view Reeves's match-by-match record
 
Alan REEVES

Signed by Steve McMahon on a Bosman free transfer shortly before the 1998/99 season, Reeves has had a love/hate relationship with the Swindon fans throughout his Town career - going from a scapegoat to somewhat of a cult hero.

With Reeves an almost ever-present in the 1999/2000 campaign, which saw Swindon relegated from Division One, he took a lot of the blame for the Town's poor performances. When Jimmy Quinn was sacked at the end of the season, Colin Todd told Reeves he could leave on a free transfer - few fans were disappointed.

An impressive pre-season persuaded Todd to change his mind, and Reeves was chosen in the Town's line-up for the opening game of the 2000/01 campaign. After Todd left, Andy King installed Reeves as his new captain - a decision which divided Town fans - some of whom booed his name when read out over the tannoy before the match, though it was unfortunate that when showing appreciation, fans shouted "Reeeeeeves", which on many occasions was mistaken for jeering. King retorted by describing Reeves as a colossus in the defence.

For the Town fans who didn't like him, frustrations were three-fold, firstly, Reeves' awareness and distribution weren't particularly good, secondly, he was constantly picking up silly bookings (14 over the season), and lastly, most importantly, he had a habit of making costly errors. One of these errors nearly cost Swindon their Second Division status, when a bizarre own goal from Reeves brought Peterborough level in the last home match of the season - if Danny Invincibile hadn't scored an injury time winner, the Town would have been relegated.

Things took a turn for the worse throughout the following campaign - a series of petulant incidents earning Reeves three red cards over the season, and a suspension which saw him miss all of the matches in March. This resulted in him losing the captaincy to Andy Gurney - his replacement in the side, Adam Willis, earned himself a new contract with his performances.

The situation reached a new low early in 2002/03, when some Town fans actually chanted for Reeves to be sent off when he got himself into trouble with a referee - and on an occasion when Reeves was substituted for Willis, the crowd cheered Willis' every touch. This actually didn't benefit Willis' cause, as Andy King later admitted that he found it difficult to put Willis on the bench for home games, as it put too much pressure on Reeves. Reeves later admitted that the sequence of events made him consider his future at the club.

Remarkably, the situation then turned complete circle - and Reeves began to get a cult following - so much so that he was actually chosen as the Swindon player to vote for in the PFA player of the month award for January, which he narrowly missed out on. Though he still had his obvious limitations, his disciplinary record improved considerably, and there was no doubt that Reeves was a committed, experienced member of the squad who read the game well.

Reeves signed a year's extension to his contract at the end of the 2002/03 season, a deal which also saw him take a coaching position at the club, and despite being told he would only be used as a reserve player, he still managed to make 32 appearances by the season's end. This arrangement continued into the following campaign, but this time his appearances really were limited to emergency measures - he made just twelve more appearances - and in addition to his coaching role, Reeves also took on assistant manager duties after the departure of Mick Harford in April 2005. By the end of that season, manager King was almost adamant that Reeves wouldn't be offered a playing contract for the following year - but with a significantly decreased wage budget, he was again registered, again for emergency use only.

Unfortunately, his season didn't last past August though, when in the final minutes of his first start of the season - a 3-1 Carling Cup defeat at the hands of Wycombe - an innoculous challenge left Reeves with a broken leg. It came at a bad time for Reeves personally - just over a month later, King was sacked as manager - and the board later admitted that Reeves wasn't considered for the position due to his injury. Instead, Reeves carried on in his capacity as assistant for new man Iffy Onuora, who had been promoted from the youth setup. Early in 2006, having consulted with a specialist, Reeves decided to retire from the game as a result of the injury, having been told he shouldn't consider playing again. He left the club at the end of the season, after the sacking of Iffy Onuora and the appointment of Dennis Wise as manager.

PLAYING RECORD:

Season LEAGUE FA CUP LEAGUE CUP OTHER TOTAL
Played Gls Played Gls Played Gls Played Gls Played Gls
'05/'06 (+1) - - - 1 - - - 1 (+1) -
'04/'05 6 (+2) 1 1 - 1 - 2 - 10 (+2) 1
'03/'04 17 (+11) - 1 - 2 - 1 - 21 (+11) -
'02/'03 35 (+1) 3 2 - (+1) - 1 - 38 (+2) 3
'01/'02 24 (+1) 2 1 - 1 (+1) - 1 - 27 (+2) 2
'00/'01 42 (+2) 3 3 - 4 1 1 - 50 (+2) 4
'99/'00 43 1 - - 1 - - - 44 1
'98/'99 23 (+1) 1 - - 2 1 - - 25 (+1) 2
TOTAL 190 (+19) 11 8 - 12 (+2) 2 6 - 216 (+21) 13


TRANSFER INFORMATION:

DATE IN/OUT TRANSFER DETAIL
23 JUN 1998 IN Wimbledon
(Bosman free transfer)
10 JAN 2006 OUT (moved onto coaching staff)
18 MAY 2006 OUT (sacked)
» Sutton United


full name

Alan Reeves


 ENGLAND

date of birth
19 November 1967


             
             
             
             
           
             

usual positions
central defence

senior career
Heswall
Norwich City
Gillingham (loan)
Chester City
Rochdale
Wimbledon
SWINDON TOWN
PLAYER
player-coach
player-assistant manager

Sutton United
player

Brentford
assistant manager

AFC Wimbledon
reserve team manager