[3] Reid said "I chose Forest years ago because they made me feel wanted, because they had more time for me as a young kid than I felt at Arsenal or United".

He eventually scored a goal on 15 May 2003 against Sheffield United in the 2003 Football League Division One play-off semi-final, although Nottingham Forest lost the match 4–3.

[14] Despite a promising start Reid failed to recapture the form he had shown at Forest and had to wait until May before netting for his new club, coming against Aston Villa in a 5–1 win at the end of the season.

[15] Making only 20 starts in 26 appearances he scored just one goal for Tottenham[2] leading him to be listed by one journalist as one of the worst signings of the January Transfer market.

[2] At the end of January 2008, on the last day of the transfer window, Reid joined Sunderland in a three-and-a-half-year deal worth £5m, making the step back up to the Premier League.

[21] He made his début at the start of February 2008 against Wigan Athletic, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute and assisted Daryl Murphy by playing a cross field pass for him to score a 25-yard (23 m) goal.

After two months at Bramall Lane Reid was hit by a three match ban following an incident at Carrow Road in a game against Norwich and so returned early to his parent club.

[28] On 1 July 2011, Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Reid on a two-year deal, returning to the club where he started his career.

On 5 January 2014, Billy Davies said Reid had signed a contract extension of two and a half years to remain at Nottingham Forest until the summer of 2016.

[32] Having been an ever-present in Forest's starting XI in the 2014–15 Football League Championship, Reid came off with injury in the forty-third minute of their home-tie against local rivals Derby County on 14 September 2014.

Although he was yet to feature for the club that season due to injury, Reid still harboured hopes of playing again and told Forest Player HD "I'm going to be coupling this with my rehab – I had my operation four weeks ago – and I'm still trying to get back".

His first international goal in a competitive game saw him score a 25-yard (23 m) shot from open play against Cyprus in a World Cup qualifier on 18 August 2004.

[44] Reid fell out of favour with Ireland's previous manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, since the pair had a late night dispute in 2008 at the team hotel in Wiesbaden.

[45] After a five-year exile from international football, interim manager Noel King recalled Reid to the Irish squad for the qualifiers against Germany and Kazakhstan.

[47] On 15 October 2013, Reid made his return in an Irish jersey against Kazakhstan playing 75 mins before being replaced by Aiden McGeady in a 3–1 win in Dublin.