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In the Royal County of Berkshire in South East England, at the confluence of the Rivers Thames and Kennet, lies the town of Reading. The county is named so because of the presence of Windsor Castle. And in the town of Reading, we have a football club by the same name- the fastest side to gain promotion to the top flight after the end of World War II. Nicknamed the Royals, Reading have done very well for a club expected to be relegated as soon as they arrived in the Premiership. People who have watched live football with us and tracked the progress of the Royals in the last couple of years have been given sufficient reasons to feel impressed.

Reading F.C. were formed on Christmas Day in 1871. Because the British biscuit making firm of Huntley and Palmers was based in the same town, they were initially nicknamed The Biscuitmen. The club became professional in 1895 and moved to Elm Park on September 5, 1896. Prior to becoming professional they shifted grounds frequently. The Reading Recreation Ground, Reading Cricket Ground, Coley Park and Caversham Cricket Ground were the previous venues at which they played host to visitors. Reading were among the founding members of the Southern League in 1894, along with clubs like Millwall Athletic, Luton Town and Swindon Town. While they did not achieve too much domestically, they did create a flutter in Italy when they beat A.C Milan 5-0 and the Italian national team 2-0 in 1913.

When the third division was formed in 1920, Reading were one of the founder clubs. They won the Football League Third Division South 1925-26, and had a dream FA Cup run the following season, reaching the last four before being eliminated by Welsh side and eventual champions Cardiff City.

Reading FC remained in the lower divisions of English football in the following years, and were relegated to Division Four in 1971, along with Bury, Doncaster and Gillingham. In the 1978-79 season , en route to winning promotion back to Division Three, Reading keeper Steve Death did not concede a goal for 1103 minutes- a Football League record. A 21st place in Division Three in the 82-83 season meant a trip back to Division Four, although a third place finish made for a quick return. They won Division Three with 94 points in the 1985-86 season, and were promoted to Division Two. In 1988, they won the Full Members Cup, better known as the Simod Cup, by beating Luton Town 4-1 in the final. In the early 1980's, there was a great chance that the club would be merged with Oxford United, but the plan did not materialise.

In 1990, John Madjeski took over as chairman of the club. He has been largely responsible for Reading's rise over the years. In the 1993-94 season, Reading were crowned champions of Division Two. Reading finished runners up in Division One the following season, but were denied automatic promotion because the number of teams in the Premier League was reduced from 22 to 20. In the playoff final, they had a 2-0 lead over Bolton Wanderers at half time, but squandered it to lose 3-4. Reading were destined to wait.

1998 saw a move from Elm Park, which had served as the home ground of the club for well over a century, to the Madjeski stadium named after their chairman. They returned to Division One after finishing second in Division Two in the 2001-02 season. They finished fourth, but were unable to get past the playoffs hurdle.

Steve Coppell replaced Alan Pardew in October 2003, and after two seasons of disappointment, Reading finally won the Championship in the 2005-06 season with a whopping 106 points, sixteen clear of their nearest rivals, Sheffield United. They gave a good account of themselves in their first season in the Premiership, finishing eighth. They also rejected the opportunity to play in the Intertoto Cup.