From Wikipedia - Reading time: 9 min
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Aidan Reynolds | ||
| Date of birth | May 4, 1998 (age 25) | ||
| Place of birth | Seattle, Washington | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2010 | Blue Arrows | ||
| 2010–2011 | Seattle United | ||
| 2011–2013 | Emerald City Football Club | ||
| 2013–2014 | Crossfire Premier | ||
| 2014–2016 | Seattle Sounders FC | ||
| 2018–2019 | ADO Den Haag | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016 | Elon Phoenix | 8 | (0) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Suburense | 8 | (2) |
| 2018–2019 | Jong ADO | 13 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | ADO Den Haag | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | CF Igualada | 1 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2016 | United States U18 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Aidan Reynolds (/ˈrɛnəldz/, Irish: Mac Raghnaill, born May 4, 1998) is a professional footballer from Washington.
Reynolds was born in the Mount Baker neighbourhood of Seattle to an American mother from Washington, D.C. and an Irish father from Wexford. He holds dual citizenship of Ireland and the United States.[1] He is also the nephew of Mary Reynolds.[citation needed]
Reynolds began his youth career at local side Blue Arrows, being coached briefly by Nigel Vaughan before joining Emerald City Football Club under the tutelage of Bobby Howe. He then spent a season at Crossfire Premier with head coach Bernie James.
In the summer of 2012, aged fourteen, Reynolds had a trial with Serie A club Empoli and was invited to their academy in Italy.[2] The following season he was invited by Steve McGavin to train with Ipswich Town academy in England, where he did so for two weeks.
Upon his return to the United States he joined Seattle Sounders Youth Academy under the stewardship of Darren Sawatzky and Dick McCormick. Reynolds began his first season with the Under 16s, starting in central midfield, with goals against Real Salt Lake,[3] DC United,[4] and a brace against Juventus.[5]
In 2014 and 2015 he was selected as part of Generation Adidas to appear in the Generation Adidas ESP Showcase vs Bayern Munich U16s in Portland and Los Angeles respectively,[6] being named one of Sounders FC Ones to Watch.[7]
Reynolds gained further national recognition in the 2015 Generation Adidas Cup in Frisco with performances against New York Red Bulls, Sport Club do Recife and a goal against Houston Dynamo at Toyota Stadium.[8]
In his final academy season he continued to score from midfield, registering seven goals in eight starts,[9] including a hat-trick against Santa Cruz Breakers FC,[10] enhancing his growing reputation as a goalscoring midfielder. He was later removed from the Sounders’ homegrown player list.
Reynolds attended Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences for one year where he was named league Rookie of the Year in his only season.[12] He later transferred to Garfield High School where he was ineligible to play due to his status as an MLS academy player.[13]
He signed a letter of intent in February 2016 to represent Elon University in NCAA Division I,[14][15] and made eight appearances in his first year.[16] In a 2016 interview Reynolds explained why he joined the program. "I chose Elon because during the recruiting process, I built up a very good relationship with the head coach, Chris Little and the assistant coaches. Elon's attractive attacking style of play was also a big part of my decision. I am excited to be going to Elon in the fall."[17]
In 2017 he returned to Italy for pre-season to train alongside Han Kwang-song (Korean: 한광성; Hanja: 韓光成.)
Later that year Reynolds played two matches with FC OSA in the National Premier Soccer League to maintain his fitness ahead of a move to Spain.[18][19]
He headed to Sitges to sign for Suburense for the remainder of the 2017–18 season in Segona Catalana alongside Jesjua Angoy-Cruyff.[20][21]
After traveling to Holland with Michal Beran to trial with PEC Zwolle and ADO Den Haag, Reynolds announced that he would sign for ADO for the 2018–19 season,[22] with Beran eventually signing for Slovan Liberec.[23]
Reynolds first appeared for ADO in a pre-season game against Turkish side Antalyaspor,[24] before starting against Vitesse, forming a midfield partnership with Sam van Huffel.[25] He made his Beloften Eredivisie league début at Cars Jeans Stadion against Feyenoord U21 on August 20, 2018, lining up against Luis Sinisterra and Orkun Kökcü in midfield.[26][27] He scored his first goal a week later against Almere City.[28]

After starts against De Graafschap[29] and NEC,[30] he came off the bench in a 1–1 draw with NAC Breda. Sydney van Hooijdonk equalized for the visitors after Killian van Mil had put ADO in front.[31] Reynolds then continued to start in central midfield, first against Excelsior, where he conceded a penalty for an unnecessary tackle on Marcus Edwards,[32] then against Willem II[33] and Sparta Rotterdam, where he supplied both assists in a 2–1 win. First for Dehninio Muringen in the 48th minute and then for van Mil in the 56th.[34][35]
“Naturally I want to play with ADO, the stadium is beautiful to play in and has a great atmosphere”.
—Reynolds in a 2019 interview.[36]
Following an assist against Jong Vitesse,[37] he subsequently started in Ricardo Kishna's comeback game, a 1–1 draw with Willem II, connecting well with Shaquille Pinas and Robin Polley.[38]
His best performance in an ADO shirt came on February 11, 2019, when he linked up with Kyle Ebecilio in midfield and provided two assists for Chovanie Amatkarijo in a 4–0 win over Heracles.[39] Amatkarijo finished the match with a hat-trick. The following week he started against PEC Zwolle at MAC³PARK before picking up a booking and being replaced by van Huffel.[40]
After a 2–0 defeat against RKC at Mandemakers Stadion,[41] Reynolds made his final appearance for ADO in the last match of the 2018–19 season, a 4–2 defeat to Jong FC Twente on April 29, 2019.[42]
At the end of the 2018–19 season, Reynolds elected not to activate the option of a second season with the Dutch club in favour of a move to Spain.[43] He agreed to join CF Igualada for the 2019–20 season in Tercera División with André Bikey,[44] making his début as a 64th minute substitute against UE Castelldefels.[45] In the same match Reynolds was knocked unconscious and consequently took a hiatus from football.
In 2018 Reynolds was contacted by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) regarding his allegiance, after his performances caught the attention of Tom Mohan[46] and Noel King.
The following year he was called up by the Cascadian Football Federation, captained by James Riley, for a game against Darfur but did not appear in the match.[47]
Reynolds is two-footed and plays as a central midfielder.[48] He has been deployed in both attacking and defensive central midfield roles. As a young player he was noted for his aptitude. Former United States U20 coach Bobby Howe said of Reynolds: "Johnny Reynolds is a very talented player. He has skill, confidence and creativity."[49]
During his trial with the club, Empoli scout Luís Pomares described Reynolds as "a little Stefan Effenberg" based on his appearance, technical qualities, coordination, influence, and playing style.
“As a defensive midfielder it’s less important to stand out and more important that the team can rely on you”.
—Reynolds discussed his role at ADO in an interview with the ADO Den Haag Post.[50]
His technique, work-rate, passing range, and ability to break down possession enable him to operate as an effective box-to-box midfielder.[51]
In 2016 Joseph Mondello reported; "A true box-to-box midfielder, Reynolds’ ability to alternate between defensive duties and surging runs forward helped the Sounders control the midfield in both matches."[52]
His vision, tactical intelligence and awareness combined with his ability to intercept passes and dictate a side's tempo, encouraged head coach Virgilio Teixeira to use him as a deep-lying playmaker or regista at ADO Den Haag.[53]
Reynolds attributes much of his own playing style to street football and futsal.
In 2015, he appeared in Major League Soccer's promotional film, Inside the Adidas Elite Soccer Program | Who's Next: The Youth Movement with Flavius Daniliuc.[54]
Reynolds featured in the February 2019 edition of ADO Den Haag Post, alongside Guus Haak, discussing his journey from America to The Netherlands in an interview with Taylor Ziemer.[55]
Reynolds also appeared in Football Manager 2019, a football management simulation video game developed by Sports Interactive and published by Sega; he appears in each updated version up to and including Football Manager 2023 (officially abbreviated as FM23).[56]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC OSA | 2017 | NPSL | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 2 | |
| Suburense | 2017–2018 | Segona Catalana | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 2 | |
| Jong ADO | 2018–2019 | Beloften Eredivisie | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |
| ADO Den Haag | 2018–2019 | Eredivisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| CF Igualada | 2019–2020 | Tercera División | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Career total | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | ||