Reading Football Club Short Round-Up
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Reading Football Club is a football club that currently plays in Premier League. They are also well-known as the Royals due to their location in the Royal County of Berkshire. The home ground of the club is the Madejski Stadium, named after Reading's chairman. It is situated in Reading, England. The stadium was built for more than £50million and opened on 22 August 1998. The capacity is 24,250.
The present chairman of the Royals is John Robert Madejski. He is a British businessman in the field of publishing and the hotel industry. The current manager is Stephen James Coppell. Earlier he was a manager of such clubs as: Crystal Palace (1984–1993), Crystal Palace (Director of Football-1995–1996), Manchester City (1996), Crystal Palace (1997–1998), Crystal Palace (Director of Football-1998–1999), Crystal Palace(1999–2000), Brentford (2001–2002), Brighton & Hove Albion (2003–2003). The complete list of managers of the team includes:
- 1897 - 1901 - Thomas Sefton
- 1901 - 1902 - James Sharp
- 1902 - 1920 - Harry Matthews
- 1920 - 1922 - Harry Marshall
- 1923 - 1925 - Arthur Chadwick
- 1925 - 1926 - H.S Bray
- 1926 - 1931 - Andrew Wylie
- 1931 - 1935 - Joe Smith
- 1935 - 1939 - Billy Butler
- 1939 - John Cochrane
- 1939 - 1947 - Joe Edelston
- 1947 - 1952 - Ted Drake
- 1952 - 1955 - Jack Smith
- 1955 - 1963 - Harry Johnston
- 1963 - 1969 - Roy Bentley
- 1969 - 1971 - Jack Mansell
- 1972 - 1977 - Charlie Hurley
- 1977 - 1984 - Maurice Evans
- 1984 - 1989 - Ian Branfoot
- 1989 - 1991 - Ian Porterfield
- 1991 - 1994 - Mark McGhee
- 1994 - 1997 - Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding
- 1997 - 1998 - Terry Bullivant
- 1998 - 1999 - Tommy Burns
- 1999 - 2003 - Alan Pardew
- 2003 - present Steve Coppell
The club was formed at the meeting at the Bridge Street Rooms under the chairmanship of Mr JE Sydenham in 1871. They got promotion to the Premier League on 25 March 2006. It was for the first time in the history of the club. 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. The Royals is one of the oldest English clubs, but they still cannot win FA Cup. Nevertheless through the history they have such honors as:
| The Championship | Division 1 | Division 2 | Division 3 | Division 3 (South) | Division 4 | Simod Cup | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winners |
Runners-Up |
Winners |
Runners-Up |
Winners
|
Winners |
Runners-Up |
Winners |
Runners-Up |
2005-06 |
1994-95 |
1993-94 |
2001-02 |
1985-86
|
1925-26 |
1931-32 |
1978-79 |
1988 |
1934-35 |
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1948-49 |
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1951-52 |
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The club's official mascot is Kingsley. It is a lion (an unofficial symbol of Reading) that wears a shirt with the number 1871, the year Reading FC was founded. The first appearance of Kingsley was in 1997 -1998 season. In 1930 STAR ("Supporters' Trust At Reading") was formed. It is the official organization representing the interests of fans of the club. Kingsley and STAR support the team and professional squad everywhere. Reading squad includes such players as:
| Goalkeeper | Defender | Midfielder | Forward |
|---|---|---|---|
Marcus Hahnemann |
Graeme Murty |
Steve Sidwell |
Leroy Lita |
Graham Stack |
Nicky Shorey |
Brynjar Gunnarsson |
Kevin Doyle |
Adam Federici |
Ibrahima Sonko |
Glen Little |
Dave Kitson |
John Halls |
Stephen Hunt |
Shane Long |
|
Ívar Ingimarsson |
John Oster |
Simon Cox |
|
Sam Sodje |
James Harper |
Pierre Joseph-Dubois |
|
André Bikey |
Bobby Convey |
||
Ulises de la Cruz |
Seol Ki-Hyeon |
||
Curtis Osano |
Jonathan Hayes |
||
Scott Golbourne |
Aaron Brown |
||
Alex Pearce |
Scott Davies |
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Pétér Máté |
James Henry |