Vital Statistics
Born: 9th November 2003
Nationality: English
Position: Defender
Royals first team debut: Reading 0-3 Swansea City – 10/08/21
Stickland's Story
A scholar of our Academy, Stickland's rise to first-team involvement has been meteoric. Having played U18s football in the 2020-21 season, he not only stepped up a year early to captain our U23s in the Premier League 2 for 2021-22, but he also caught the eye of the first-team staff who handed him his senior debut aged 17.
Stickland had spent the summer training with the first-team, and having been involved in a handful of senior friendlies, he stepped onto the pitch for his Reading debut at half-time of our Carabao Cup First Round tie with Swansea City in August 2021.
The teenage central defender came onto the field in place of fellow Academy graduate and boyhood fan Tom McIntyre. Just a few weeks later, Stickland was handed his league debut, when he was subbed on for the final five minutes of a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough that September.