January proved a monumental and unforgettable month for supporters of Reading Football Club, and unfortunately not all for the right reasons.

It began as well as it possibly could have, with the Royals beating Exeter City 3-2 on New Year’s Day and leapfrogging the Grecians to move out of the relegation zone.

Off the field, financial issues were stealing most of the headlines as respected coaches Eddie Niedzwiecki and Andrew Sparkes were made redundant in order to save costs.

CEO Dayong Pang met with supporters and assured them that player sales would not be necessary to fund the club and that they were not expected to lose players before the window.

On the eve of a home clash with Port Vale, news emerged that defenders Tom Holmes and Nelson Abbey were on the verge of being sold, and worse still the deal was done before alerting manager Ruben Selles and Director of Football Mark Bowen.

The fans had seen enough and only 16 minutes of football was played against the Valiants as thousands of supporters invaded the pitch and refused to move until the game was abandoned.

Covered globally for the rest of the week, all eyes were on this corner of Berkshire.

As it transpired, Holmes and Abbey departed shortly after, although Holmes returned on loan until the end of the season.

Brighton and Hove Albion’s youth team knocked Reading out of the EFL Trophy and Wigan Athletic beat the Royals 1-0 at the DW Stadium to return Reading to the relegation zone.

A crucial midweek win over Derby County was followed up with a solid point against in-form Leyton Orient to round off the on-field events of January.

The transfer window remained open until January 31, with Tom McIntyre, Caylan Vickers and Taylan Harris all departing before the month was out for nominal fees.

Arsenal Under-21 captain Zane Monlouis was the only incoming, although supporters could be forgiven for not being aware of his arrival seeing as he only featured for six minutes in the remainder of the campaign.