First Team Squad

Squad Number: 2
Position: Defender
Born: 3rd Jul 1988 (Auckland, New Zealand)
Signed: 5th Aug 2010 (£3,000,000)
Contract: 6 years (signed August 2017)
Previous Club: FC Midtjylland

KUMB Awards: Goal of the Season (third place) 2011/12; Most Improved Player 2011/12; Worst Signing of the Season (third place) 2010/11.


Which New Zealander will ever forget that match. 15th June 2010, World Cup round 1. New Zealand vs Slovakia, Match running into stoppage time, all hopes lost... Until Shane Smeltz put in the perfect cross for centre back Winston Reid to run onto, securing New Zealand?EUR(TM)s first ever point at a Football World Cup.

Reid was born in the North Shore, Auckland. Winston is of Maori heritage through both parentsl his earliest memory is playing football with his dad in the backyard. Reid moved to Denmark at the age of 10 with his mother and Danish step-father when his parents separated in 1998.

International Career

Reid became a Danish citizen in 2006 and was called up for the Danish U19 squad almost instantly. He later went on to play for the under 20s, the under 21s and competed in the European Under-21 Championship qualification rounds. He became eligible to play for his home nation of New Zealand on 13th March, and made his All Whites international debut against Australia in a friendly on 24th May 2010. He played his second match for the All Whites against Serbia in a shock 1-0 friendly victory on 29th May 2010.

Reid played in each of the three World Cup matches in South Africa, scoring the injury time equaliser in the first game against Slovakia. He was a fundamental player earning his side the title of the only undefeated team at the world cup 2010. He picked up a red card against Paraguay in a friendly at Westpac Stadium, Wellington for a studs-up challenge against opponent Federico Santander in injury time on 12th October 2010.

Midtiylland

Reid made 84 appearances and scored two goals in his six years at Danish club Midtjylland. He was eventually a frequent starter and played 90 minutes for a lot of his time towards the end of his spell at the club. He won two Danish Superliga runners-up medals, and featured in two UEFA Cup campaigns (successfully beating Manchester City 1-0 in Manchester on one occasion).

West Ham United

Despite Kiwi fans desiring the return of Reid to New Zealand to play for the country?EUR(TM)s one and only professional team, the Wellington Phoenix, he signed for West Ham United in the summer of 2010. He was brought to the club by Avram Grant and controversially thrown into the deep end with an immediate debut against Aston Villa, in which the entire squad struggled to find form. He had an off-day playing in an unfamiliar role at right back. Reid then came on as a substitute two weeks later against Bolton in a 3-1 home defeat.

Following the Bolton game he failed to feature in the squad for over two months until the Carling Cup match against Stoke, where he was an unused substitute. He remained on the bench until the 27th November where he came on in the 50th minute in the 3-1 win against Wigan, and then, three days later, came on in the 73rd minute in the 4-0 Carling Cup thrashing of Manchester United at Upton Park.

- Nick Daly

Reid joined Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City on loan in February 2020 before returning to West Ham. In January 2021, he joined Championship side Brentford on loan for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign.

On 21 September 2021 it was announced that Reid and the club had agreed to terminate his contract two years early.