Reading 2013/2014

reading-stadium

Reading quick review - season 2013/2014

Reading Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Reading, that plays in the Premier League. The club is currently competing in the 2012–13 Premier League season, having gained promotion at the end of last season, after winning The Championship.

Reading are nicknamed The Royals, due to Reading's location in the Royal County of Berkshire, though they were previously known as The Biscuitmen, due to the town's association with Huntley & Palmers. Established in 1871, the club is one of the oldest teams in England, but did not join The Football League until 1920, and had never played in the top tier of English football league system before the 2006–07 season.

The club played at Elm Park for 102 years. The club moved in 1998 to the new Madejski Stadium, which is named after the club's chairman Sir John Madejski.
The club holds the record for the number of successive league wins at the start of a season, with a total of 13 wins at the start of the 1985–86 Third Division campaign and also the record for the number of points gained in a professional league season with 106 points in the 2005–06 Football League Championship campaign. Reading finished eighth in their first ever season as a top flight club.

Before going out of business in 1992, Aldershot were Reading's biggest rivals. There was a strong rift between the two sets of fans, with fighting between fans occurring on several occasions. Strong feelings remain between fans of Reading and fans of Aldershot Town, the refounded club in Aldershot. With Aldershot Town rejoining the league in 2008, it remains to be seen whether this traditional rivalry will be re-established. Since Aldershot's exile, Reading's main local rivalries have been with Oxford United and Swindon Town. When the three teams had shared a division, their rivalry was referred to as the "Didcot Triangle". However, the rivalry between Oxford and Swindon is stronger than between either of the two and Reading, largely due to them both spending their recent history in lower divisions than Reading, and spending their previous history in higher divisions than Reading. In 2012, a small survey showed that Reading's main rivals were Aldershot Town, followed by Swindon Town and Oxford United.

Reading hold the record for the number of successive league wins at the start of a season, with a total of 13 wins at the start of the 1985–86 Third Division campaign and also the record for the number of points gained in a professional league season with 106 points in the 2005–06 Football League Championship campaign. Reading finished champions of their division on both of these occasions.

The club's largest win was a 10–2 victory over Crystal Palace on 4 September 1946 in the Football League Third Division South. Reading's heaviest loss was a 18–0 defeat against Preston North End in the FA Cup 1st round on 27 January 1894. Reading have lost the two highest scoring matches in the history of the Premier League; Portsmouth 7 Reading 4 on 29 September 2007 and Tottenham Hotspur 6 Reading 4 on 29 December 2007.

The player with the most league appearances is Martin Hicks with a total of 500 from 1978 to 1991. The most capped player is Kevin Doyle, who earned 26 for Ireland while at the club. The most league goals in total and in a season are held by Ronnie Blackman with 158 from 1947 to 1954 and 39 in 1951–52 respectively. The player with the most league goals in a game is Arthur Bacon with 6 against Stoke City in 1930–31. The first Reading-based player to play in the World Cup was Bobby Convey at the 2006 FIFA World Cup with the United States. The record time for a goalkeeper not conceding a goal is held by Steve Death at 1103 minutes in 1978–79, which is a former English league record.

Reading's highest attendance at Elm Park was in 1927, when 33,042 spectators watched Reading beat Brentford 1–0. The highest attendance at the Madejski Stadium is 24,184 for the Premier League game with Everton on 17 November 2012.

The highest transfer fee received for a Reading player is the £6.6 million 1899 Hoffenheim paid for Gylfi Sigurdsson on 31 August 2010. The most expensive player Reading have ever bought was Emerse Fae, who cost £2.5m from Nantes on 2 August 2007