Billy Reeves (footballer)

Last updated

Billy Reeves
Personal information
Full name William David Reeves [1]
Date of birth (1996-12-18) 18 December 1996 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth Wrexham, Wales [2]
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Leek Town
Youth career
Port Vale
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015–2018 Port Vale 15 (0)
2015–2016Witton Albion (loan) 14 (1)
2016Hyde United (loan) 14 (0)
2016Witton Albion (loan) 4 (0)
2016Witton Albion (loan) 2 (0)
2017Stafford Rangers (loan) 4 (0)
2018 Stafford Rangers
2018–2023 Leek Town 130 (10)
2023 Bootle 7 (0)
2023–2024 Bury 27 (2)
2024– Leek Town 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:35, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

William David Reeves (born 18 December 1996) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Leek Town.

Contents

Reeves began his career at Port Vale in April 2015 and later went out on loan to Witton Albion, Hyde United and Stafford Rangers. He was released by Port Vale in May 2018 and joined Leek Town via Stafford Rangers later in the year. He spent five years with Leek before joining Bury via Bootle in 2023. He returned to Leek Town in the summer of 2024.

Career

Port Vale

Reeves graduated through the Port Vale Academy to sign professional forms in April 2015. [4] He joined Northern Premier League Division One North side Witton Albion on a one-month loan in November 2015. [5] His loan was extended after he established himself in the first-team and he went on to make 14 appearances, scoring one goal in a 5–0 win over Harrogate Railway Athletic on 2 January. [6] He then joined Hyde United on a one-month loan in February 2016. [7] He also made 14 appearances for Hyde, as the club were relegated out of the Northern Premier League Premier Division. [8]

On 16 September 2016, he returned to Witton Albion – now playing in the Northern Premier League Division One South – on a 28-day loan. [9] He returned to Witton Albion on loan in mid-November, but played just two games before being sidelined with injury. [10] He joined Stafford Rangers of the Northern Premier League Premier Division on a 28-day loan on 3 February 2017. [11] He made his EFL League One debut for Port Vale after coming on as a 47th-minute substitute for Danny Pugh in a 1–1 draw with Southend United at Roots Hall on 4 March. [12] After two further substitute appearances that month he thanked central midfield partner Sam Foley and caretaker manager Michael Brown for helping him to adapt to League One football. [13] He went on to feature in 12 of the club's final 14 games of the 2016–17 relegation campaign, and signed a new one-year contract in May 2017. [14]

On 7 November 2017, he scored his first goal in professional football in a 4–2 victory over Crewe Alexandra in an EFL Trophy group stage match at Vale Park. [15] However, he featured just eight times for the "Valiants" during the 2017–18 campaign. He was not retained by new manager Neil Aspin in May 2018. [16]

Non-League

On 14 August 2018, Reeves joined Stafford Rangers on a short-term contract. [17] On 25 September 2018, he moved on to Northern Premier League Division One West club Leek Town after manager Neil Baker lost six players to injury. [18] The "Blues" reached the play-offs at the end of the 2018–19 season, but lost 2–1 to Radcliffe in the final. [19] The 2019–20 season was formally abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, with no promotions taking place despite Leek sitting top of the Division One South East table. [20] He featured eleven times in the 2020–21 campaign, and was sent off in a 1–0 defeat at Kidsgrove Athletic, before the season was curtailed early due to the ongoing pandemic. [21] [22] [23] He made 43 appearances in the 2021–22 season. [21] [22] Leek were beaten 4–1 by Runcorn Linnets in the play-off semi-finals. [24] He featured 47 times in the 2022–23 campaign as Leek finished second in the league; his goal tally of seven included a hat-trick of penalties in a 4–1 win over Prescot Cables on 20 September. [21] [22] [25] Leek again were beaten at home by Runcorn Linnets in the semi-finals of the play-offs, this time losing 3–1. [26]

Reeves joined Northern Premier League Division One West club Bootle in May 2023. [27] However, he decided to leave the club five months later following the departure of manager Dave McNabb. [28] He subsequently signed with Bury in the North West Counties League Premier Division. [29] He featured 28 times in the remainder of the 2023–24 season. [30]

Reeves rejected a new contract offer at Bury and returned to Leek Town in June 2024. [31]

Style of play

The Port Vale website described Reeves as an "energetic technical midfielder". [4] Port Vale youth team coach Mick Ede said that: "he is a powerful player who is good with the ball at his feet". [32]

Career statistics

As of match played 25 April 2023
ClubSeasonDivisionLeague FA Cup League CupOtherTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale 2015–16 [33] League One 0000000000
2016–17 [34] EFL League One120000000120
2017–18 [35] EFL League Two 3010103 [lower-alpha 1] 1 [lower-alpha 1] 81
Total150101031201
Witton Albion (loan) 2015–16 [6] Northern Premier League Division One North141000000141
Hyde United (loan) 2015–16 [8] Northern Premier League Premier Division140000000140
Witton Albion (loan) 2016–17 [6] Northern Premier League Division One South6020001 [lower-alpha 2] 090
Leek Town 2018–19 [21] Northern Premier League Division One West23100002 [lower-alpha 3] 0251
2019–20 [21] [22] Northern Premier League Division One South East27240103 [lower-alpha 2] 0352
2020–21 [21] [22] Northern Premier League Division One South East7020002 [lower-alpha 2] 0110
2021–22 [21] [22] Northern Premier League Division One West36130004 [lower-alpha 4] 0431
2022–23 [21] [22] Northern Premier League Division One West37610009 [lower-alpha 5] 1477
Total130101001020117111
Bootle 2023–24 [36] Northern Premier League Division One West7010003 [lower-alpha 2] 0110
Bury 2023–24 [30] North West Counties League Premier Division27200001 [lower-alpha 6] 0282
Leek Town 2024–25 Northern Premier League Premier Division0000000000
Career total [lower-alpha 7] 213131402028224715
  1. 1 2 Appearances and goal/s in the EFL Trophy.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Appearance/s in the FA Trophy.
  3. Appearance/s in the play-offs.
  4. 1 appearance in the FA Trophy, 2 appearances in the Staffordshire Senior Cup and 1 appearance in the play-offs.
  5. 4 appearances in the FA Trophy, 4 appearances in the Staffordshire Senior Cup and 1 appearance in the play-offs.
  6. Appearance/s in the FA Vase.
  7. Full statistics for Stafford Rangers not recorded.

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References

  1. "List of players under written contract registered between 01/09/2016 and 31/09/2016" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 33. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
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  4. 1 2 Baggaley, Mike (24 April 2015). "Lowdown on five youth players offered professional deals". The Sentinel . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
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  6. 1 2 3 "Player Bio". wittonalbionfc.89media.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
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  14. Baggaley, Mike (5 May 2017). "Port Vale agree new deal with Billy Reeves". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  15. Baggaley, Michael (7 November 2017). "Aspin revolution continues as Port Vale beat Crewe 4-2 in Checkatrade Trophy". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  16. "Port Vale: Neil Aspin releases 10 players from struggling League Two club". BBC Sport. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  17. "Stafford Rangers snap up youngsters Lewis Banks and Billy Reeves from Stoke City and Port Vale". Stoke-on-Trent Live. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  18. Gordon, James. "Ex-Port Vale midfielder in for Leek - The Evo-Stik League". www.evostikleague.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
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  20. "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
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