Early career Born in
Chester, Cheshire, Reed began his career in
Wrexham's
youth system aged 16 in 2003. He signed his first professional contract with the club on 20 August 2004. making his debut the following day in a 1–0 victory over
Alsager Town. His first goal for the club came against
Goole in November 2006, and having scored four goals in five appearances he returned to Wrexham on 1 January 2007. In August 2007, Reed signed for
Welsh Premier League club
Aberystwyth Town on a four-month loan until January 2008. He finished the loan with 9 goals from 20 league appearances He made his debut in a 1–0 victory at
Blyth Spartans in the
FA Trophy second round on 12 January 2008, and his first goal came in a 2–1 victory over
Hyde United on 26 January. Reed returned to Wrexham on 12 March 2008 after the completion of a two-month loan, which he completed with 11 appearances and 1 goal. He scored 13 times in 31 league appearances as Rhyl won the Welsh Premier League title, before leaving at the end of 2008–09. He scored the second goal in the
2010 Welsh Cup Final against
Port Talbot Town on 1 May, which Bangor went on to win 3–2. Reed joined Australian
Victorian Premier League side
Dandenong Thunder in May on loan for the duration of the summer break in the Welsh Premier League, scoring five goals in seven appearances before returning to Bangor in August.
York City in 2011 In November 2010, Conference Premier side
York City had a five-figure bid for Reed rejected by Bangor. He signed for York on 6 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee, which set a new record for the highest fee received by Bangor, on a two-and-a-half-year contract. Prior to signing for York, he had scored 18 goals in 19 appearances for Bangor during
2010–11, Reed made his debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a 2–0 defeat
away to
Premier League club
Bolton Wanderers in the
FA Cup third round on 8 January 2011. This was followed by his first start and
home debut three days later in a 1–0 victory over
Grimsby Town on 11 January 2011. He scored two goals in one game for the first time for York with both goals in a 2–1 victory over
Mansfield Town on 15 March 2011. Reed entered the
2012 FA Trophy Final as a 90th-minute substitute, with York beating
Newport County 2–0 at
Wembley Stadium on 12 May 2012. Eight days later he entered the 2–1 win over Luton in the
2012 Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley as a 78th-minute substitute, a result that meant the club returned to the Football League after an eight-year absence with promotion to
League Two. Reed scored his first goal of
2012–13 with the opening goal of a 1–1 home draw with
AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup
first round on 3 November 2012. He made his debut the following day in Cambridge's 3–0
home defeat to
Alfreton Town. having made seven appearances for Cambridge.
Chester and South Melbourne Reed signed for his hometown club, newly promoted Conference Premier side
Chester, on a one-year contract on 4 July 2013. and signed for their Welsh Premier League rivals
Llandudno later that day. Subsequently, he joined
Newtown. In January 2019, following an achilles rupture, he joined
Ashton United. A spell with
Northwich Victoria followed. In 2020 he joined
Cefn Druids before moving to
Aberystwyth Town in early 2021. He then joined
Prestatyn Town, in the second tier
Cymru North in May 2021, where as well as playing he manages the club's Under-19 side. In late 2021, Reed joined
Northern Premier League Division One West side
1874 Northwich. He made his debut off the bench in a 3–1 win at
Kidsgrove Athletic, where he scored the third goal. At the beginning of the 2022-23 preseason,
1874 Northwich announced Reed as a
player-coach for the upcoming season. On the 12th April 2025 he scored the only goal in a Ruthin Town 1-0 victory over former club Bangor played at Bala. That victory kept Ruthin in tier two and relegated Bangor. He joined Bangor City 1876 for the 2025–26 season, a season which saw the club promoted as
Ardal NW champions and winning the
FAW Trophy and him score 19 goals across all competitions. After scoring with his final touch in the penultimate league game of the season, he announced his retirement from playing with immediate effect at the age of 38. ==International career==