Glen Charles Rea (born 3 September 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

. Born in England, he played for the Republic of Ireland U21 national team.

Club career

Brighton & Hove Albion

Born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, East Sussex, Rea began his career with the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, before earning a professional contract after completing his two-year scholarship. On 6 February 2015, Rea signed a contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2016. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Rea was given squad number 26, before making his professional debut for Brighton one week later in a 1–0 win away to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

first round, with Rea playing for the full 90 minutes. Following the expiration of his

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

spells at Southend United and Luton Town, Brighton activated the option of a one-year extension on Rea's contract, but were willing to let him leave on a permanent transfer. Southend and Luton both expressed an interest in signing him on a permanent basis.

Southend United (loan)

On 27 August 2015, two weeks after the League Cup fixture, Southend manager Phil Brown expressed an interest in signing Rea on loan, claiming later that day the club were close to signing him. Brighton confirmed Rea had joined Southend on loan until 2 January 2016 a day later. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw away to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on 31 August. Rea made his final appearance for Southend in a 3–0 defeat at home to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on 2 January 2016, finishing his loan spell with 16 appearances.

Luton Town

On 17 March 2016, Rea signed for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season, linking back up with Luton manager Nathan Jones who had previously been his first-team coach at Brighton. He made his Luton debut in a 1–0 win away to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

two days later. Rea finished his loan spell with 10 appearances and started every match. Rea joined Luton permanently on 27 June 2016 on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. His first appearance after signing permanently came in a 3–0 win away to Plymouth Argyle on 6 August. Rea scored his first professional goal in a 2–1 defeat at home to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

on 10 September. He signed a new two-year contract with Luton at the end of May 2018. He suffered a partial tear of his cruciate ligament in a 2–0 win over

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

on 22 December, which ruled him out for the rest of the season after making 27 appearances and scoring one goal. Rea joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on 25 October 2019 on a one-month loan to build up his match fitness.

Wigan Athletic (loan)

On 31 January 2022, Rea joined League One title chasers

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. He was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in a league game against

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, and returned to Luton on 17 March 2022.

Cheltenham Town (loan)

On 31 January 2023, Rea joined League One club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

on loan until the end of the season, remaining with Luton for a short time whilst he completed the rehabilitation from a knee injury. On 1 September 2023, Rea departed Luton having had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Worthing

On 24 October 2023, Rea joined

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

on non-contract terms. He made his debut the same day in a 4-1 away defeat at Hampton & Richmond

International career

Rea, who was born in England, is eligible to play for

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and was called up to the Republic of Ireland U21 squad on 13 November 2014. His debut came on 15 November in a 1–0 defeat to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with Rea playing the match in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

. Rea scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland U21 on his second

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

two days later, in a 2–2 draw with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Career statistics

Honours

Luton Town *

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2018–19 *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

second-place promotion: 2017–18

References

External links

Profile
at the Luton Town F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association of Ireland website {{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, Glen 1994 births Living people Footballers from Brighton English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Worthing F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English people of Irish descent