He played for Ipswich Town and Coventry City, then tried his hand at three different sports | OneFootball

Jay Tabb tried his hand at golf, rugby union and horse racing in the years since his 2016 retirement from football

Former Reading star Jay Tabb retired from football at the age of just 32 after three years with Ipswich Town.

The now 42-year-old also played for Brentford and Coventry City in a career that began all the way back in 2001.

He broke through at the London outfit, making his first team debut on 3 May 2001 in a 2-2 draw against Luton Town.

Tabb spent most of his career competing in the Championship, spending three years at that level with Coventry City, and he even made it to the Premier League with the Royals during 2012/13.

Jay Tabb’s rise to the Premier League

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The midfielder signed for Coventry in the summer of 2006 from Brentford, and he played 95 times in the second tier for the club.

He helped the team finish 17th, 21 and 17th, scoring 11 times and providing 12 assists, before earning a move to the Madejski Stadium in 2009.

The now 42-year-old was a regular presence for the Royals, making 77 appearances in the Championship for the club before they earned promotion in 2012.

Tabb featured 12 times in the Premier League under Brian McDermott, but it wasn’t enough to help the team remain in the division, as they finished 19th in the table.

Jay Tabb’s career ends at Ipswich Town

Following Reading’s relegation from the top flight, Tabb went on to sign for Ipswich in 2013 on an initial loan basis before completing a permanent move in that summer.

And while his game time did improve at Portman Road, he was unable to help the Tractor Boys gain promotion.

Tabb missed just six league games in 2014/15, providing two goals and three assists as they earned a place in the play-offs.

Defeat to bitter rivals Norwich City in the semi-finals ended their hopes of a return to the Premier League, and it also signalled the end of Tabb’s playing career.

The 3-1 defeat to the Canaries in the second leg was his last match in the Championship, as he made just four cup appearances in the following campaign before retiring.

Jay Tabb’s other sporting pursuits

However, Tabb didn’t let the end of his football career put an end to his sporting ambition, as he tried his hand in three other sports in the years that followed.

He has pursued amateur rugby union, race horsing and golf since ending his playing career with Ipswich, and while he’s grateful to what the sport gave him, he’s opened up on what pushed him to pursue this journey.

“Football has been incredibly kind to me and I will be forever grateful for the path it’s allowed me to take in my professional life,” said Tabb, via The Irish Sun in 2024.

“But I had new challenges once I stopped — and when the opportunity came along to play rugby or golf, and train and ride horses, it has been a pretty amazing journey.”

Tabb played for the Old Wimbledonians in 2017, before starting work in a stable in 2020 that eventually led to him becoming a jockey a year later.

Meanwhile, he also worked his gold handicap down to five, and even caddied on the Ladies’ European Tour.

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Jay Tabb explains rugby and race horsing ambitions

Tabb revealed that he decided to pursue rugby due to it being popular in his family, and he credited his brother with helping him make the step into the sport.

However, it’s clear that horse racing was the pursuit he most wanted to follow in the years after retiring from football.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2019, he described the importance of taking on this challenge.

“I’m glad that I have come to learn how to ride a horse, because you can put things off.

“I just thought: ‘Life’s too short, I’m not enjoying football, I do have other interests,’ so it was the right time to do it.

“My mum would have been exactly the same as my auntie, crying her eyes out if she had seen me on a horse.

“Even when she came and watched me play football, if someone hit me too hard she would be really annoyed and be like: ‘What are they doing to my baby?’”

Reading and Ipswich now a distant memory of a past life.