Last week, Tyler Reid became Swindon’s first summer signing after leaving Swansea at the end of the 2018/19 season.
Reid’s football origins were at two of the biggest clubs in the world, originally in North London with Arsenal before moving north to Manchester. It was there that Richie Wellens first came across the youngster, with Wellens working with renowned academy coach Paul McGuinness – the 21-year-old was, at the time, playing alongside now-England international Marcus Rashford.
“Being at United and Arsenal, spending time there, makes me the player I am today – both of them have unique styles but mixed together they help a lot.
“Coming here, I need to get another sort of grounding to help my development and to make me a better player.”
After leaving his second prestigious academy, Reid made the switch to Swansea where he was part of a hugely successful academy setup. And a league and cup double was to follow in his first season – Tyler was part of the team that romped to the double.
“That was my first season there – going there and doing that in my first season was really good. Swansea is a good club and they taught me a lot as well – a lot of the players that are in the first-team now, I’ve played with in the 23s so it was another good grounding.”
During his time in Wales, the Luton-born full-back was loaned out for experience in League Two. While it was not the best spell on the pitch, the Exiles’ manager was a good mentor for the former Swansea defender.
“My spell at Newport County wasn’t the best – I didn’t start as many games as I wanted. I learnt a lot, though and the manager there, Michael Flynn, taught me a lot about myself and hopefully I can bring that here.”
