Micky Adams signed Jay Tabb from Brentford in the summer of 2006. The popular livewire midfield player was out of contract and City acquired an outstanding young footballer. Jay took time to settle but in the second half of his first season he was impressive as a hard-working and skilful player capable of playing in central or wide midfield and he also chipped in with three goals. The 2007-08 season saw him blossom into an outstanding asset for the Sky Blues and he was a key player in many of Iain Dowie’s team’s excellent away results that season, notably Manchester United and Blackburn. He was deservedly voted Player of the Season for 2007-08 but that summer with only a year left on his contract the club failed to secure a longer deal. In January of this year, with Jay expressing a desire to be closer to his West London-Based family, he was reluctantly sold to Reading for a fee believed to be in the region of £600,000 and he was reunited with his former Brentford boss Steve Coppell.
A Republic of Ireland under 21 international, Jay had been released by Crystal Palace as a 16-year old and was snapped up by Brentford. In six years at Griffin Park he made over 150 appearances, scoring 24 goals and was something of a cult hero amongst the fans.




