Brentford, Coventry City, Reading FC and Ipswich Town support will all have similar midfielder feeling | OneFootball

Jay Tabb is fondly remembered by fans of the teams he represented, for his hard-working displays.

Summary

It’s not often that fans of several different clubs all have a very similar opinion of a player, but that’s definitely the case with Jay Tabb.

The diminutive midfielder made over 370 EFL appearances across spells with Brentford, Coventry City, Reading and Ipswich Town.

He built a career for himself as a hard-working, industrious midfielder who gave his all, but also had quality to his game.

Tabb was particularly hard to dislike as a player, and it’s unlikely that supporters of the teams he played for over the course of his lengthy career would have a bad word to say about him.

Tabb excelled at League One and Championship level

After being released by Crystal Palace as a 16-year-old for being too small, Tabb was picked up by fellow London side Brentford.

The 5ft 7inch midfielder made his professional debut in 2001, but it wasn’t until the 2003/04 season when he established himself in the senior game.

Tabb scored nine goals and assisted four from 36 games for Brentford in League One, a goal contributions tally that he then bettered with six goals and nine assists in 2005/06.

His last appearances for the Bees came in the play-off semi-final defeat to Swansea at the end of that season.

The midfielder moved on to Coventry in the summer of 2006 and instantly adapted to the level of the second tier, playing 31 games in 2006/07 and scoring three.

The following season, he was named as Coventry’s Player of The Year by the Sky Blues fans after helping Chris Coleman's side narrowly escape relegation to League One.

However, with Coventry struggling again the following season, Tabb moved to Reading in January 2009.

He was used sparingly in the latter half of the 2008/09 season, but became more of a feature in the side as he grew into his Reading career.

He was named on the bench for the 2010/11 Championship play-off final, only to be sent off during the half-time interval for abusing the referee.

However, Tabb laid his promotion ghost to rest the following season, playing 19 times as the Royals charged to the Championship title.

He featured regularly during the early part of Reading’s season, making 12 appearances in the Premier League and receiving praise for his robust performances.

Opportunities for Tabb in the second half of the season were few and far between. His only Reading appearance in 2013 came in an FA Cup third round win over Crawley. As a result, he dropped back to the Championship with Ipswich, initially on loan, before the deal was made permanent in the summer of 2013.

Tabb’s career gradually wound down after his brief Premier League spell

Following his departure from the Madejski Stadium, Tabb’s career began to gradually wind down.

Tabb made his Ipswich debut against his former club Reading, who were eventually relegated from the Premier League, and scored the Tractor Boys’ only goal in a 2-1 away defeat.

He played 27 times for Ipswich that season, before notching 40 appearances in 2014/15 as Ipswich reached the play-offs.

His opportunities were few and far between after that and Tabb made just four appearances in the cups in 2015/16, before hanging up his boots in the summer of 2016.

The former Ireland youth international has trained as a jockey since retiring from football and has even taken part in competitive races.