Player Profile

Signed in the summer of 2021 after his release from Peterborough, defensive midfielder Reed quickly became integral to Ben Garner’s Swindon side, displacing favourite Anthony Grant as the sole defensively minded player in the Town midfield after playing together in the early stages of the season. Less physically dominant and experienced than Grant, Reed instead showed an ability to drop deep to pick up the ball from the centre backs and a reading of the game that endeared him to his manager. What was more immediately eye-catching for the fan in the stand was his free kicks, scoring from range against Sutton and Crewe with beautifully placed efforts.

Perhaps no player was more symbolic of Garner’s possession oriented style than Reed, who topped League Two passing and passing accuracy charts week after week. Whilst many fans would have liked to see the crunching tackles that Grant had offered in Town’s League Two championship season, it was clear that Reed was the manager’s choice and integral to everything Swindon did. His performances through the middle of the season in particular led to fan podcast The Loathed Strangers jokingly naming their man of the match award after him, so often had he taken the plaudits. Discipline was an area of weakness for Reed, who picked up too many needless yellows and two red cards over the season - one, at Crawley, in a match where he was an unused substitute, was particularly pointless, as Reed provided full and frank feedback to the referee after the final whistle.

Town fans were delighted to discover that Reed was under contract for a second season in red and white, with the mass rebuild ahead of the 2022/23 season seemingly much simplified by the presence of Reed and Jonny Williams for new manager Scott Lindsey to work with. Strangely though, it didn’t work out at all in his second season. Reed played the first 11 league games of the season, but struggled to impose himself on games, and from October onwards the manager regularly preferred starting Saidou Khan in the defensive midfielder role, restricting Reed to appearances from the bench. The most notable of these substitute appearances was being brought on in the 90th minute against Crewe with Town 1-0 down, seemingly as a free kick specialist having netted against Alex the previous year. This time round, the ball did not end up in the back of the net and indeed, Reed netted only once - a penalty against Barrow in December - before departing the club in January to join Mansfield.

The following season, Reed was integral to Mansfield’s promotion campaign and made the League Two Team of the Season. When discussing that honour, Mansfield manager Nigel Clough revealed that the fee they had paid Swindon was just £25,000.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Sheffield United Sheffield United	2012 (youth scholarship) August 12th, 2014 (signed professional contract); transferred out (June 19th, 2018)
Chesterfield Chesterfield	July 11th, 2017 (loan); expired (2017/8)
Peterborough United Peterborough United	July 1st, 2018 (announced June 19th, 2018) (transferred in, undisclosed fee); released (rptd May 11th, 2021)
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers	July 2021 (trial)
Swindon Town Swindon	rptd August 6th, 2021 (unattached); transferred out (January 15th, 2023)
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town	January 15th, 2023 (transferred in, undisclosed fee later revealed to be £25,000)