2006–07 Reading F.C. season

This article has no lead section. Please help by adding an introductory section to this article. For more information, see the layout guide, and Wikipedia's lead section guidelines. (February 2012)

Reading Football Club played the season 2006–07 in the Premier League, their first ever season in England's top flight.

Review and events

August

Reading's first ever Premier League game came at home to Middlesbrough. Reading were 2-0 down after 20 minutes after goals from Stewart Downing and Yakubu Aiyegbeni, but Reading ended up 3-2 winners through goals from Dave Kitson, Steve Sidwell and Leroy Lita. Kitson was injured in a reckless tackle by Chris Riggott, and wouldn't play again until the end of January 2007.

Reading's next game was against Aston Villa. After an early lead through Kevin Doyle, Ibrahima Sonko conceded a penalty and was sent off. Juan Pablo Ángel scored the resulting penalty for Villa, and Gareth Barry scored in the 61st minute to seal a win for Villa. The Royals next played Wigan Athletic, Emile Heskey scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win for Wigan.

September

In September, Reading's first game was against Manchester City, live on Sky Sports at home. Ivar Ingimarsson scored the only goal, despite being knocked unconscious before scoring. The 1st game against a side promoted with Reading was Sheffield United. Kevin Doyle scored after 16 seconds and in the 25th minute, Seol Ki-Hyeon scored a 25-yard belter. Rob Hulse pulled a goal back in the 61st minute but it was not enough for Sheffield United who lost 2-1. Reading's 1st cup game came against Darlington, but Reading needed penalties after an exciting 3-3 draw. Next up were league runners up Manchester United at the Madejski. Reading insured it was goalless at half-time and went 1-0 up through a Kevin Doyle penalty after Gary Neville handballed. However, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a 73rd minute goal to make it 1-1.

October

In October, Reading played West Ham at Upton Park and a 2nd minute goal turned out to be the winner scored by Seol. Reading vs Chelsea hit the headlines as both Chelsea goalkeepers were knocked out in a match where the visitors took a fortuitous 1-0 win. Frank Lampard scored Chelsea's goal which took two deflections before going in. The goal was given as a Ivar Ingimarsson own goal. In the same match 2), Robin Van Persie and Alexander Hleb scoring. Shane Long made his first Premier League start in this match. Reading also lost 4-3 to Liverpool in the Carling Cup (Reading were 3-0 down).

November

In November, Reading lost 2-0 to Liverpool (which was also the first ever league meeting between the two sides). The goals came from Dirk Kuyt.The Royals then won 3-1 against Tottenham Hotspur. Robbie Keane opened the scoring for Spurs before Nicky Shorey scored a 25-yard goal. Then Steve Sidwell scored a header on the stroke of half-time with Kevin Doyle completing the scoring to make it 3-1. Reading's next match was against Charlton. They won 2-0 with the goals coming from Seol Ki-Hyeon and Doyle. They ended the month with a 1-0 win over Fulham with a penalty kick from Doyle, after the striker had been bought down by Ian Pearce.

December

In December, Reading Won 1-0 at Bolton, a Kevin Doyle goal won the match. Next was Reading's longest away trip this season when Reading played Newcastle United. Reading lost 3-2, an 84th minute winner by Emre. Reading played Watford in the worst game of the season, Watford 0-0). Reading and Blackburn Rovers was the next game at the Mad Stad. Reading went 1-0 up on Half Time, but Rovers scored 2 goals to make it Reading 1-2 Rovers. Chelsea played Reading next 2 months after the teams played in Reading, it ended 2-2. Reading played Manchester United, Reading were losing 1-0, but Sonko scored to level it up. United scored 2 Goals though Ronlado made it 3-1, but Lita scored to make the final score United 3-2 Reading.

January

In January, Reading could not have got a better start. On New Years Day Reading put 6 past West Ham United. On the 6th Reading were due to play Burnley in the FA Cup but it was potponed due to a waterlogged pitch, but Reading beat Burnley on the Tuesday night, a 3-2 win. Reading went to Everton unbeaten in the new year, and the game ended 1-1 in a match attended by Sylvester Stallone as an Everton supporter and guest of the chairman. Reading played Sheffield United at 2-0 Reading Came a push-up in the dug out. Warnock and Downs Sent Off. Reading won 3-1. Reading Played Birmingham in the FA Cup (again). Birmingham had just enjoyed a 5-1 win at Newcastle United but they lost 3-2 to the Royals. Reading beat Wigan by the same score.

February

In February, Reading Beat Manchester City (Away) and Aston Villa (Home). Both ending 2-0. At Old Trafford Reading drew 1-1 with United in the FA Cup. Boro became the 1st team to beat Reading in 2007. Boro won 2-1. Reading were 3-0 down in the FA Cup 5th Round Replay against United in 5 minutes 41 seconds, but only lost 3-2.

March to May

In March, April and May, Reading lost at Arsenal 2-1. Reading were 2-0 down, but drawing 0-0 at half-time, in the 87th minute when Arsenal scored an Own-Goal courtesy of Fabregas. Reading got a point at home to Portsmouth drawing 0-0. Reading lost to Spurs 1-0. Spurs scored a consolation penalty on half-time. Liverpool won at Reading 2-1. Liverpool's winner was in the 85th minute by Kuyt. Reading were held to a 0-0 draw at Charlton. Reading won at home to Fulham. Won at Bolton, 3-1, after being 1-0 down in the 85th minute! A midweek win at home to Newcastle United, 1-0, Kitson scored for The Royals. Reading shockingly lost to Watford at home 2-0. The final day of the season, Reading played Blackburn Rovers away and needing a win to enter the UEFA Cup, Reading drew 3-3.

Squad

Current Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Marcus Hahnemann 2 DF Graeme Murty 3 DF Nicky Shorey 4 MF Steve Sidwell 5 DF Ibrahima Sonko 6 MF Brynjar Gunnarsson 7 MF Glen Little 8 FW Leroy Lita 9 FW Kevin Doyle 10 MF Stephen Hunt 11 MF John Oster 12 FW Dave Kitson 13 FW Reading F.C. Fans Everywhere 14 DF John Halls 15 MF James Harper 16 DF Ívar Ingimarsson

No. Position Player 17 MF Bobby Convey 18 DF Sam Sodje 19 MF Seol Ki-Hyeon 21 GK Graham Stack 22 DF André Bikey 23 DF Ulises de la Cruz 24 FW Shane Long 26 DF Curtis Osano 28 DF Greg Halford 29 DF Michael Duberry 30 MF Sekou Baradji 31 FW Simon Cox 32 GK Adam Federici 33 DF Scott Golbourne 35 DF Alex Pearce 47 DF Péter Máté

Competitions

Source: Competitions

Premiership

Results summary

Results by round

Source: [ ]
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Fixtures & results

19 August 2006	Reading	3 - 2	Middlesbrough	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Kitson  43' Sidwell  44' Lita  56'	Report	Downing  11' Yakubu  21'	Attendance: 23,855

23 August 2006	Aston Villa	2 - 1	Reading	Villa Park
19:45	Angel  36' (pen.) Barry  61'	Report	Doyle  4'	Attendance: 37,329

26 August 2006	Wigan Athletic	1 - 0	Reading	JJB Stadium
15:00	Heskey  38'	Report		Attendance: 14,636

11 September 2006	Reading	1 - 0	Manchester City	Madejski Stadium
20:00	Ingimarsson  23'	Report	Dabo  80'	Attendance: 24,092

16 September 2006	Sheffield United	1 - 2	Reading	Bramall Lane
15:00	Hulse  61'	Report	Doyle  1' Seol Ki-Hyeon  25'	Attendance: 28,288

23 September 2006	Reading	1 - 1	Manchester United	Madejski Stadium
17:15	Doyle  48' (pen.)	Report	Ronaldo  73'	Attendance: 24,098

1 October 2006	West Ham United	0 - 1	Reading	Upton Park
14:00		Report	Seol Ki-Hyeon  2'	Attendance: 34,872

14 October 2006	Reading	0 - 1	Chelsea	Madejski Stadium
17:15		Report	Ingimarsson  45' (o.g.)	Attendance: 24,025

22 October 2006	Reading	0 - 4	Arsenal	Madejski Stadium
16:00		Report	Henry  1', 70' (pen) Hleb  39' Van Persie  50'	Attendance: 24,004

28 October 2006	Portsmouth	3 - 1	Reading	Fratton Park
15:00	Gunnarsson  10' (o.g.) Kanu  52' Mendes  66'	Report	Doyle  84'	Attendance: 20,146

4 November 2006	Liverpool	2 - 0	Reading	Anfield
15:00	Kuyt  43', 73'	Report		Attendance: 43,741

12 November 2006	Reading	3 - 1	Tottenham Hotspur	Madejski Stadium
13:30	Shorey  38' Sidwell  45' Doyle  79'	Report	Keane  24' (pen.)	Attendance: 24,110

18 November 2006	Reading	2 - 0	Charlton Athletic	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Seol Ki-Hyeon  18' Doyle  72'	Report		Attendance: 24,093

25 November 2006	Fulham	0 - 1	Reading	Craven Cottage
15:00	Pearce  16'	Report	Doyle  17' (pen.)	Attendance: 22,673

6 December 2006	Newcastle United	3 - 2	Reading	St James' Park
19:45	Sibierski  23' Martins  57' (pen.) Emre  84'	Report	Harper  37', 42'	Attendance: 48,182

16 December 2006	Reading	1 - 2	Blackburn Rovers	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Harper  41'	Report	McCarthy  64' Bentley  84'	Attendance: 23,074

23 December 2006	Reading	0 - 2	Everton	Madejski Stadium
15:00		Report	Johnson  14' McFadden  47'	Attendance: 24,053

26 December 2006	Chelsea	2 - 2	Reading	Stamford Bridge
13:00	Drogba  38', 72'	Report	Lita  67' Essien  85' (o.g.)	Attendance: 41,885

30 December 2006	Manchester United	3 - 2	Reading	Old Trafford
15:00	Solskjaer  33' Ronaldo  59', 77'	Report	Sonko  38' Sodje  60', 69' Lita  90'	Attendance: 75,910

1 January 2007	Reading	6 - 0	West Ham United	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Gunnarsson  12' Hunt  15' Ferdinand  30' (o.g.) Doyle  36', 78' Lita  53'	Report		Attendance: 24,073

14 January 2007	Everton	1 - 1	Reading	Goodison Park
13:45	Johnson  81'	Report	Lescott  28' (o.g.)	Attendance: 34,722

20 January 2007	Reading	3 - 1	Sheffield United	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Long  44' De La Cruz  50' Hunt  77'	Report	Gillespie  55' Nadé  77'	Attendance: 23,956

30 January 2007	Reading	3 - 2	Wigan Athletic	Madejski Stadium
20:00	Ingimarsson  31' Long  51' Lita  88'	Report	Heskey  3' Landzaat  90+5'	Attendance: 21,954

3 February 2007	Manchester City	0 - 2	Reading	City of Manchester Stadium
15:00		Report	Lita  79', 89'	Attendance: 38,676

10 February 2007	Reading	2 - 0	Aston Villa	Madejski Stadium
12:45	Sidwell  16', 90'	Report		Attendance: 24,122

24 February 2007	Middlesbrough	2 - 1	Reading	Riverside Stadium
15:00	Viduka  7' Yakubu  69'	Report	Oster  86'	Attendance: 26,412

3 March 2007	Arsenal	2 - 1	Reading	Emirates Stadium
15:00	Gilberto  51' (pen.) Baptista  62'	Report	Fabregas  87' (o.g.)	Attendance: 60,132

1 April 2007	Tottenham Hotspur	1 - 0	Reading	White Hart Lane
16:00	Keane  41' (pen.)	Report		Attendance: 36,067

7 April 2007	Reading	1 - 2	Liverpool	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Gunnarsson  47'	Report	Arbeloa  15' Kuyt  86'	Attendance: 24,121

14 April 2007	Reading	1 - 0	Fulham	Madejski Stadium
15:00	Hunt  15'	Report		Attendance: 24,082

21 April 2007	Bolton Wanderers	1 - 3	Reading	Reebok Stadium
15:00	Shorey  64' (o.g.)	Report	Doyle  84' (pen.), 89' Hunt  90+2'	Attendance: 23,533

30 April 2007	Reading	1 - 0	Newcastle United	Madejski Stadium
20:00	Kitson  51'	Report		Attendance: 24,109

5 May 2007	Reading	0 - 2	Watford	Madejski Stadium
15:00		Report	Shittu  60' King  85'	Attendance: 23,294

13 May 2007	Blackburn Rovers	3 - 3	Reading	Ewood Park
15:00	McCarthy  21' Bentley  56' Derbyshire  67'	Report	Seol Ki-Hyeon  36' Doyle  58' Gunnarsson  77'	Attendance: 22,671

League table

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

^1. Since the finalists of the 2006–07 FA Cup (Manchester United and Chelsea) and the League Cup winners (Chelsea) had already qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League through their Premier League positions, their 2007–08 UEFA Cup places were given to the 6th- and 7th-placed Premier League teams.

^2.The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded with a place in that competition. Blackburn Rovers occupied the Intertoto place, because Portsmouth and Reading did not apply.^[1] A further place in the UEFA Cup was up for grabs via the Premiership Fair Play League. The winner is placed into a draw with the winners of Fair Play leagues in other countries. The representatives from the two countries that come out of the hat first are given a place in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round. Since the winners of the Premiership Fair Play League, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the UEFA Cup by virtue of their league position, their place in the Fair Play draw was given to Aston Villa. However, the places in the UEFA Cup were awarded to the representatives from Finland and Norway.

For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition.

FA Cup

9 January 2007 Third Round	Reading	3 - 2	Burnley	Madejski Stadium
20:00	Lita  27' Long  37' Sodje  55'	Report	Akinbiyi  69' O'Connor  90+2'	Attendance: 11,514

27 January 2007 Forth Round	Birmingham City	2 - 3	Reading	St Andrew's
15:00	Taylor  47' Larsson  90+5'	Report	Kitson  3' Lita  41', 79'	Attendance: 20,041

17 February 2007 Fifth Round	Manchester United	1 - 1	Reading	Old Trafford
17:15	Carrick  45'	Report	Gunnarsson  67'	Attendance: 70,608

27 February 2007 Fifth Round Reply	Reading	2 - 3	Manchester United	Madejski Stadium
20:05	Kitson  23' Lita  84'	Report	Heinze  2' Saha  4' Solskjaer  6'	Attendance: 23,821

Football League Cup

19 September 2006 Second Round	Reading	3 - 3 (a.e.t) (4 – 2 pen)	Darlington	Madejski Stadium
20:00	Lita  31', 35' Máté  86'	Report	Johnson  19' (pen.) Joachim  34', 52' Duke  73'	Attendance: 10,353
		Penalties
	Hunt Little Doyle Long Bikey		Holloway James Wainwright Johnson

25 October 2006 Third Round	Liverpool	4 - 3	Reading	Anfield
20:00	Fowler  44' Riise  45+2' Paletta  50' Crouch  77'	Report	Bikey  75' Lita  81' Long  85'	Attendance: 42,445

Player details

Appearances

No.	Nat	Pos	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1		GK	Marcus Hahnemann	38	0	38	0	0	0	0	0
2		DF	Graeme Murty	24	0	23	0	1	0	0	0
3		DF	Nicky Shorey	39	1	37	1	2	0	0	0
4		MF	Steve Sidwell	37	4	35	4	2	0	0	0
5		DF	Ibrahima Sonko	23	1	23	1	0	0	0	0
6		MF	Brynjar Gunnarsson	27	4	23	3	2	1	2	0
7		MF	Glen Little	28	0	18+6	0	2	0	2	0
8		FW	Leroy Lita	38	14	22+11	7	3	4	2	3
9		FW	Kevin Doyle	34	13	28+4	13	1	0	1	0
10		MF	Stephen Hunt	38	4	28+7	4	1	0	2	0
11		MF	John Oster	31	1	6+19	1	4	0	2	0
12		FW	Dave Kitson	17	4	9+4	2	4	2	0	0
14		DF	John Halls	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
15		MF	James Harper	40	3	36+2	3	1	0	1	0
16		DF	Ívar Ingimarsson	42	2	38	2	3	0	1	0
17		MF	Bobby Convey	12	0	8+1	0	3	0	0	0
18		DF	Sam Sodje	7	1	2+1	0	3	1	1	0
19		MF	Seol Ki-Hyeon	31	4	22+5	4	4	0	0	0
21		GK	Graham Stack	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
22		DF	André Bikey	21	1	7+8	0	4	0	2	1
23		DF	Ulises de la Cruz	15	1	9	1	4	0	2	0
24		FW	Shane Long	25	3	9+12	2	1	1	3	0
26		DF	Curtis Osano	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
28		DF	Greg Halford	3	0	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
29		DF	Michael Duberry	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0
31		FW	Simon Cox	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
32		GK	Adam Federici	6	0	0+2	0	4	0	0	0
33		DF	Scott Golbourne	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
35		DF	Alex Pearce	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
47		DF	Péter Máté	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	Championship	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	FW		8	Leroy Lita	7	4	3	14
2	FW		19	Kevin Doyle	13	0	0	13
3	MF		4	Steve Sidwell	4	0	0	4
=	MF		10	Stephen Hunt	4	0	0	4
=	MF		19	Seol Ki-Hyeon	4	0	0	4
=				Own goals	4	0	0	4
=	DF		6	Brynjar Gunnarsson	3	1	0	4
=	FW		12	Dave Kitson	2	2	0	4
=	FW		24	Shane Long	2	1	1	4
10	MF		15	James Harper	3	0	0	3
11	DF		16	Ívar Ingimarsson	2	0	0	2
12	DF		23	Ulises de la Cruz	1	0	0	1
=	MF		11	John Oster	1	0	0	1
=	DF		5	Ibrahima Sonko	1	0	0	1
=	DF		3	Nicky Shorey	1	0	0	1
=	DF		22	André Bikey	0	1	0	1
=	DF		18	Sam Sodje	0	1	0	1
=	DF		47	Péter Máté	0	0	1	1
				TOTALS	54	9	6	69

Awards

Premier League Manager of the Month

MONTH	Name	Award
September	Steve Coppell	Won
November	Steve Coppell	Won

PFA Young Player of the Year

Position	Name	Award
FW	Kevin Doyle	Nominated

Barclays Golden Glove Award

Name	Clean sheets	Award
Marcus Hahnemann	13	Third[2][3]

Team kit

Reading's kit for the 2006–07 was manufactured by Puma, and the main sponsor was Kyocera.

2006–07 home colours

2006–07 away colours

2006–07 third choice colours

References