14 October 2006 - Terry Takes A Turn In Goal

On 14 October 2006, Chelsea needed three goalkeepers to get through their match against Reading, with captain John Terry pulling on the gloves for a bit.

Playing in a league game at Reading's Madjeski Stadium, Chelsea lost starting goalkeeper Petr Cech after just 20 seconds. Diving to make a save at the feet of Reading's Stephen Hunt, Cech took a blow to the head that fractured his skull. He left the pitch on a stretcher and was replaced by substitute keeper Carlo Cudicini.

Reading tested Cuducini, but it was Chelsea who took the lead after Reading defender Ivar Ingemarsson put the ball in his net off a Frank Lampard free kick in the 45th minute.

In the second half, both teams went down to 10 men as Chelsea's John Obi Mikel (in the 62nd minute) and Reading substitute André Bikey (in the 83rd) both received second yellow cards and were sent off. Then, shortly before the final whistle, Cuducini collided with Reading defender Ibrahima Sonko and lost consciousness. Having already used all three substitutes, manager José Mourinho sent John Terry into goal.

With only moments left, Terry had little to do to see out the 0-1 win.

30 May 2011 - Revenge Is A Dish Best Served From A Higher Division

On 30 May 2011, Swansea returned to the English top flight for the first time since 1983 by beating Reading in a promotion playoff.

It was the culmination of a rapid rise through the lower divisions for Swansea, who were in League Two in 2005. They were promoted to League One for the 2005-06 season, then to the Championship for the 2008-09 season. Reading, meanwhile, returned to the Championship that season after a two-year spell in the Premier League.

In the summer of 2009, Reading manager Steve Coppell resigned and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers lasted just over six months in the job before the club announced his departure by mutual consent in December 2009. Then, at the end of the season, Rodgers took charge of Swansea.

In the 2010-11 season, he led Swansea to a third-place finish while Reading finished in fifth. The two teams advanced in the League One promotion playoffs to meet in the final at Wembley. There, playing before a crowd of over 86,000, Swansea roared to a 3-0 lead at the break with goals from Scott Sinclair (21' (pen), 22') and Stephen Dobbie (40'). A Swansea own goal four minutes into the second half closed the gap to 3-1, then Reading's Matt Mills scored in the 57th minute to bring Reading within one.

That was as close as they got, though, as Sinclair completed his hat-trick with an 80th-minute penalty kick to seal the 4-2 victory. The win made Swansea the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League and they did well, finishing their first season there in 11th place.

25 March 2006 - Reading Rockets To The Top

On 25 March 2006, Reading FC secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City. And they did it in record time.

As recently as 2002, they were in Division Two, but they won promotion to Division One that year, then reached the Championship in 2004. In their second season there, they got off to a poor start, losing to Plymouth 1-2 on opening day. But they followed that loss by going unbeaten for their next 33 league matches--they lost only twice all season. Along the way, they took the table's top spot in November and held on to it for the duration.

Going into their match against Leicester City, Reading were 16 points clear of second-place Sheffield United, with seven matches left to play for both teams. Critically, they were also nineteen and twenty points clear, respectively, of Walsall and Leeds United, who were the other teams in contention for the top two automatic promotion spots. 

Approximately 3,000 Reading supporters made the trip to Walkers Stadium--part of an overall crowd of 25,578--only to see the visitors go down 1-0 in the 38th minute due to a goal from Leicester's Iain Hume. But they equalized with a header from Kevin Doyle in the 85th minute and escaped with a draw. As it turned out, the results from the day's other matches meant they would have secured a top-two finish even with a loss. 

It was their first promotion to the top flight and it was the earliest any team had guaranteed promotion since the league went to a 46-game season. Unfortunately for Reading, they stayed in the Premier League for only two seasons before dropping back down to the Championship in 2008.

20 September 2008 - Who Ya Gonna Call, Watford?

On 20 September 2008, Reading and Watford battled to a 2-2 draw thanks in part to a phantom goal.

Played before a crowd of 14,761 at Watford's Vicarage Road Stadium, the match was scoreless in the 13th minute when Watford midfielder John Eustace, defending his goal against Reading striker Noel Hunt, knocked the ball over the end line several yards wide of the post. Rather than call for a corner, however, linesman Nigel Bannister (pictured) flagged it as a goal to the astonishment of both sides. Watford protested, but the referee allowed the decision to stand.

Despite the setback, the home side rallied to take a 2-1 lead with goals from Tommy Smith (57') and John-Joe O'Toole (64'), but were undone by a late penalty. With three minutes left on the clock, Eustace tripped Reading winger Stephen Hunt in the box and Hunt converted the ensuing spot kick to earn the Royals a crucial point.

Reading manager Steve Coppell offered a replay, but the Football League said that the referee's decision was final.

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.

18 August 1979 - Brentford Beats Death

On 18 August 1979, Reading FC drew 2-2 with Brentford FC, thus ending Reading's 1,103-minute streak without conceding a goal. The match was the season-opener for both teams, and the first in Division Three for the newly-promoted Reading.

Reading's keeper throughout the streak, which consisted of 11 consecutive clean sheets, was Englishman Steve Death, who made 471 appearances for the Royals from 1969 to 1982. The streak began on 28 March 1979, with Reading's 4-0 win over Grimsby Town. At the time, the Royals were playing in Division Four. The win moved them into first place in the table, which is where they finished after following up the win over Grimsby with a season-ending run of 7 more wins and 3 draws, earning promotion to Division Three.

The streak was an English league record until 31 January 2009, when it was broken by Manchester United's Edwin Van Der Sar.

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.

14 October 2006 - Terry Takes A Turn In Goal

On 14 October 2006, Chelsea needed three goalkeepers to get through their match against Reading, with captain John Terry pulling on the gloves for a bit.

Playing in a league game at Reading's Madjeski Stadium, Chelsea lost starting goalkeeper Petr Cech after just 20 seconds. Diving to make a save at the feet of Reading's Stephen Hunt, Cech took a blow to the head that fractured his skull. He left the pitch on a stretcher and was replaced by substitute keeper Carlo Cudicini.

Reading tested Cuducini, but it was Chelsea who took the lead after Reading defender Ivar Ingemarsson put the ball in his net off a Frank Lampard free kick in the 45th minute.

In the second half, both teams went down to 10 men as Chelsea's John Obi Mikel (in the 62nd minute) and Reading substitute André Bikey (in the 83rd) both received second yellow cards and were sent off. Then, shortly before the final whistle, Cuducini collided with Reading defender Ibrahima Sonko and lost consciousness. Having already used all three substitutes, manager José Mourinho sent John Terry into goal.

With only moments left, Terry had little to do to see out the 0-1 win.

30 May 2011 - Revenge Is A Dish Best Served From A Higher Division

On 30 May 2011, Swansea returned to the English top flight for the first time since 1983 by beating Reading in a promotion playoff.

It was the culmination of a rapid rise through the lower divisions for Swansea, who were in League Two in 2005. They were promoted to League One for the 2005-06 season, then to the Championship for the 2008-09 season. Reading, meanwhile, returned to the Championship that season after a two-year spell in the Premier League.

In the summer of 2009, Reading manager Steve Coppell resigned and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers lasted just over six months in the job before the club announced his departure by mutual consent in December 2009. Then, at the end of the season, Rodgers took charge of Swansea.

In the 2010-11 season, he led Swansea to a third-place finish while Reading finished in fifth. The two teams advanced in the League One promotion playoffs to meet in the final at Wembley. There, playing before a crowd of over 86,000, Swansea roared to a 3-0 lead at the break with goals from Scott Sinclair (21' (pen), 22') and Stephen Dobbie (40'). A Swansea own goal four minutes into the second half closed the gap to 3-1, then Reading's Matt Mills scored in the 57th minute to bring Reading within one.

That was as close as they got, though, as Sinclair completed his hat-trick with an 80th-minute penalty kick to seal the 4-2 victory. The win made Swansea the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League and they did well, finishing their first season there in 11th place.

25 March 2006 - Reading Rockets To The Top

On 25 March 2006, Reading FC secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City. And they did it in record time.

As recently as 2002, they were in Division Two, but they won promotion to Division One that year, then reached the Championship in 2004. In their second season there, they got off to a poor start, losing to Plymouth 1-2 on opening day. But they followed that loss by going unbeaten for their next 33 league matches--they lost only twice all season. Along the way, they took the table's top spot in November and held on to it for the duration.

Going into their match against Leicester City, Reading were 16 points clear of second-place Sheffield United, with seven matches left to play for both teams. Critically, they were also nineteen and twenty points clear, respectively, of Walsall and Leeds United, who were the other teams in contention for the top two automatic promotion spots.

Approximately 3,000 Reading supporters made the trip to Walkers Stadium--part of an overall crowd of 25,578--only to see the visitors go down 1-0 in the 38th minute due to a goal from Leicester's Iain Hume. But they equalized with a header from Kevin Doyle in the 85th minute and escaped with a draw. As it turned out, the results from the day's other matches meant they would have secured a top-two finish even with a loss.

It was their first promotion to the top flight and it was the earliest any team had guaranteed promotion since the league went to a 46-game season. Unfortunately for Reading, they stayed in the Premier League for only two seasons before dropping back down to the Championship in 2008.

20 September 2008 - Who Ya Gonna Call, Watford?

On 20 September 2008, Reading and Watford battled to a 2-2 draw thanks in part to a phantom goal.

Played before a crowd of 14,761 at Watford's Vicarage Road Stadium, the match was scoreless in the 13th minute when Watford midfielder John Eustace, defending his goal against Reading striker Noel Hunt, knocked the ball over the end line several yards wide of the post. Rather than call for a corner, however, linesman Nigel Bannister (pictured) flagged it as a goal to the astonishment of both sides. Watford protested, but the referee allowed the decision to stand.

Despite the setback, the home side rallied to take a 2-1 lead with goals from Tommy Smith (57') and John-Joe O'Toole (64'), but were undone by a late penalty. With three minutes left on the clock, Eustace tripped Reading winger Stephen Hunt in the box and Hunt converted the ensuing spot kick to earn the Royals a crucial point.

Reading manager Steve Coppell offered a replay, but the Football League said that the referee's decision was final.

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.

18 August 1979 - Brentford Beats Death

On 18 August 1979, Reading FC drew 2-2 with Brentford FC, thus ending Reading's 1,103-minute streak without conceding a goal. The match was the season-opener for both teams, and the first in Division Three for the newly-promoted Reading.

Reading's keeper throughout the streak, which consisted of 11 consecutive clean sheets, was Englishman Steve Death, who made 471 appearances for the Royals from 1969 to 1982. The streak began on 28 March 1979, with Reading's 4-0 win over Grimsby Town. At the time, the Royals were playing in Division Four. The win moved them into first place in the table, which is where they finished after following up the win over Grimsby with a season-ending run of 7 more wins and 3 draws, earning promotion to Division Three.

The streak was an English league record until 31 January 2009, when it was broken by Manchester United's Edwin Van Der Sar.