Three Memorable Games From The Last Decade

22 January 2020
By Hob Nob Anyone?

The last decade for Reading Football Club will be remembered a decade where the Royals started strong and gradually faded out. However the 2011/2012 season, where we won promotion back to the Premier League and topped the Championship table probably gives us the better memories.

The 2014/2015 season will also go down in the history books after only our second FA Cup semi-final apperance. The Royals impressed at Wembley in the semi-final against Arsenal but the Bradford City quarter final at the Madejski Stadium was a memorable night.

With team manager Mark Bowen starting to improve things on the pitch as we enter the new decade, and having recently appointed Brazilian Alexandre Mattos as our new executive, we will be hoping they can take the club to new heights.

It’s worth noting that Reading FC isn't only supported by the fans on and off the pitch, but also attracts a great deal of activity in the betting markets too. A good number of reputed sports betting portals where you can find best odds on the Championship, English Premier League, Champions League Odds etc. offer betting opportunities on multiple markets in the games involving the Royals. Let's tale a look at three memorable games from the last decade:

Nottingham Forest - Home - April 2012

This will be remembered as the night Reading secured promotion back to the Premier League with a 1-0 win on home ground against Nottingham Forest. Being aware that West Ham had only managed to draw their game against Bristol City, Reading required just one goal during the closing stages to seal promotion. In a nutshell, it was an extremely nervy affair throughout.

The entire stadium was ringing with the chants of 'one goal and we are going up' before Mikele Leigertwood successfully converted from a free-kick into the box from Ian Harte to give Reading the advantage. All that needed to be done was to hold that advantage till the final whistle. The team managed to do that, sparking amazing scenes of celebrations at the final whistle, both inside and outside the Madejski Stadium. The fans flooded onto the pitch to celebrate the team's second-ever promotion to the Premier League.

Southampton - Away - April 2012

The away win over Southampton at St Mary's with a 3-1 scoreline was perhaps our best performace of the season - perhaps of the decade. Southampton were top of the table before kick-off and our victory saw us move above them and set us up to win the League. With a big gap to third place, the game all but secured the team's return to the EPL. This was a very special evening indeed. The early opening goal scored by Jason Roberts was cancelled by Rickie Lambert's effort, before Adam Le Fondre delivered arguably the best cameo performance ever by a Reading substitute. Brought into the game at the 64th minute when the score was 1-1, he scored two stunning goals to give the team 3 valuable points, helping them create a nine-point gap from West Ham, with four more games to go.

Bradford - Home - March 2015

An FA Cup quarter final at the Madejski Stadium, with Reading securing a comprehensive 3-0 win over Bradford City makes this one to remember. Reading went through to the FA Cup semi-final, to face Arsenal at Wembley, after a gap of 88 years. The first game had finished goalless and Reading fans were expecting it to be yet another tense evening as both the sides looked determined to beat the odds to secure their place at Wembley. However, Steve Clarke's team didn't show any nervousness and got themselves a two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes of the game with goals from Robson-Kanu and McCleary. That put the game beyond Bradford early on before Jamie Mackie scored the third with 22 minutes left to play and triggered huge celebrations as Reading fans could look forward to a day out at Wembley.

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