While Bobby Reid is presently playing a significant role for Steve Cooper’s Leicester City team in the Premier League as they attempt to maintain their top-flight standing, he began and advanced through the ranks of Bristol City.

Reid grew up in the Easton neighbourhood of Bristol and was selected by the Robins academy in 2002. He spent his formative years in the highly respected development system before making his first-team debut in 2011.

For supporters, seeing one of their own players graduate from the academy and have an influence on the first team is always exciting. Reid’s experience at Bristol City was no different, but he made a contentious choice that damaged his reputation at Ashton Gate.

In 2018, the forward decided to join the Premier League and left the Robins. Naturally, fans would not hesitate to do that, but joining one of your fiercest competitors will never go down well.

In 2018, Reid moved across the River Severn to join Cardiff City in a contentious £10 million transfer that left many Ashton Gate supporters bitterly disappointed.

Bobby Reid was excellent for Bristol City, but joining Cardiff City wouldn’t have gone down well

While Bristol City’s major opponents are Bristol Rovers and Cardiff City’s main rivals are Swansea City, there’s still a great rivalry between the two clubs, with the Severnside Derby being one of the first games that supporters of both clubs seek for when the fixtures are released.

There’s little doubt that the promotion of the Bluebirds to the Premier League in the summer of 2018 would have left Bristol City supporters in disbelief, especially with a homegrown star like Reid making the transfer across the border.

Reid’s greatest season wearing a Bristol City uniform was unquestionably the 2017–18 one, as he recorded 21 goals and eight assists in 52 appearances across all competitions. Cardiff manager Neil Warnock did not waste any time in promoting Reid to the

The three Bristol City players we may see in January departing Ashton Gate

Three players that FLW believes are likely to leave the Robins during the next January transfer window are examined.

Reid deserved to go to the Premier League after the kind of 2017–18 season he had in the Championship, but fans would have preferred that he join any of the other 19 teams in the division rather than Cardiff.

While selling an academy product for £10 million was a smart financial decision and Reid’s move to the Premier League was welcomed by all, Bristol City found itself in a tough situation because, in an ideal world, they wouldn’t have wanted to sell to Cardiff.

Reid went for Cardiff City in the summer of 2018 after 158 games for the Robins, although several Bristol City fans

Bobby Reid was relegated from the Premier League in his one season at Cardiff

Reid signed a four-year contract in the Welsh capital, but he only played in 27 Premier League games during his one full season with the Bluebirds. He started only 16 of their 38 games overall.

Perhaps you would have anticipated more than 16 starts given the money they paid for him, and the Bluebirds had a disappointing season on the pitch as they were relegated after just one Premier League season, finishing in 18th place.

Despite expectations that he would play a significant role in the Championship the next season, he managed to score five goals and record two assists in the Premier League. However, he made an unexpected departure, loaning himself to Fulham for the entire season.

He stayed in West London until the summer of 2024, when he was released and joined Leicester City, another Premier League team. Fulham then made it permanent after their promotion to the top flight in 2020.

Reid cost Cardiff £10 million, but they only saw him play in 30 games overall. Although his departure from Bristol City would have angered supporters, the fact that Reid’s move to Cardiff didn’t go as expected might have been a blessing.

Reid, who is currently 31 years old, is still a Premier League player, but fans of Bristol City would have preferred that he had made it to the top level with them rather than one of their main rivals in 2018.