History of Reading F.C.

Early years (1871–1941)

Reading F.C. were formed on 25 December 1871 by founder Joseph Edward Sydenham. They were originally nicknamed The Biscuitmen after one of the main trades in the town, Huntley & Palmers biscuits, but changed to the Royals in the 1970s, when the company closed their factory. This history is reflected in the name of the club's unofficial fanzine, Hob Nob Anyone?, named after a popular British biscuit.

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.

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.

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 and fourth tiers of the league, with occasional flirtations with the second tier.

Reading's best performance in the FA Cup came in 1926–27 when they lost to eventual winners Cardiff City at Wolverhampton in the semi-final. Attendance at the 1–0 victory over Brentford in round five set a new attendance record for Elm Park, at 33,042 people.

Reading were relegated to Football League Third Division South in May 1931. The club defeated Bristol City to win the Southern Section Cup in 1938, and won the London War Cup in 1941 by defeating Brentford 3–2 in the final at Stamford Bridge.

Post-war years (1945–1990)

The club remained in Division Three after the war, but finished in second place in their division in 1948–49 and 1951–52. Their 10–2 win over Crystal Palace in September 1946 remains the club's scoring record.

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.

New era (1990–1998)

The appointment of Mark McGhee as player-manager, shortly after the takeover by John Madejski, 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 were in contention for a second successive 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 play-off semi-finals and looked to have booked their place in the Premier League 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.

Onwards and upwards (1998–2008)

1998 also saw Reading move into the new 24,200 all-seater Madejski Stadium, named after chairman, John Madejski. Tommy Burns had taken over from Terry Bullivant but lasted just 18 months before being replaced by Alan Pardew who had previously been reserve team manager before being released. In 2001, Reading became the first football club to register their fans as an official member of their squad, giving the "player" registered with squad number 13 as 'Reading Fans'.

Reading returned to Division One for 2002–03 after finishing runners-up in Division Two. The following season they finished fourth in Division One and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost in the semi-final to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Pardew acrimoniously moved to West Ham United the following October and was replaced by Brighton & Hove Albion's Steve Coppell. Coppell took the Royals to seventh in the Football League Championship, missing out on a place in the play-offs by three points.

Reading won the 2005–06 Championship with a league record 106 points, scoring 99 goals and losing only twice. They were promoted to English football's top division for the first time in their history. The 2006–07 season saw Reading make their first appearance in the top flight of English football. Striker Dave Kitson became the first player to score for Reading in the Premier League, in a 3–2 win against Middlesbrough The Royals defied pre-season predictions of relegation to finish the season in eighth place with 55 points. Reading turned down the chance to play in the Intertoto Cup. The club's top scorer in the league was Kevin Doyle with 13 goals, while top scorer overall was Didier Drogba with 20.

In the run up to their second season in the Premier League, Reading took part in the 2007 Peace Cup in South Korea, playing River Plate, Lyon and Shimizu S-Pulse, but failing to qualify for the final on goal difference. This second season was less successful and Reading were relegated back to the Championship following a loss of form in the second half of the season. Despite winning 0–4 away at fellow strugglers Derby County on the last day of the season, Reading were relegated to the Championship due to Fulham grabbing a win at Portsmouth.

Recent seasons (2008–present)

Reading started the 2008–09 season with a 15 match unbeaten home run until losing to Southampton. In the second half of the season, they struggled to regain the form and slipped down the table before recovering to finish fourth and qualify for the play-offs, where they lost to Burnley in the semi-final. Manager Steve Coppell resigned just hours after the game, and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers left the club by mutual consent on 16 December 2009 and Brian McDermott made caretaker manager the same day. In the 2010–11 FA Cup, Reading beat West Bromwich Albion, Stevenage and Everton, to reach the quarter-final, where they lost 1–0 to Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium, Reading eventually finished 5th in the Championship to qualify for the division's play-offs. After beating Cardiff City in the semi-finals they lost 4–2 to Swansea City in the final at Wembley Stadium.

Reading started the 2011–12 by selling captain Matt Mills and player of the season Shane Long. Early results were not favourable and the club sat second-bottom of the table after six games. However, a streak of good form in the second half of the season, combined with the signings of Adam Le Fondre, Kaspars Gorkšs and Jason Roberts, ensured promotion to the Premier League on 17 April 2012 with 1–0 home win against Nottingham Forest. In their next match on 21 April 2012, Reading secured the Championship title with a game to spare after 2–2 draw with Crystal Palace when second-placed Southampton failed to beat Middlesbrough, losing 1–2.

On 21 January 2012, it was announced that Madejski planned to sell 51% of the club to Thames Sport Investments led by Russian-born Anton Zingarevich which was eventually completed on 29 May 2012.

On 30 October 2012, Reading created an unwanted record in the last 16 of the League Cup. At home to Arsenal, they took a 4–0 lead after 37 minutes, but Arsenal drew level at 4–4 two minutes after the allotted 4 minutes' injury time. After extra time the result was a 5–7 loss, the first time any club in the League or FA Cup scored 5 goals and still lost.