The History of Reading FC: From the Mediocre to the Madejski

Aug 21, 2010
Steve Rogerson

Madejski Stadium, home of Reading FC - Photo by Steve Rogerson

After years in the wilderness, Reading FC bloomed into a Premiership club, albeit only for two years, but they are well established in the Championship.

When Reading Football Club won the Championship in 2006, what was once a small club in the Thames Valley entered the top flight for the first time in their 130 year plus history. Though now back in the Championship, the rise of Reading is one of the more remarkable in the histories of Football League clubs.

The Birth of Reading FC

The first meeting that was to lead to the formation of Reading FC took place in 1871 and was called by a local jeweller Joseph Sydenham. The first matches of the new club were played at Kings Meadow on the banks of the River Thames. In their early years, they also played home games at Reading Cricket Ground, Coley Park and Caversham Cricket Ground before setting up in Elm Park in 1896, a ground that was to be their home for more than a century.

The club was an early entrant in the FA Cup, playing in it for the first time in 1877. In 1894, they were one of the founder members of the Southern League and turned professional a year later; it was an acrimonious meeting and led to the resignation of founder members of the club who wanted to keep their amateur status.

The club originally had the nickname The Biscuitmen as many of those involved worked at the local Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory. When that closed down in the 1970s, the nickname was changed to The Royals because they are based in the Royal Borough of Berkshire.

Slow Growth for Reading FC

The club’s first honours in the Southern League happened in 1911 when they won the second division championship. They became a league club in 1920 when it was decided that the Southern League was to become the new Third Division South, which they won in 1926 to enter the second tier of English football for the first time. The following year, they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, losing to the eventual winners Cardiff City. In 1931, they were relegated back to the third division.

Despite finishing runners-up in twice in 1949 and 1952, they were not promoted as only the champions went up in those days, and so they pottered about in that division until 1971 when they were relegated to the fourth division. They got back to the third tier for just one season in 1976, coming down the following year before being promoted again in 1979. That season saw them set a Football League record of not conceding a goal for 1074 minutes of play; the goalkeeper at the time was called Steve Death.

In 1982 and 1983, the fans of Reading FC won a battle against publisher Robert Maxwell who was trying to engineer a merger of the club with Oxford United, which he owned, to form the Thames Valley Royals. Supporters of both clubs were opposed to the move, which was eventually called off following a boardroom coup at Reading.

Reading were promoted back to the third tier in 1984 and then onto the second tier again in 1986, albeit for just two years before relegation took them back to the third. They stayed there until John Madejski bought the club in 1990.

The John Madejski Era

John Madejski is an English businessman with fingers in many pies and used his money to transform Reading FC, a lot of it spent on building the club’s new ground, which was named after him. Reading won promotion in 1994, and came close to being promoted to the top tier the following year when they became runners-up but only the winners went up automatically that year as the number of teams in the Premiership was being reduced from 22 to 20. Reading lost in the play-off final to Bolton Wanderers. In 1998, they were relegated back to the third tier, the year they moved into the Madejski Stadium.

Reading returned to the second tier in 2003 and the following year against lost in the play-offs to reach the Premiership, something they achieved two seasons later by winning the Championship with a record 106 points. They were in the top flight at last.

In their first season, they were one of the favourites to be relegated but stunned the football world by finishing eighth, but the joy lasted only a short time as they were relegated back to the Championship the following season. In 2009, they reached the play-offs again for promotion back to the Premiership, but lost to Burnley. They are still in the Championship.

For those visiting, it is worth trying out some of the excellent real ale pubs in Reading town centre.