From 1947 to 1948 Reagan made 18 appearances for Hull, where he attracted the attention of Middlesbrough, in 1948 paid £5,000 to sign Reagan from Hull City. Over the next three years he scored four goals in 25 league and cup appearances, and is credited with scoring Middlesbrough's 1000th league goal,[1][2] before joining Shrewsbury Town. On New Year's Eve 1952 Portsmouth bought Reagan from Shrewsbury for £12,000 and played him in their next five matches. Reagan did not play for Portsmouth again but remained with the club until August 1954 when he joined Norwich City. After two years with Norwich, Reagan became player manager at March Town United in the Eastern Counties Football League.[3]
At the 1985 Mundialito Reagan had noticed the potential of the United States women's national team, when England beat them 3–1 in their third ever match. He wrote a prescient letter to his American counterpart Mike Ryan which said "The day cannot be very distant when you will be a world force."[9] From 1989 to 2003 Reagan was director of coaching at the Two Rivers Soccer Camp in California, USA.[6]
Personal life
As well as his football career Reagan worked as a self–employed sales agent.[10] Prior to his death in December 2016,[1] Reagan was the oldest surviving Middlesbrough FC player and lived in a Kirk Hammerton care home.[2][11] Before his football career, Reagan served as a Staff Sgt Tank Commander in 204 Armoured Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers, during World War II. On 20 October 1994, the 50th anniversary of an explosion which killed many of his tank squadron, Reagan visited Ijzendijke in the Netherlands with his three sons and began a campaign to fund and build a memorial to those who had died. The memorial, at the entry to Isabellaweg Farm, is the site of an annual commemoration of the British and Canadian soldiers who died there.[12][13][14][15]
