Reading Nostalgia: Four key players from that 2011/12 season

It was one of the best seasons in the club’s recent history, and it came off the back of a heart-breaking campaign which saw the Hoops miss out of promotion 12 months earlier, as they lost the 2011 play-off final against Swansea City.

Alas, the fans did not have to wait long to see their team back in the big time, as the third year of the 2010s belonged to Reading.

So, who were some of the heroes from that promotion-pushing winning season?

Adam Federici

Starting between the sticks is of course, the much loved Australian international, Adam Federici.

The then 27-year-old played every minute of the title-winning season where he kept an amazing 21 clean sheets in 46 matches.

This includes keeping eight shutouts in 12 appearances between December 2011 and March 2012.

Adam Federici kept 21 clean sheets that season (PA)

He would play 21 league games the next season, before leaving Reading in 2015.

In total, he played 245 times for the Royals, which includes 23 games in the top-flight.

Mikele Leigertwood

A cult hero in Berkshire, Leigertwood was signed by the club in January 2011 and played 109 times across a three-and-a-half year spell, bagging 10 goals.

Five of those strikes came in the 2011/12 season, and one goal in particular that campaign turned out to be one of the most important in the club’s history.

In a midweek clash against Nottingham Forest on April 17, 2012, the Antiguan international scored in the 81st minute of the contest secured the Royals’ return to the PL after four seasons.

Mikele Leigertwood scored the winner against Forest that secured promotion (PA)

He would go onto make 30 top-flight appearances for Reading in the following season.

Leigertwood also played in the Premier League for Crystal Palace (2004/05) and Sheffield United (2006/07).

Jason Roberts

Signed during the memorable 2011/12 season, Roberts had struggled for consistent form whilst at Blackburn Rovers due to persistent injuries, where he scored 28 goals in 156 matches across a five-and-a-half-year spell at Ewood Park.

Looking for a move away, Reading took a punt on the Grenadian international for the latter part of their promotion-winning campaign, and boy did the move pay off.

Jason Roberts scored six times for Reading in the 2011/12 season (PA)

He scored on his debut against Bristol City which turned out to be the winner in a 1-0 victory for Reading, he scored in his next game versus Coventry City in a 2-0 win, put in a man of the match display against Derby County, then scored again, this time against Burnley in another 1-0 win.

Four games, three goals.

He was loving life at Reading.

In total, he scored six in 17 games as he played a huge part in the Royals’ promotion.

Adam Le Fondre

A much-loved hero in Reading, Le Fondre was signed by the club at the end of August 2011, after playing the first five games of that season for Rotherham United, where he scored four goals, he joined the Royals just before the end of that transfer window.

He would go onto score 12 goals that campaign, before scoring another 12 goals a year later in the Premier League.

Adam Le Fondre (pictured in the PL for Reading in the 2012/13 season) bagged 12 goals in the 2011/12 season (PA)

In his third and final season at the club, Le Fondre, who now plays in Australia for Sydney FC, bagged 15 goals in all competitions.

In total, he scored 41 goals in 110 games for the club, and despite leaving eight years ago (the summer of 2014), he remains a popular figure with the club.

The Championship trophy is lifted as the Royals gained promotion back to the PL (PA)