|
| |
Reading Football Club
|
| |
The Royals
|
| |
25 December 1871
|
| |
Madejski Stadium <br> Reading
|
| |
24,161
|
| |
John Madejski
|
| |
Manager
|
| |
Steve Coppell
|
| |
Premier League
|
| |
"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Premier_League" class="copylinks">Premier League = 8th
|
| |
2006&ndash07
|
| |
8th
|
| |
_white_hoopspattern_b1=_whitehoopspattern_ra1=_white_hoopsleftarm1=27287Cbody1=27287Crightarm1=27287Cshorts1=27287Csocks1=27287C
|
| |
pattern_b2=_blackhoopspattern_ra2=leftarm2=000000body2=2F4F4Frightarm2=000000shorts2=000000socks2=2F4F4F
|
are an
Association Football club, based in the
English town of
Reading , in
Berkshire . They currently play in the
FA Premier League . When Reading gained promotion to the Premier League, on
25 March 2006 , they achieved promotion to the top flight earlier in the season than any other post-war side, and also gained the highest points tally ever attained in any of England's four professional divisions. It was also the first time Reading had reached the top division in their history.
1
They are nicknamed the , due to Reading's location in the
Royal County Of Berkshire . Reading's
Mascot is a lion called
Kingsley Royal .
Reading supporters are represented by ''STAR'', the
Supporters Trust At Reading .
Reading were formed on
25 December 1871 . They were originally nicknamed the ''The Biscuitmen'' after one of the main trades in the town,
Huntley & Palmers biscuits, but changed to the in the 1970s, when the company closed their factory
2. This history is reflected in the name of the club's unofficial fanzine,
Hob Nob Anyone? , named after a popular British biscuit.
The club played at Reading Recreation Ground until 1878, before moving on to Reading Cricket Ground (1878–1882),
Coley Park (1882–1889) and
Caversham Cricket Ground (1889–1896). The switch to professionalism in 1895 resulted in the need for a bigger ground and, to this end, the club moved again, to the purpose-built
Elm Park on
5 September 1896 . The crest design is based upon the club colours, a crown which in heraldry represents royal sovereignty for the
County Of Berkshire and a lion which is an image of Reading most famous landmark, the
Forbury Lion .
In 1913 Reading toured
Italy and beat
Genoa 4-2 and
A.C. Milan 5-0, narrowly lost 2-1 to
Casale , before beating Italian champions
Pro Vercelli 6-0 and the full
Italian National Team 2-0, prompting the leading sports newspaper
Corriere Della Sera to write "without doubt, Reading FC are the finest foreign team seen in Italy." Reading were invited back for another tour the following year, but there is no evidence it took place. It is possible it was cancelled due to the imminence of
World War I , which claimed the lives of many Reading F.C. players, including
Alan Foster , who put a hat-trick past Milan.
3
Reading were elected to the
Third Division of the
Football League in 1920, and have spent the majority of the time since then in the third tier of the league, with occasional flirtations with the second and fourth tiers.
Reading's best performance in the
FA Cup came in
1926–27 when they lost to eventual winners
Cardiff City in the semi-final. The side's moment of cup glory came in 1988 when they won the
Simod Cup , beating a number of top flight sides en-route to their
Wembley win over
Luton Town .
Reading were promoted to the Second Division as champions in 1986 under the management of
Ian Branfoot , but were relegated back to the Third Division in 1988. Branfoot left in October 1989, having failed to get the Royals back into the Second Division. His successor,
Ian Porterfield , lasted just 18 months before further failures cost him his job. The appointment of
Mark McGhee as player-manager in June 1991 saw Reading move forward.
They were crowned champions of the new Division Two in 1994 and, when McGhee moved to
Leicester City halfway through the following season, Reading still appeared in with a chance of a second straight promotion. 35-year-old
Striker Jimmy Quinn was put in charge of the first team alongside midfielder
Mick Gooding and guided Reading to runners-up in the final Division One table — only to be denied automatic promotion because of the streamlining of the Premier League, from 22 teams to 20. Reading had eased past
Tranmere Rovers in the playoff semi-finals and looked to have booked their place in the Premiership after building up a 2-0 lead over
Bolton Wanderers by half time in the final. Two late goals from Bolton forced extra time and the match ended 4-3 to Bolton. Quinn and Gooding's contracts were not renewed two years later after Reading had slid into the bottom half of Division One.
Their successor,
Terry Bullivant , lasted less than one season before being sacked in March 1998. The Royals finished that season bottom of Division One and slipped into Division Two. Former
Celtic boss,
Tommy Burns lasted just 18 months before being replaced by
Alan Pardew who had previously been reserve team manager before being released. 1998 also saw Reading move into the new 24,200-seat
Madejski Stadium — named after chairman John Madejski — in the Smallmead area of the town.
In 2001, Reading became the first football club to register their fans as an official member of their squad, in recognition of the fact that the supporters in the stadium on a match day can sometimes influence the match just as much as a player on the pitch. The idea came from supporter Andy Manson in the summer of 2001 when the number 13 was left vacant by then boss Alan Pardew after the departure of the club's number 13, Keith Scott. Since then the "player" registered with squad number 13, has been named '
Reading Fans '.
Reading made it back to Division One in 2002 after finishing runners-up in Division Two. Good form the following season saw them finish fourth in Division One and qualify for the
Playoff s. Their promotion hopes were ended by a defeat against
Wolverhampton Wanderers in the semi-finals, Reading's third unsuccessful attempt to gain promotion via play-offs. Pardew acrimoniously moved to
West Ham United the following October and was replaced at Reading by
Brighton & Hove Albion 's
Steve Coppell .
In 2004–05, Reading finished seventh in the
Football League Championship and just missed out in the playoffs.
See Also: Reading F.C. season 2005-06
On
25 March 2006 , Reading won promotion to the
Premier League for the first time in their history. A 1-1 draw away at Leicester, coupled with
Watford 's defeat against
Millwall , and
Leeds United only drawing with
Stoke City , secured Reading one of the top two automatic promotion places in the
Championship .
MPs congratulated Reading's successful season with two
Early Day Motion s shortly after Reading finally secured promotion.
45 The following week, they celebrated winning the
Championship after defeating
Derby County 5-0, while Stoke City held
Sheffield Utd 1-1
6. This sparked a
Pitch Invasion and the players celebrated in front of the fans from the safety of the directors' box.
The Club also secured a record amount of points for the second tier — 106 — and fell only one short of scoring 100 goals. Reading lost only two games during the season.
7
See Also: Reading F.C. season 2006-07
The
2006–07 season saw Reading make their first ever appearance in the top flight of English football. In the club's first Premiership game, Reading found themselves down 2-0 inside the first twenty minutes to
Middlesbrough , but in a stunning turnaround the Royals netted home their first Premiership goals and won 3-2. Striker
Dave Kitson became the first player to score for Reading in the top flight of football.
8 While it is commonplace for teams who get promoted to the Premiership to experience a ''one-and-done'' season before being relegated, Reading distanced themselves from that curse (rather like fellow promoted clubs in the past, e.g.
Wigan Athletic and
Portsmouth ), proving themselves more than worthy opposition for any team in the division.
Reading notched up some impressive results during the early stages of the season, including a draw against
Manchester United and a narrow defeat to defending champions
Chelsea , leading many commentators to change their opinion of the Premiership's newest member.
910
Perhaps one of the highlights of the season came on
1 January 2007 , when Reading beat
West Ham United 6-0.
11 It represents the club's first ever 'double' in the top flight, as Reading had won at
Upton Park 1-0 previously in the season. The 2-0 victory over
Manchester City on
3 February 2007 12 took Reading to 40 points in the Premiership, the total seen by some as that required to avoid relegation. After that impressive start to 2007, the Royals recorded three defeats in quick succession to Middlesbrough, to Manchester United in an FA Cup Fifth Round replay, and to
Arsenal .
John Oster scored his first Premiership goal for the club against Middlesbrough, and his first goal in the top flight since scoring for
Everton in the club's 4-2 win over
Barnsley in September 1997. The FA Cup replay against Manchester United was notable in that Reading contrived to concede three goals in the opening six minutes of the game. The final score was 3-2 to Manchester United.
13 Reading's final game of the season was an away fixture to
Blackburn Rovers , which ended 3-3 from which Reading came from behind three times, with goals from
Seol Ki-Hyeon ,
Kevin Doyle and
Brynjar Gunnarsson .
14 The result was not enough for qualification for the
UEFA Cup for the
2006–07 season as it meant that Reading finished the season in eighth place with 55 points. Reading also turned down the chance to play in the
Intertoto Cup meaning it was passed down to Portsmouth, who also rejected it, passing it to Blackburn who accepted the offer. The club's top scorer in the league was Kevin Doyle with 13 goals, whilst top scorer overall was
Leroy Lita with 14.
Reading took part in the 2007
Peace Cup in
South Korea . After defeat to
River Plate and victories over
Lyon and
Shimizu S-Pulse , Reading failed to qualify for the final on goal difference
15.
See Also: Reading F.C. season 2007-08
Reading's second season in the Premier League began on
12 August 2007 , with an away fixture against champions
Manchester United , in which the match ended in a scoreless draw,
Dave Kitson being controversially sent off after less than a minute for a challenge on
Patrice Evra . On
15 August 2007 Reading's first home game of the season finished with a 1-2 defeat to
Chelsea . Reading took the lead through
André Bikey , but two goals in the five minutes immediately after half time from
Frank Lampard and
Didier Drogba condemned Reading to their first defeat of the season. Reading's next home game on
18 August 2007 against Everton finished with a 1-0 win for Reading as a consequence of
Stephen Hunt 's 44th minute volley. Reading then took on
Bolton Wanderers and were defeated 3-0 away. Reading next played
Swansea City away on
27 August 2007 in the first round of the
League Cup , Reading won 1-0 because of
Leroy Lita 's goal in extra time,
Sam Sodje was sent off for two controversial yellow cards in this match. Reading were yet again defeated 3-0 this time at home to
West Ham United with two goals from
Matthew Etherington and one goal from
Craig Bellamy . Reading's next game is away to
Sunderland at the
Stadium Of Light .
Reading hold the English league record for the longest winning sequence at the start of a season with 13 victories in succession at the beginning of season
1985-86 .
In 1979, Reading
Goalkeeper Steve Death went 1103 minutes without conceding a goal, also an English league record.
They also hold the embarrassing honour of having experienced more
FA Cup defeats than any other team. This is because Reading are the oldest club still competing in the competition never to have won the Cup.
Notts County entered the competition at the same time as Reading, in
1877-78 . However, because County won the cup in
1894 (and so were unbeaten in that season), they have suffered one fewer defeat in the competition than Reading. In the year that County won the Cup, Reading suffered their worst ever defeat, losing 18-0 to
Preston North End , at least partly because the Preston players used studs on their quagmire of a pitch.
During their successful
2005-06 Premiership promotion campaign, Reading broke another record when they went 33 matches unbeaten, the longest in the history of England's second tier, from
9 August 2005 until they lost to Luton Town on
17 February 2006 . In the same season, Reading broke
Sunderland 's record for most points in a season in English football history, finishing with 106 points, and breaking the previous record by a single point.
16 Reading narrowly failed to become the first team to finish a season with both 100 goals and 100 points, but fell short by one goal, scoring "only" 99 times.
17
Reading staked its claim to one of English football's more unlikely records in the
FA Cup competition of its fledgling Premiership campaign. Having reached the 5th round of the competition for the first time in nearly a decade, Reading secured a creditable 1-1 draw with
Manchester United at Old Trafford, only to concede three goals in the first 5 minutes and 41 seconds of the replay, eventually losing the game 3-2. The Independent suggests that this represents the worst ever start to a game by a team in English football
18, superseding the three goals conceded by
Derby County in the first nine minutes of its home Premiership match with
Leicester City in 1997-98.
- Longest winning sequence at the start of a season: 13 victories in 1985-86 .
- Longest run in the football league without conceding a goal: 1103 minutes, over 11 matches between 24 March 1979 and 18 August 1979 (Steve Death was the goalkeeper throughout this run20)
- The first of the clubs who joined the Football League in 1920-22 to score 5000 League goals. Adie Williams scored the 5000th against Wycombe in September 2000 but, due to a miscalculation, the framed certificate went to Darius Henderson who got the 5001st
- Longest unbeaten run in a single season of the 2nd tier of English Football: 33 games ( 2005-06 )
- Most points in a single season in any English professional league: 106 points ( 2005-06 )
''For recent transfers, see
List Of English Football Transfers 2007-08 .''
& '''Senior club staff'''
- why--- the players are notable (more than any other player) before inserting -->
- George Best — made 4 pre-season appearances for Reading in 1982, before joining AFC Bournemouth.
- Matt Busby — 40 Wartime (non-league) appearances during 1942-194521
- Darren Caskey — made over 200 Appearances for Reading between 1996-2001, scoring 23 goals from midfield in the 1999-2000 season
- Steve Death — went 1103 minutes without conceding a goal, an English league record.
- Kerry Dixon — high scoring striker who was sold to Chelsea in 1983 and was later capped 8 times by England.
- Pat Earles — made over 250 appearances for Reading scoring 87 goals.
- Robin Friday — Winner of the club's "Player of the Millennium" award.
- Maurice Evans — manager of Fourth Division championship side in 1979 and later managed Oxford United to League Cup glory.
- William Garbutt — Started playing career with Reading, went on to play for Arsenal and then became a prominent manager in both Italy and Spain, winning the respective countries league titles.
- Shaka Hislop — goalkeeper in 1995 playoff final who was then sold to Newcastle United for £1.575million and later represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 World Cup.
- Bob Lenarduzzi — NASL star and former Canadian international and national team manager.
- Borislav Mikhailov — Bulgarian international goalkeeper, semifinalist in World Cup 1994 .
- Phil Parkinson — made 361 League appearances for Reading between 1992-2003 before becoming Manager of Colchester United and later Hull City & then assistant manager to former Reading FC manager Alan Pardew at the now relagated Charlton Athletic .
- Linvoy Primus - Defender who played for the club between 1997-2000
- Jimmy Quinn - Made 294 appearances between 1992-1997, top scorer in the whole football league in 1994 when Reading gained promotion, took over as joint manager with Mick Gooding when Mark McGhee acrimoniously left for Leicester City in December of that year.
- Steve Sidwell — made nearly 200 appearances for Reading between 2003-2007 before leaving the club for Chelsea FC at the end of his contract. A very popular player who epitomised Reading FC during his time with the club, and was a key part of the team who won promotion to the Premiership.
- Dariusz Wdowczyk — formerly a Poland international with 53 caps from 1984-92, he made 82 appearances for Reading between 1994-98.
- Adrian Williams — Wales international.
Reading's main current local rivalries are with
Oxford United and
Swindon Town . When the three teams had shared a division, their rivalry was referred to as the "Didcot Triangle".
22 However, nowadays the rivalry between Oxford and Swindon is far stronger than between either of the two and Reading due to them both spending most of the last 6-7 years in the lower divisions than Reading.
However, before going out of business in 1992,
Aldershot F.C. were Reading's biggest rivals. There was a strong rift between the two sets of fans, with riots between fans occurring on several occasions.
There are few famous confirmed supporters of Reading FC. However, notable inclusions are:
