His time is coming to an end in East London, and with far more people loving him that wishing him gone the question has to be asked – will Winston Reid be remembered as a West Ham legend after leaving the club?
Rumors are circulating and intensifying that longtime West Ham steward and defensive captain Winston Reid will see out the twilight of his career in the MLS. While he hasn’t featured at all this season for the senior team, there is a certain sadness with the player and club moving on from each other.
For a club with very little hardware to boast about, we sure to harp on history a lot! This is exactly why there is a sour, emotional feeling around the loss of Reid. Realistically there is no loss, other than a roster spot and some wages off the books but it feels like more than that.
The real reason is that he’s been such a mainstay in the first team since arriving in East London in 2010. Not too many players can boast a decade at the same club, spanning their early years, prime and now into their final few of their careers. During that massive stretch of years, Reid also represented his nation of New Zealand for 25 senior caps, many of those as his squad’s captain.
The biggest moment in Reid’s career and the moment etched in all of our minds when we think of Reid is his headed goal pas David De Gea to win the final game at the Boleyn Ground. His awkwardly nodded header had enough speed on it to push it past the keeper’s hand and send West Ham faithful into fits of elation.
Those memories will never leave us, but unfortunately for Reid his injury-ridden past will force this move away from the club. With West Ham writer Sam Inkersole stating that club is operating on a one-in, one-out policy this could also see a roster spot opened for a new defender being brought in to replace the Kiwi centre-back.
While speculation looms around a versatile defender like Aaron Long of the New York Red Bulls, or possibly one of the right-backs the club are looking into in Belgium, Austria, and France, one this is for certain – no player will have as uniquely a West Ham memory of Reid. He may not go down as a club legend but the folklore of hero Winston Reid will ring out forever in the halls of the London Stadium.