James Earnshaw takes a look back at this week in the recent history of Reading Football Club.

13th April - Southampton 1-3 Reading 2012
'Down Southampton on a Friday night, Alfie’s double set the Royals alight'.

It was the battle of the top two on the South Coast- and a game which has gone down in Reading fan folk law in the eight years since.

A sold out away allocation travelled to St Mary’s Stadium hoping to see their side rise to the summit- and they did just that.

An opening goal from Jason Roberts was cancelled out after half-time by top scorer Rickie Lambert, but two from Adam Le Fondre sparked unbelievable scenes behind the goal as Reading overtook their opponents in the race for the title.

A real ‘I was there moment’ for Royals fans- the perfect away day.

14th April - Reading 1-0 Fulham 2007
A fairly uneventful date for Reading, with the club having won twice on the 14th April- a 4-1 win over Bury in 2001 and the selected 1-0 win over Fulham in the clubs debut season of top-flight football.

Former Reading player Lawrie Sanchez was taking charge of Fulham for the first time as they suffered defeat at the Madejski.

A goal 15 minutes in from Stephen Hunt settled the game, and kept any faint chances of European qualification for Reading alive.

The first of three successive wins for Coppell’s side - they would end up missing out on UEFA Cup qualification by a single point.

15th April - Aston Villa 1-3 Reading 2017

Following the previous weeks’ 7-1 humiliation at Norwich- a sold out away allocation travelled to the Second City in hope of a response.

They certainly got that, with the relatively unknown striker Joseph Mendes making his first league start and bagging a brace at Villa Park.

Lewis Grabban also scored a penalty to add the gloss on the result after James Chester had scored for the Villains.

Reading lost just one more game, and won the remaining three, to breeze into the play-offs with a third place finish.

16th April - Reading 3-1 Leicester City 2011
Goals from Jimmy Kebe, Jobi McAnuff and Noel Hunt earned the Royals and eighth consecutive win.

Andy King scored a late consolation for the Foxes, but the day belonged to McDermott’s Reading as they finished the day just three points shy of second place Cardiff.

Ultimately the club would finish fifth, and play the Bluebirds in the play-off semi-finals.

17th April - Reading 1-0 Nottingham Forest 2012
One of the last glorious nights at the Madejski Stadium, a near sell-out crowd saw Reading gain promotion back to the Premier League after a four season absence.

A late strike from Mikele Leigertwood, twinned with the West Ham United score with Bristol City on the same night.

Celebrations went on long into the night- with Sir John Madejski and Brian McDermott both turning up at the Purple Turtle in the early hours of the following morning.

With two games to go, Reading were back in the big time.

18th April - Reading 1-2 Arsenal 2015
A historical moment for the club as Reading played just their second FA Cup Semi-Final in the clubs history.

Over 30,000 Reading fans travelled to Wembley with baited breath as the side were taking on their first top-tier opposition in the season’s cup run.

Reading have never beaten Arsenal, in 14 meetings, and the game went as expected when Alexis Sanchez slotted past Adam Federici.

Steve Clarke’s side hung on and got their reward just after half-time as Garath McCleary bundled the ball over the line to bring the sides level.

1-1 at the end of 90 minutes, the game went into extra-time - and the rest is history.

Another game against Arsenal and another game at Wembley- but the same result for Reading fans, disappointment.

19th April - Bristol City 1-1 Reading 2019
A sell-out away crowd made the short journey to Bristol for the midday kick-off against the Robins.

Reading had lost just once in the previous five and were on their way to securing safety.

The games against Lee Johnson’s side have always been close, and this was no exception despite the difference in the two team’s league position.

City edged the first half in the way of chances, but the game remained level.

A well-worked free kick lead to a short-range strike for Yakou Miete to put the Royals in front just after the break.
Unfortunately they could not hold on, as Josh Brownhill levelled with ten minutes to go.

A hard-earned point on the road, and just three days later the club secured their survival with a 0-0 draw against high-flying West Brom at the Madejski.