Reading FC blog run by fans, for fans.
We’ve got one final bit of housekeeping before we can roll out our player of the season voting: a last player of the month award. This time it covers five games in April and the final match of 2025/26, which took place in May. To put it bluntly, this was not a good period on […]
It’s the morning after the night before – the annual shuffle to the Purple Turtle where Reading fans usually gather to either celebrate or commiserate the season. This time there was nothing to celebrate, but plenty to unload. A season shared, yes, but one full of anguish, turmoil and absolutely no character to cling to. […]
Joel Pereira: 7 Reading’s best player on the day, saving them from worse calamity. Tipped a shot over the bar that looked destined for the top corner midway through the first half. Picked up another great save at the end of the day to stop the lap of appreciation being even more uncomfortable for Leam […]
Going to watch your team should be an escape from the realities of day-to-day life. You know, the bad weeks at work, navigating annoying errands, the bamboozlement of trying to get your head around multi-tiered subscription schemes – that kind of thing. But the notion of watching Reading being anything resembling an escape disappeared long […]
Form Blackpool finished ninth in League One last season, two places and eight points behind Reading. This season marks their third straight season in the third tier, having been relegated alongside the Royals in 2023. They will face another season in League One next campaign, currently sitting 14th in the league, four places and six points behind […]
It’s the final day and the final preview of the season, and a final chance for the Royals to get a win in 2025/26. Reading come into this match after drawing with Rotherham United in the previous game. Fans were gunning for the head of Leam Richardson but he is still here and hopefully we […]
Here we are again, the end of another season that will ultimately end in League One consolidation rather than celebration, and we are all left pondering what might have been. It was only four weeks ago that Reading sat firmly in the playoff picture, looking to extend a 46-game season to 48 or even 49 […]
Reading Women secured their third league win on the bounce with a 2-1 victory over Oxford City at Arbour Park, Slough on Thursday evening. Second-half strikes from Ellie Szekeres and Ellie Manners put the Royals into a deserved lead before a late goal from City’s Grace Craven set up a nervy finish in a match […]
Hat-tricks from Tia Johnson and Nat Cowell helped Reading Women romp home 8-0 winners over Fleet Town at Arbour Park, Slough on Sunday. Goals from Keren Banduka and captain Mia Parker sealed another high-scoring league victory. After the shock 1-0 defeat to Sholing at the beginning of March, Reading have bounced back in some style, […]
It’s fair to say we’re all reaching the end of our tether: with this season, this manager and the ineptitude of this team to play any kind of attacking, entertaining football. The worst bit is that we saw nothing new against Rotherham United. This is now our modus operandi. Bland, boring, aimless football is our […]
We’re almost there, folks. Almost at the end. Not the polished, finished article we all hoped to see on the pitch – just the end of a season that looks exhausted, frayed and ready to be cast into the bin of disappointment. All any of us want now is for this sorry campaign to be […]
I’ll be completely honest with you, I really don’t know where to start with writing anything interesting on this game, an Absolute Nothing of a 90 minutes at Rotherham United, so this is going to be a bit of a rant. The best thing about the match, truth be told, is that the time added […]
Joel Pereira: 6 Had the ball kicked out of his hands by Rotherham’s forward in the 76th minute and won a free kick from this, after using his footwork and body well to cut out the danger from the forward sniffing at a chance on the left of Reading’s box. Quite literally I have no […]
Form Rotherham United finished 13th in League One last season in their first year back in the third tier, following relegation from the Championship in 2023/24. The Millers regularly yo-yo between the second and third tiers and have spent five years in each division in the last decade. However, they will start next season in the […]
The Royals come into this match from a difficult game against Cardiff City, with their fate now sealed: in League One again next season. However, a game against another team who have had their future decided is an easier run at the end of the season. Rotherham United have already been relegated to League Two, […]
Reading FC chairman Rob Couhig joins the podcast to give an end-of-season update on the team. Ben and Ross quiz Rob on the recent results, his first season as Royals owner and, of course, on how his dogs are getting on. Rob discusses club infrastructure challenges and hopes for summer recruitment, while also being open […]
Tia Johnson’s first-half hat-trick helped Reading Women continue their good run of league form, with a resounding 5-0 victory over Woodley United at Arbour Park, Slough on Sunday. Keren Banduka’s sixth goal of the season gave the Royals a comfortable lead at the break, with a second-half penalty from Mia Parker wrapping up a convincing […]
After a tough week, the Royals were back on the pitch on Saturday against promotion-chasing Cardiff City at the SCL Stadium. Unfortunately, it was another week of the away side celebrating promotion, with the Bluebirds confirming their return to the Championship with a 3-1 victory. The defeat leaves us six points from the playoffs in […]
Another day, another team winning promotion in our own back yard. Another dollop of salt rubbed into wounds that were already raw after a week of every scab being picked off one by one. It’s not supposed to be like this, is it? And yet here we are. All week the rumour mill churned out […]
Joel Pereira: 6 Gathered up some early easier saves without fuss as Reading enjoyed a good opening period. Took a knock when making a save midway through the first half – Pereira made a strong save from the powerful close-range effort but could only parry it into the middle and was hurt in the ensuing […]
The last seven days or so have been a bit of blur. The 90 minutes of slapstick comedy we saw at Doncaster Rovers, Rob Couhig’s open letter backing Leam Richardson, a whodunnit dressing room leak and a 10-out-of-10-for-effort attempt at crisis comms from the club: it’s certainly been a week. My overarching feeling before the […]
Form Cardiff City were relegated from the Championship last season after finishing bottom of the league, five points away from safety. Relegation ended their six-year stay in the second tier, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2019. However, they are on track to return to the Championship at their first attempt, sitting second in […]
After losing to both Doncaster Rovers and top-of-the-table Lincoln City, the Royals now host Cardiff City, who are also looking to be automatically promoted. The Royals are playing some horrible football under Leam Richardson and even the players are rumoured to be complaining now. We were warned by Wigan Athletic fans that his style of […]
NB: The following article was predominantly written before the Doncaster Rovers defeat. Player improvement Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan is the obvious choice here: six goals in six games over March and looking like an actual striker with striking instincts now, scoring a mixture of goals, thanks to his work with James Beattie and the other coaches. Jeriel […]
It’s not gone well in the last week, has it? Reading completed a turgid three-game run with a loss on the road to beach-bound Doncaster Rovers. Ben and Ross discuss the very shape of that Yorkshire beach and try to work out what the shape on the field was, with Paudie O’Connor ranging upfield. There’s […]