Former Reading defender Tom McIntyre has issued an emotional statement after leaving his boyhood club for Portsmouth.

Born and raised in the town, having a season ticket from a young age, the former Scotland youth international was on the books of the club since the age of eight.

Going on to make over 100 appearances, McIntyre has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with League One leaders Portsmouth ahead of the January transfer window deadline.

“Playing for Reading has been a privilege and a dream come true for me,” he said on social media. “In one of, if not, the toughest year the club has seen, I want to thank all the fans that have continued to support us through the ups and the downs, so thank you. Nothing will quite beat hearing your name being sung by the very fans you used to sit with.

“I never imagined it ending in this way with the last few months being very frustrating for a number of reasons. While my time as a player may have come to an end, I go back to being a fan who hopes the issues at the club can be resolved and it can get back to being the club that we all fell in love with.

“Goodbye for now. Up the Ding.”

It remains to be seen whether anyone joins McIntyre, Nelson Abbey and Tom Holmes in signing elsewhere before tomorrow’s deadline.