Reece Wabara

Reece Wabara
Personal information
Full name Reece Wabara[1]
Date of birth (1991-12-28) 28 December 1991
Place of birth Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 12 in)[2]
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Walsall
2007–2011 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Manchester City 1 (0)
2011–2012Ipswich Town (loan) 6 (0)
2012–2013Oldham Athletic (loan) 25 (0)
2013Blackpool (loan) 1 (0)
2013Doncaster Rovers (loan) 13 (0)
2014– 2015 Doncaster Rovers 43 (1)
2015–2016 Barnsley 19 (1)
2016 Wigan Athletic 20 (1)
National team
2011 England U19 1 (0)
2011 England U20 5 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:30, 14 January 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 September 2013

Reece Wabara (born 28 December 1991) is an English footballer of Nigerian descent who plays as a defender and is a free agent after being released by Wigan Athletic at the end of 2015-16 season. He is also a former England U20 international.

Club career

Manchester City

Reece is a central defender or left/right full back who signed for Manchester City's academy from Walsall's School of Excellence in 2007.[3] In May 2008, Reece signed his first professional scholarship with the club.[4]

Wabara began his City career playing in the academy and eventually become captain of under-16s side,[4] before moving on to becoming a mainstay in the Elite Development Squad. He committed his long-term future to the Blues by signing a three-year deal in March 2011 worth an estimated one million pounds.[5] After given number fifty seven shirt,[6] Wabara made his first team debut on the last day of the 2010–11 season against Bolton Wanderers when he came on as a substitute for Pablo Zabaleta.[7]

He left Manchester City on 14 April 2014, after having his contract cancelled by mutual consent.[8]

Loan Spells

In September 2011, Wabara joined the Championship club Ipswich Town on a three-month loan[9] and made three substitute appearances before making his first appearance in the starting eleven on 5 November 2011, in which he played the full game, his side losing 2–3 to bottom of the table visitors Doncaster Rovers.[10] Despite being keen for a loan extension at Ipswich Town,[11] Wabara returned to his parent club.[12]

On 15 September 2012, Wabara joined Football League One side Oldham Athletic on a one-month loan deal.[13] Later in the day, Wabara made his Oldham Athletic debut, playing as a right-back, in a 2–2 draw against Notts County.[14] His performance in a number of games soon led Manager Paul Dickov to comment about Wabara's impact at Oldham[15] and he said he was keen to extend his loan spell.[16] Wabara had his loan spell with the club extended for another month on 18 October 2012.[17] Wabara's loan spell with the club was then extended further until January.[18] Wabara then scored his first Oldham Athletic goal, in the second round of the FA Cup, in a 3–1 win over Doncaster Rovers on 1 December 2012.[19] Wabara's loan spell with Oldham Athletic was extended further until 27 January 2013.[20] He made his last appearance for Oldham in the 3–2 FA Cup victory over Liverpool, scoring the winning goal.[21] Despite this his loan spell came to an end, the club's assistant manager David Platt said Wabara could make a return to Oldham Athletic.[22]

Instead, on 30 January 2013, Wabara joined Blackpool on a loan move until the end of the 2012–13 season.[23] Wabara made his Blackpool debut, in a 1–0 loss against Ipswich Town on 16 February 2013.[24] Wabara made only one appearance and made his return to his parent club on 7 March 2013 after Blackpool decided to cut his loan spell.[25]

Doncaster Rovers

Wabara joined Championship side Doncaster Rovers on a one-month loan on 6 August 2013.[26] Wabara made his Doncaster Rovers debut in the first round of the League Cup, in a 1–0 win over Rochdale[27] and made his league debut, playing as a right-back, in a 2–0 win over Blackburn Rovers.[28] After an impressive first month, Wabara extended his loan move until January 2014.[29] However, on 3 December 2013, he returned to Manchester City after suffering a stress reaction to the injury.[30]

Following his release by Manchester City, Wabara rejoined Doncaster Rovers on a permanent deal signing a short term contract on 1 August 2014.[31] Upon joining the club, Wabara was given the number twenty-two shirt, compared to his previous number 32.[32] Wabara's first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season, playing as a right-back, in a 3–0 win over Yeovil Town.[33] Wabara scored his first Doncaster Rovers goal, in a 2–1 win over Bradford City on 1 November 2014.[34] Wabara established himself in the first team in the first half of the season and his twenty-seven appearance led to him earning a contract with the club until the end of the 2014–15 season.[35] Wabara continued to establish himself in the first team as a right-back until Mitchell Lund took over his role.[36] Despite making forty-three appearances, Wabara was released by the club when his contract expired in the summer.[37] Manager Dickov explained that Wabara's contract was not extended because he wanted to seek new challenges.[38]

Barnsley

After being released by Doncaster Rovers, Wabara went on trial at Scottish Championship side Rangers.[39] Despite impressing Rangers' management,[40] After failing a move to Rangers, it was announced on 15 August 2015 that Wabara joined Barnsley on a short-term contract until 31 December 2015.[41]

Wabara made his Barnsley debut on 18 August 2015, where he came on as a substitute for James Bree in the 58th minutes, in a 3-2 win over Millwall.[42] Then 12 September 2015, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 win over Swindon Town.[43] Despite serving a suspension after picking five yellow cards this season,[44] Wabara became a first team regular at Barnsley and made nineteen appearance for the club.

With his contract at Barnsley expiring, Wabara was offered a new contract by the club.[45] By the time his contract was expiring, Wabara made his last Barnsley appearance on 2 January 2016, in a 2-1 win over Millwall.[46] However, Wabara left the club after his six months contract expired.[47]

Wigan Athletic

After impressing whilst at Barnsley on a short term contract, Wabara was signed by League 1 rivals Wigan Athletic on 14 January 2016 until the end of the 2015/16 season on a free transfer.[48]

Wabara made his Wigan Athletic debut, making his first start, against Chesterfield on 16 January 2016 and provided assist for Reece James to score the second goal in the game, in a 3-1 win.[49] In the next game on 23 January 2016, Wabara scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1-1 draw at Crewe Alexandra.[50] Wabara became a first team regular at Wigan Athletic, playing in the left-back position for the rest of the season.[51] As a result, Wabara's attitude was praised by Manager Gary Caldwell.[52] Whilst at Wigan Athletic, Wabara played 20 games and earned Promotion to The Championship after winning League 1. For his impressive form for both Barnsley and Wigan over the 2015/16 season, Wabara was named in League One's PFA Team of the Year for his performances in the 2015–16 season, alongside teammate Craig Morgan, Yanic Wildschut and Will Grigg.[53]

Despite impressing for Wigan Athletic, Wabara, however, was released by the club at the end of the 2015-16 season.[54] Manager Caldwell explained his decision to release Wabara, though his decision was describe as "biggest".[55] After leaving Wigan Athletic, Wabara was linked with a move to Leeds United[56] and Bristol City.[57] Wabara was all set to join Leeds United, but the contract offer was later withdrawn after Manager Garry Monk decided against signing him.[58]

International career

Wabara is eligible to represent both England and Nigeria as he has a Nigerian grandfather, but chose to represent England international as the country of his birth at youth level. In May 2008, Wabara was called up by England U17.[59]

Reece made his England U20 debut in a 1–0 defeat to France U20 in February 2011.[60] He was then named in Brian Eastick's squad for the FIFA U20 World Cup in Colombia in the summer of 2011.[61][62]

Personal life

Reece's grandfather, Lawrence Wabara, was a Nigerian international footballer.[61] and is the nephew of former Rangers player Mark Walters and Pelé Reid.[4] Wabara attended South Bromsgrove High School.[4]

Career statistics

As of 1 August 2014.[63]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City 2010–11 100000000010
2011–12 000000000000
2012–13 000000000000
2013–14 000000000000
Ipswich Town (loan) 2011–12 600000000060
Oldham Athletic (loan) 2012–13 25042000000292
Blackpool (loan) 2012–13 100000000010
Doncaster Rovers (loan) 2013–14 23000200000250
Doncaster Rovers 2014–15 50030100000540
Barnsley 2015–16 19110100000211
Wigan Athletic 2015–16 19100000000191
Career total 1101422000001222

References

  1. "Premier League clubs submit squad lists". premierleague.com. Premier League. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  2. "List of Players – 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
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