Jamie Reid had in his own words an ‘unbelievable start’ to his Northern Ireland career.
Just seven minutes in, the Stevenage forward scored on his debut, delivering a clever finish to a fantastic flowing move which helped Michael O’Neill’s side to an impressive 1-1 draw in Romania in March.
A few days later Reid started at Hampden Park as Northern Ireland beat Scotland 1-0 in another friendly and in June he was up against a superb Spain side that would go on to dominate Euro 2024. Cap number four for the one-time Non-League striker came in a 2-0 victory over Andorra.
He was loving the high of playing international football and was relishing another shot in September with a home game against Luxembourg and trip to Bulgaria to come in the Nations League.
Then came something unexpected and worrying in the summer while on holiday in Dubai leading to him missing the Northern Ireland fixtures and a number of matches for his League One club.
“I had a blood clot in the summer in my leg. I was taking tablets so I couldn’t do contact sports but I’m fine now,” said Reid who has made a welcome return to the fold for Saturday’s encounter with Belarus in Hungary and next Tuesday’s clash against Bulgaria in Belfast.
“I think the doctors put it down to a lot of flying in the space of three weeks.
“I was away on the Spain trip (in June) and I went on a few more holidays, then when I was out in Dubai, I just felt my leg and I got diagnosed over there, which was a little bit worrying because I was in a foreign country.
“It was unnatural because it was something new to me. I didn’t know anything about it, I don’t know anyone that’s had one and I’m a young lad so I didn’t really think I could ever get that. I just have to be careful and wear flight socks now.
“I had no symptoms of it. That’s what the crazy thing was. I kept going back and getting scanned and I had no pain, no swelling, nothing.
“I had a good year last season (scoring 23 goals) so it was annoying that my injury came at the time it did, but it is what it is.
“I’ve had a lot of good times in football and been injury free for four years so I just took it as a little bit of rest. Now I’m ready to go again.
“What I was most gutted about was missing the last (international) camp because I really wanted to play in Belfast (against Luxembourg).
Reid will hopefully have the opportunity to make his Windsor bow when Bulgaria come to town.
“That is something that my family will be very proud of. It’ll be a special night,” says the personable English-born Reid who qualifies for Northern Ireland through his Belfast grandmother.
Reflecting on his incredible scoring debut seven months on, Reid recalled: “That was an unbelievable feeling, probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in football.
“Scoring so early helped me because I was able to relax and I thought I played well that night. Scoring seven minutes into your debut is good, but I’ve done that now, and I want some new memories, so hopefully they will come.
“Playing for Northern Ireland is a great experience. When I was 26 or 27 I didn’t really think about it, because I was playing Non-League and League Two so to have nights like Hampden Park and winning away, and obviously scoring on my debut have been brilliant.”
Reid is actually the last striker to net for Northern Ireland. Since his goal in Romania, O’Neill’s players have scored six times through Conor Bradley (3), Daniel Ballard (2) and Paddy McNair.
O’Neill wants his forwards to step up and Reid believes Dion Charles, Josh Magennis, Callum Marshall and himself can do that. Late addition Lee Bonis, scoring goals in Dutch football this season, joined up with the squad yesterday.
“The strikers here are unbelievable, like, obviously Dion’s at Bolton, you’ve got Callum Marshall who’s a good young lad and Josh has still got a lot more to give,” said Reid.
“I played against Josh the other day against Exeter and he was unbelievable.
“We have played against some good international teams and personally it’s been a little bit hard to show everyone what I can do but hopefully I can start putting my stamp on the team more often.
“The boys are a great group to get on with. It’s a young group and then you’ve got Josh, who glues everyone together.
“Playing against him I thought he was going to be not as nice as he was, but he’s helped me settle in loads. What a guy.
“There are a lot of young lads but internationally, they’re more experienced than me and they can teach me a thing or two internationally.
“When I’ve played they’re not scared to talk, which makes the game easier. When you’ve got young guys like Shea (Charles), Conor (Bradley) and Isaac (Price), they’re all talking to you.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the boys, they’ve been brilliant. It’s a privilege to be here.”