Tottenham Hotspur host Reading at White Hart Lane on New Year's Day, Tuesday 1st January 2013 (KO 15:00) in the 21st round of Premier League matches.
Tottenham are currently in 3rd place in the table on 36 points, while Reading are in 19th place with 13 points.
This will be the 94th time the two clubs have met. Reading were founded in 1871, eleven years earlier than Spurs were, and were connected with the Huntley & Palmers bakery firm and became known as The Biscuitmen. When Berkshire became a Royal County, their nickname changed to The Royals.
The first meeting came at Tottenham Marshes in January 1896 in a friendly which Spurs won 2-1. A second meeting came in April 1896 at Reading's new Elm Park ground which Spurs also won 3-2.
The first competitive meeting between the two clubs came in the Southern League in December 1896 with Reading winning their home match 2-1 and the reverse fixture in March 1897 ending in a 4-4 draw.
The clubs would compete together in the Southern League for a total of twelve seasons with Spurs winning 10 matches, Reading winning 7 and the remaining 7 games drawn.
At the same time, both clubs also played in the Western League for seven seasons and the United League in 1888-89. Spurs won 8 of those games, Reading won 3 and the 5 other games were drawn.
The clubs met for the first of their 7 encounters in the FA Cup in March 1901 at Elm Park in a drawn 1-1 game. Spurs won the replay later that month 3-0 and went on to win the competition as the first non-Football League club to lift the trophy.
There was one meeting during World War One in September 1916 which Spurs won 4-2 in a London Combination fixture.
The first Football League meeting came in the Second Division on Christmas Day 1928 with Reading drawing 2-2 at White Hart Lane and winning their Elm Park game 4-3 on Boxing Day. Reading took three points out of four off Spurs in the 1929-30 season but Spurs won the last of the six Division Two meetings in 1930-31 7-1 at home and 2-1 away.
The clubs met 14 times in various competitions during the Second World War with Spurs winning 6, Reading winning once and 7 matches drawn.
A series of eight friendlies were played after WW2 with Reading winning once in August 1988.
The Royals won promotion to the Premier League for season 2006-07 and Reading won the first Top Flight League game against Spurs in November 2006 3-1 after Robbie Keane had put Spurs ahead with a 24th minute penalty. Nicky Shorey and Steve Sidwell scored to give Reading a 2-1 half-time lead and Kevin Doyle added a third late in the game.
Tottenham won the reverse fixture at the Lane in April 2007 with another Robbie Keane penalty.
The December 2007 match proved to be a ten-goal thriller with Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov scoring four for Spurs and Steed Malbranque and Jermain Defoe making it a half-dozen. Reading goals were scored by Kalifa Cisse, Ivar Ingimarsson and a brace from Dave Kitson.
Robbie Keane scored the winner for Spurs at the Madejski Stadium in May 2008 and Reading were releagated at the end of the season.
The clubs met in the 2007-08 FA Cup 3rd Round with Reading drawing 2-2 at White Hart Lane. Steven Hunt had put Reading ahead but two goals from Dimitar Berbatov looked like securing Spurs progess but Hunt struck again in the 78th minute to force a replay. Robbie Keane scored the only goal of the match at the Madejski.
Reading were back in the Premier League for the 2012-13 season and Spurs won their first match of the season 3-1 in September at the Madejski Stadium. Jermain Defoe opened the scoring in the 18th minute and Gareth Bale scored Spurs second in the 71st minute. Defoe scored again three minutes later and Reading pulled a goal back through Hal Robson-Kanu in stoppage time.
Overall, Tottenham Hotspur have won 45 of the 93 games played with Reading winning 19 matches and the remaining 29 games drawn.
Full Record of Tottenham Hotspur v Reading Matches 1896-2013
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/SpursvReading.html
They Played for Reading & Spurs...
Steve Archibald
John Barlow
Stuart Beavon
Mark Bowen
Garry Brooke
Charlie Brown
David Brown
Ivor Brown
Chris Carrick
Darren Caskey
Sid Castle
Allan Cockram
Bobby Cook
Ernie Coquet
Ronnie Dix
Kerry Dixon
Matt Edwards
Matt Forster
James Fulwood
Jack Gibbons
Chris Gunter
Lee Hodges
Sid Helliwell
Bill Lane
Colin Lee (Spurs player, Reading youth development)
David Leworthy
David McDonald
Tom Meads
Fred Milnes
Billy Minter
Tom Pangbourne
John Polston
Jimmy Reid
Jock Robertson
Martin Robinson
Harry Robshaw
Mark Robson
John Sainty
Max Seeburg
Fred Sharpe
Peter Shreeves (Reading player, Spurs manager)
Gylfi Sigurðsson
Neil Smith
Brian Statham
Archie Turner
Dennis Uphill
Pat van den Hauwe
Fred Wilkes
Reading Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 2006-2013
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Reading_Squad_Numbers.html
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Squad Numbers 1992-2013
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Tottenham_Hotspur_Squad_Numbers.html
