substitute for Nouble in a 0–0 home draw with Blackburn Rovers on 30 January.

[41] Despite making only substitute appearances for his first six games for the Sky Blues, Sears hoped to push for a starting position, and confirmed that there was a possibility that he could return to the Ricoh Arena for the 2010–11 season.

[46] Sears' loan spell ended with ten league appearances for the Sky Blues, once again failing to find the back of the net.

[48] On 30 July, Sears scored all four goals in a pre-season game for the reserves against Bishop's Stortford in his quest to earn a place in the West Ham first team.

[49] He made a late substitute appearance against Bolton Wanderers on 21 August, replacing Carlton Cole with three minutes remaining of the Hammers' 3–1 home loss.

[3][51] Sears returned to the Championship on loan once again on 19 October 2010, joining Scunthorpe United for one month ahead of their clash with Preston North End the same day.

[53] Manager Ian Baraclough was pleased with the impact Sears had in the game, with his 83rd minute shot hitting the post, allowing Martyn Woolford to score.

[54] The club extended Sears loan stay in November ahead of their clash with Cardiff City,[55] keeping him with Scunthorpe until January.

[59] Sears then scored his second-ever goal for the club on New Year's Day 2011 in the basement battle against Wolverhampton Wanderers, sealing their 2–0 victory with a 15-yard strike eleven minutes from the full-time whistle.

[60] Sears featured in all of West Ham's January 2011 fixtures, but fell out of favour, before returning to action for the Hammer's 5–1 FA Cup win against Burnley on 21 February.

[64] New West Ham manager Sam Allardyce handed Sears a start for their opening Championship fixture on 7 August, a 1–0 home defeat to Cardiff City.

[86] Sears form continued on 9 February with his fourth goal in five matches, his close range effort proving decisive in their 1–0 home victory against Preston.

[89] A short time after, he suffered a knee injury that kept him out of action for seven games,[90] making his return as a substitute in a 3–1 defeat to Notts County on 13 April as Colchester battled for League One survival.

[106] 2014–15 pre-season began with an opening fixture goal for Sears in the U's 4–1 win at Brantham Athletic on 12 July 2014,[107] before scoring a brace in the 8–0 rout at Heybridge Swifts three days later.

[112] He continued his good scoring form when he tapped home a spilled save from Sheffield United goalkeeper Mark Howard in an eventual 3–2 defeat to the Blades on 16 September.

[114] In the Football League Trophy, Sears scored his sixth goal of the season with a late equaliser in a 3–3 draw with Gillingham on 8 October, slotting home Elliott Hewitt's low cross.

[122] With his deal at Colchester set to expire in the summer of 2015, Sears signed a 2+1⁄2-year contract with Championship side Ipswich Town for a transfer fee of £100,000 on 16 January 2015.

[125] Sears finished with nine goals in his debut season and formed a partnership with League top-scorer Daryl Murphy as Town reached the play-offs.

[136][137] After 10 months out due to injury, Sears made his return to the first team on 26 December 2019, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 home draw to Gillingham.

[149] Later that month, after leaving Dagenham & Redbridge, Sears opted to join National League South side, Braintree Town.

[162][163] He made his debut at the age of nineteen in the 0–0 draw with the Jong Oranje, coming on as a second-half substitute for fellow West Ham player Junior Stanislas and playing for seven minutes.