Reece Joseph Staunton (born 10 December 2001) 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender or

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for side

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. Born in England, he represents Ireland at youth international level.

Early and personal life

Staunton attended Bradford Academy.

Club career

Bradford City

He made his senior debut for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on 7 November 2017, at the age of 15 years 332 days, becoming the club's youngest ever player. He signed a two-year academy scholarship with the club in September 2017, having first joined at under-12 level. He made his first appearance of the 2018–19 season in a 4–1 home defeat in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

on 9 October 2018. He was praised by manager

David Hopkin David Isaac Hopkin (born 21 August 1970) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Ayr United. As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2003, notably in the English Premier League ...

for his performance in the match. In August 2019 he moved on loan to Ossett United. He returned to Bradford City on 23 September 2019. He made his first City appearance of the 2019–20 season a few days later, in the

. In November 2019 he moved on loan to

Bradford (Park Avenue) Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

. The loan was extended in December 2019 for a further month, with Park Avenue manager

Mark Bower Mark James Bower (born 23 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back and is the manager of Guiseley. Born in Bradford, he played for more than a decade with his hometown club Bradford City until his r ...

praising Staunton. Later that month he turned professional with Bradford City, signing a contract until the end of the 2021–22 season. On 8 January 2020 the loan deal was ended early. At the end of the 2019–20 season he was praised by new City manager

Stuart McCall Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of Preston North End. McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matche ...

, who said Staunton was one of potentially four youngsters who would join the first-team for the 2020–21 season. Staunton was praised by club captain Richard O'Donnell after an impressive performance on the opening day of the 2020–21 season. In September 2020 he signed a new four-year contract with the club. Later that month he suffered an ankle injury, missing matches before being back in first-team contention towards the end of October. In November 2020 he was one of a number of young Bradford City players playing in the first team who were praised by manager

. Later that month Staunton spoke about how his first-team run was improving his skills. On 30 November he was ruled out for 3 months due following a hamstring injury sustained in a match the week before. By March 2021 he was still continuing his recovery from the injury. In July 2021, ahead of the start of the 2021–22 season, Staunton's teammate

Niall Canavan Niall David Stephen Canavan (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Barrow. Born in England, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level. Career Born in Bramley, West Yorkshire, Canava ...

told him to remain positive as he continued his rehabilitation from injury. He was made available for loan to National League clubs in September 2021. He moved on loan to

in November 2021. After returning from his loan in late 2021, he was made available for loan again in January 2022. The next month, following the departure of club captain and fellow defender Canavan, Staunton was challenged by manager

Derek Adams Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of National League football club Morecambe. Adams became manager of Ross County in 2007, winning promotion from the Scottish Second Divisio ...

to "push forward" and challenge for a first-team spot.

Bradford (Park Avenue)

In August 2022 he moved to

for an undisclosed transfer fee, his third spell with the club.

Spennymoor Town

On 8 June 2023, Staunton signed for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

side Spennymoor Town. At the end of the 2023–24 season, he won the Supporters' Player and Players' Player of the Year awards. The following season, he won the Players' Player of the Year award again; sharing the award with

Glen Taylor Glen Albert Taylor (born April 20, 1941) is an American billionaire business magnate and politician from Minnesota. Taylor made his fortune as the founder and owner of Minnesota-based Taylor Corporation, one of the largest graphic communication ...

Grimsby Town

On 19 June 2025, it was announced that Staunton had signed for League Two side

on a two-year deal. The transfer saw Staunton return to the English Football League following an "impressive" season with Spennymoor.

International career

In November 2018 he was called up by the Republic of Ireland under-18 team, having first been involved with the national team set-up since the previous year.

Style of play

Speaking in May 2020, Bradford City manager

described Staunton by saying "he's adaptable because he can play left back, left centre half in a three and can sit in front of the back four. He's got a really good passing range".

Career statistics

Honours

Spennymoor Town *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

runner-up: 2024–25 Individual * Spennymoor Town Supporters' Player of the Year: 2023–24 *Spennymoor Town Players' Player of the Year: 2023–24; 2024–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staunton, Reece 2001 births Living people Footballers from Bradford English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Bradford City A.F.C. players Ossett United F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen Grimsby Town F.C. players