Reading Football Club ( RED-ing) is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. They compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. They play their home matches at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in the RG2 area of Reading.
Reading are nicknamed The Royals after the Royal County of Berkshire, and were previously known as The Biscuitmen, due to the town's association with biscuit maker 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 first played in the top tier of English football league system in the 2006–07 season. The club competed in the 2012–13 Premier League season, having gained promotion at the end of the 2011–12 season after winning the Championship, but were relegated after just one season back in the top flight.
Reading were formed on 25 December 1871, following a public meeting at the Bridge Street Rooms organised by Joseph Edward Sydenham, who would go on to be club secretary. The early matches were played at Reading Recreation Ground, and later the club held fixtures at Reading Cricket Ground, Coley Recreation Ground and Caversham Cricket Ground. 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 had a successful tour of Italy, prompting the leading sports newspaper Corriere della Sera to write, "Without doubt, Reading FC are the finest foreign team seen in Italy". Attilio Fresia moved to Reading as a result of the tour, becoming the first Italian to play in English football.
Reading were elected to the Football League Third Division South of the Football League in 1920. The club were promoted to the Second Division, following a Third Division South title win in 1926. 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, a placement the club would not match again until 2015, when they lost to holders Arsenal in the semi-final. The attendance at the 1–0 victory over Brentford in the fifth round set a new attendance record for Elm Park, at 33,042 people. This remains the highest attendance at a Reading home match. Reading lost their place in the Second Division in May 1931, and remained in Third Division South until the outbreak of World War II. The club won the Southern Section Cup, beating Bristol City in the two-legged final in 1938, and when taking part in the regional London War League and Cup competitions, gained another honour by beating Brentford in the London War Cup Final of 1941 by 3–2 at Stamford Bridge.
When League football resumed after the war, Reading quickly came to prominence once again. The club's record victory, 10–2 versus Crystal Palace, was recorded in September 1946, and Reading twice finished runners-up in the Third (South), in 1948–49 and 1951–52, but they were denied a return to Division Two as only the champions were promoted. Reading were relegated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in the 1971–72 season. A return to the Third Division was achieved, following a third-placed finish in 1975–76, but the club suffered immediate relegation. The 1978–79 season saw Reading win the Fourth Division to win promotion back to the Third Division.
Relegation was suffered in 1982–83. Towards the end of that season, Oxford United chairman Robert Maxwell announced that he had completed a deal to merge Oxford and Reading into a single club – Thames Valley Royals. Maxwell claimed that both clubs were on the verge of bankruptcy and having a united team was required for the Thames Valley region to retain a Football League club. The proposed amalgamation was prevented by the actions of Roy Tranter, a Reading director, and Roger Smee, a former Reading player. Smee disputed the legitimacy of the controlling interest in Reading held by the three board members that supported the merger plan. Tranter launched a legal challenge to the sale of certain shares on 22 April 1983. The supporters of the plan allies resigned under pressure from the rest of the Reading board in May 1983. At an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in July, Smee took over the club to end the amalgamation plans.
