30 April 2006 - Reading Makes A Few Points

On 30 April 2006, Reading concluded the Championship season by beating QPR 2-1 at the Madejski Stadium before a crowd of 23,156. The win gave Reading a total of 106 points for the season, setting an English Football League record.

It was a fitting end to an amazing season for the Royals, who suffered only two League losses all year - at home to Plymouth Argyle in the season opener and away to Luton Town on 17 February. The remainder of their matches consisted of 28 wins and 16 draws, setting a record pace that saw them take the table's top spot on 22 November and keep it through the end of the season.

Reading's Dave Kitson gave his side the lead against QPR, tapping the ball into the net in the 40th minute. The visitors found a late equalizer from Paul Furlong in the 72nd minute, before Reading captain Graeme Murty clinched the victory with an 84th-minute penalty kick. It was the first goal of the season and only his second ever in 280 appearances for the Royals.

The win pushed Reading to 106 points, one past the previous points record of 105 set by Sunderland in the 1998-99 season. Reading moved into the Premier League for the following season, where they finished in eighth place - their highest finish ever - before getting relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2007-08 season.

29 December 2007 - It's A Distinction They Could Do Without

On 29 December 2007, Reading played in the second of the Premier League's two highest-scoring games, losing both.

The first was a 7-4 defeat to Portsmouth on 29 September that beat the previous record of nine goals set by Southampton's 4-5 win over Norwich in April 1994. The loss dropped the Royals into seventeenth place in the Premier League table, but they fought their way back into twelfth before traveling to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham two months later.

There, they conceded an early goal to Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov (pictured) in the seventh minute, but equalized nine minutes later through midfielder Kalifa Cissé. In the second half, Reading pulled ahead with a 53rd-minute goal from Ívar Ingimarsson, but Berbatov scored again ten minutes later to make it 2-2.

Berbatov scored a third (73') in between a brace from Reading's Dave Kitson (69', 74') and Reading led 3-4. But a late onslaught from Spurs saw goals from Steed Malbranque (76'), Jermain Defoe (79'), and a fourth from Berbatov (83') as the hosts won 6-4 to hit the second-highest scoring mark since the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The overall English record, however, was set at 17 when Tranmere Rovers beat Oldham Athletic 13-4 in the Third Division South in 1935.

Although Reading dropped only one spot in the table after the loss to Spurs, it was the first of eight consecutive league losses, a run that pushed them down to 18th by the end of February, which is where they ended up in the final table. Although level on points with Fulham, Reading were the ones relegated, separated from safety by a goal differential of -25 to Fulham's -22.

29 September 2007 - This One Went To Eleven

On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth and Reading set a Premier League record with a 7-4 scoreline.

It was the eighth game of the season for both teams. Reading had struggled, with only two wins and one draw, and were sitting in seventeenth place. Portsmouth had done a bit better up that point and were in eleventh.

They met at Portsmouth's Fratton Park where the hosts jumped to a quick lead with a strike from forward Benjani Mwaruwari (pictured) in the seventh minute. He doubled the lead in the 37th minute, but Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt cut the deficit back to one right before the break.

The 2-1 halftime scoreline gave little indication of what was coming in the second half. Reading equalized through Dave Kitson three minutes after the restart, but Portsmouth then pulled back ahead with goals from Hermann Hreiðarsson (55'), Benjani (70'), and Niko Kranjčar (75') to set the margin at 5-2.

Shane Long pulled one back for the visitors in the 79th minute, but Reading defender Ívar Ingimarsson deflected a shot past his own goalkeeper, Marcus Hahnemann, two minutes later. So at the end of 90 minutes, the score stood at 6-3, but there were more goals to come. The referee awarded a penalty to Portsmouth in the second minute of stoppage time, converted by Sulley Muntari, then Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell delivered the day's last goal, but into his own net.

The match remains the highest-scoring game in the Premier League, though the record for the top flight is Nottingham Forest's 12-0 win over Leicester Fosse in 1892 (matched by West Brom over Darwen in 1909). The overall league record is 13-0, reached by Stockport County in 1934 and Newcastle in 1946.

30 April 2006 - Reading Makes A Few Points

On 30 April 2006, Reading concluded the Championship season by beating QPR 2-1 at the Madejski Stadium before a crowd of 23,156. The win gave Reading a total of 106 points for the season, setting an English Football League record.

It was a fitting end to an amazing season for the Royals, who suffered only two League losses all year - at home to Plymouth Argyle in the season opener and away to Luton Town on 17 February. The remainder of their matches consisted of 28 wins and 16 draws, setting a record pace that saw them take the table's top spot on 22 November and keep it through the end of the season.

Reading's Dave Kitson gave his side the lead against QPR, tapping the ball into the net in the 40th minute. The visitors found a late equalizer from Paul Furlong in the 72nd minute, before Reading captain Graeme Murty clinched the victory with an 84th-minute penalty kick. It was the first goal of the season and only his second ever in 280 appearances for the Royals.

The win pushed Reading to 106 points, one past the previous points record of 105 set by Sunderland in the 1998-99 season. Reading moved into the Premier League for the following season, where they finished in eighth place - their highest finish ever - before getting relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2007-08 season.