Reading F.C.
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Reading F.C. is a
football team based in
Reading,
England, currently playing in the
Football League Championship.
Reading were formed in
1871 with early matches played at Reading Recreation Ground before moving to Elm Park on 5th
September 1896. In
1998, they moved to the new state-of-the-art all-seater 24,084 capacity
Madejski Stadium.
They were originally nicknamed the 'Biscuitmen' after the main trade in the town, but in the
1970s became known as the 'Royals', due to Reading's location in the
Royal County of Berkshire.
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.
They have never played in the top tier of English professional football, although in season
1994/
1995 their play-off defeat against Bolton made them the only side to finish second in the First/Second Division and not get promoted to the top level, due to the
Premier League reducing its number of teams. Their most recent promotion attempt failed in the season of
2002/
2003 where Reading finished fourth in the league table, but were beaten by
Wolves in the semi-final play-offs. This was Reading's third attempt to gain promotion via the play-offs; each attempt has been unsuccessful.
Reading's best performance in the
FA Cup came in
1926/
1927 when they lost to eventual winners
Cardiff City F.C. in the semi-final. The side's moment of glory came in
1988 when they won the
Simod Cup, beating a number of First Division sides en-route to their
Wembley win over
Luton.
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/
1986.
In
1979, Reading
goalkeeper Steve Death went 1103 minutes without conceding a goal, also an English league record.
Honours
