The 150th anniversary season was not the fun-filled rollercoaster we were all hoping for but that does not mean it was without its moments.
Join us for the next 10 days as we reccount the season, month-by-month, in which the supporters have endured enough ups and downs to last a lifetime.
October
October started how September had been, largely positive. Bouncing back from the 1-0 defeat to Derby County, more than 1,500 Royals made the relatively short hop down the M4 to watch Veljko Paunovic’s side scrape past out of form Cardiff City 1-0. A real backs to the wall performance, a Junior Hoilett goal, against his former employers, and a string of Luke Southwood saves put another nail in Mick McCarthy’s coffin at the Welsh capital. The win took the Royals into the top 10 and just two points outside of the play-off places.
Another international break split up the month, but the form continued after the break with another one-goal win. A scrappy game at the SCL, Scott Dann’s raking pass was brought down and fired home by John Swift for his eighth goal of the season against an out of sorts Barnsley. The Tykes had finished fifth the season previous, at the expense of Reading, but were winless in nine and sat in the relegation zone after defeat in Berkshire. The win over the Yorkshire side moved Reading up the seventh and just a solitary point outside the top six.
However, to describe Halloween month as a period of two halves would be an understatement. Between October 20 and February 13, Reading would win just two matches and lose a whopping 13 to fall from play-off challengers to relegation fodder.
The drop off in form all started with a gutting defeat to Blackpool in front of barely 10,000 supporters on a Tuesday night at the SCL Stadium. It started incredibly positive, with the hosts 2-0 up within the opening half hour through Tom Dele-Bashiru and Scott Dann. The advantage was still with the Royals right up until the final 17 minutes in which three Tangerine goals swung the game, and the points, in Neil Critchley’s favour. Unable to recover momentum, a tepid performance at Ewood Park in which the side only had one touch in the Blackburn Rovers penalty box saw the few hundred travelling fans return from Lancashire empty handed after a 2-0 loss.
A week later was the turn of league leaders Bournemouth to visit the Royal County. A Saturday 8pm kick-off was unchartered territory for many supporters but the second highest crowd of the season to that point turned out for a third straight defeat to round off October. In control for most of the match, the Cherries notched either side of the half-time break to keep up their 15-match unbeaten run and sit five points clear at the top. Reading dropped down to 16th by Halloween, five points behind the top six but 10 clear of relegation.
A tough end to what started as a positive month, rumours were circling faster and stronger about an impending points deduction and a gloom set of this corner of Berkshire. Unfortunately they turned out to be true and the following six months was to be one of the most testing times in the club’s long history.
Join us tomorrow for November.
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