club
Reading FC
Reading FC began in the winter of 1871, left Elm Park in 1998 and finished the 2005/06 Championship season with 106 points. Follow those chapters in its history.
Summary
Reading's 1871 meeting place, two homes and 106-point Championship team belong to different chapters. The club's history carries on through the move, with a modern league achievement beside its old origins.
Quick facts
- Origins
- Winter 1871, Bridge Street Rooms
- Location
- Reading, Berkshire
- Ground change
- Elm Park to Madejski Stadium, 1998
- Championship landmark
- 106 points in 2005/06
Reading began in the winter of 1871
Bridge Street Rooms, in the winter of 1871, is where Reading’s official history begins. The account supplies a meeting place and a time of year, but not everything needed for an exact birthday. The founding year and location can be retained without assigning the club a day which the source does not establish.
Reading appears in our oldest football clubs chronology on that basis. It is a selection of early clubs, with no claim that every older survivor has been included. Close by, Maidenhead United traces its origins to 1870. Its connection with York Road offers another local club history beginning only a year earlier.
Leaving Elm Park changed the setting
Reading spent more than a century at Elm Park. According to the club’s record, Norwich City were the visitors for its last competitive fixture there, on 3 May 1998. The move to Madejski Stadium followed. The change was to the club’s ground, rather than a new foundation for Reading itself.
Supporters can remember the two homes through different teams and matches. One place holds generations of earlier games; another gives later teams their stage. Maidenhead’s long relationship with York Road makes an interesting comparison here. A club can keep its history while moving, just as another can remain closely identified with the same physical home.
A season that finished on 106 points
The 2005/06 Championship team gave Reading supporters a memorable total: 106 points. On the tenth anniversary, the club commemorated that record-breaking season. It is the record of a finished campaign, not a measure of how strong Reading is today, and it cannot promise another promotion.
This was a remarkable modern league team from a club which began in 1871, playing after the move from its old ground. The changes are part of the account, along with what carried on between them. Our stadium guide looks at the places which shape those memories. Nottingham Forest offers a further comparison: an early institution whose much later competitive peak made its name internationally familiar.
Sources
Sources checked
FAQ
When were Reading FC founded?
Reading's official history gives the winter of 1871 and Bridge Street Rooms as its starting point. It does not establish a more precise day for the foundation.
What is Reading's 106-point season?
It is the 2005/06 Championship campaign, when Reading earned 106 points. The club marked the record-breaking team's achievement on its tenth anniversary.