Simon Church – Profile

On Tuesday 17th February Simon Richard Church became Geraint Williams’ second signing in his stint as O’s manager.

Born in High Wycombe in December 1988, the 20 year old has been on Reading pro-books since 2007 when he signed professional forms for a one-year deal.

He was subsequently loaned out to Crewe Alexandra for a month in October 2007 where he earned rave reviews. Based on these performances Crewe decided to extend his contract to the January transfer window.

Church then joined Yeovil on loan for the remainder of the 2007-2008 season.

At the beginning of the 2008-2009 season he joined Wycombe Wanderers for a month but this was cut short due to a sending-off and the resulting 3 game ban.

It was whilst at Wycombe that Church has trained alongside Scott Mcgleish and played upfront together in the 1-1 draw at Barnet.

Returning from his loan spell at Wycombe, Church finally made his Reading first-team debut. Coming on as a 2nd half replacement for Bobby Convey in the 2-0 defeat versus Cardiff at Ninian Park in this seasons FA Cup 3rd round tie.

Internationally Church has fared rather well scoring 7 goals in 10 appearances for Wales Under-21’s.

All the best Simon!