Winston Reid

Winston Wiremu Reid (born 3 July 1988) is a New Zealand former footballer who last played as a defender for club West Ham United.

He captained the New Zealand national team.

He has also played for Midtjylland with loan periods at Sporting Kansas City and Brentford.

Both Reid's parents have Māori ancestry.

He affiliates to Tainui through his father and to Te Rarawa through his mother.

He was born in North Shore, Auckland, and started playing football at the age of four at local club Takapuna.

Reid moved from New Zealand to Denmark at the age of 10 with his mother and Danish stepfather, but always maintained contact with his father and his family in New Zealand.

Reid signed a youth contract with SUB Sønderborg.

In 2004, the then 16-year-old Reid joined the academy of Danish Superliga club FC Midtjylland on a three-year youth contract.

He was one of the first players to graduate from FCM's football academy, the first of its kind in Denmark, coming through the system alongside Midtjylland teammates Jesper Weinkouff, Christian Sivebæk and former teammate, Simon Kjær.

While coming through the system, Reid helped the U19 win their first U19 Danish championship.

In November 2005, Reid signed a professional contract with FC Midtjylland.

At the same month at aged 17, he made his FC Midtjylland debut in the Royal League tournament against Norwegian side Vålerenga in a 4–0 win.

Reid made his league debut for FC Midtjylland, making his first start and played 60 minutes before being substituted in the 60th minute, in a 2–2 draw against SønderjyskE on 27 November 2005.

Reid then received a handful of first team football towards the end of the 2005–06 season, which lead him to make nine appearances for the side.

It was not until on 19 March 2006 when he made another appearance for the side, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 win against Aarhus GF.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Reid appeared in the first three league matches before being sidelined with an injury.

After missing three matches, he made his return from injury, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 win against Silkeborg on 10 September 2006.

However, his return was short–lived when Reid suffered another injury, resulting him out for two months.

Reid later featured in and out of the first team towards the end of the season.

By the end of the season, he went on to make 11 appearances in all competitions.

Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Reid signed a contract extension with Midtjylland, keeping him until 2012.

Shortly after, he made his first appearance of the season against AaB and helping the side win 2–1 on 8 August 2007.

Reid continued to be featured in and out of the first team for the next three months.

However, he was plagued with injuries and was out of the starting line–up for most of the season.

By the end of the season, Reid went on to make nine appearances in all competitions.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Reid became a first team regular and established himself in the starting eleven.

He scored his first goal for Midtjylland in a 6–1 win against Bangor City in the first round of the UEFA Cup on 17 July 2008.

Against Manchester City in the second leg of the UEFA Cup second round on 28 August, Reid successfully converted his penalty in the shootout, though Midtjylland lost 4–2 in the penalty shootout.

Shortly after, he was linked with a move to City.

On 29 September, Reid was sent–off for a straight red card in a 1–0 loss against Akademisk Boldklub in the third round of the Danish Cup.

By the end of the year, he had been demoted to the substitute bench amid injury concerns.

Reid was able to regain his first team place for the rest of the season.

On 23 March 2009, he scored his first league goal in a 3–2 loss against Aab.

This was followed up by scoring his second goal and setting up the club's second goal of the game, in a 3–1 win against AC Horsens.

But during the match, Reid injured his right foot after clashing with Besart Berisha.

After the match, he publicity criticised Berisha, calling him an "idiot" and rejected his apology.

Despite missing two more matches later in the season, Reid went on to make 29 appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.

Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Reid continued to be linked a move away from the club, as Serie A clubs were interested in signing him.

But Reid responded to the transfer speculation, saying that he was not in a rush to leave the club.