Reading FC is based in the English town of Reading, in Berkshire. Formed in 1871 the club is one of the oldest teams in England, but did not join the Football League until 1920, and did not play  in the top tier of English football until the 2006–07 season. They were originally nicknamed The Biscuitmen after one of the main trades in the town, Huntley & Palmers biscuits, but changed to the Royals in the 1970s, (due to Reading's location in the Royal County of Berkshire) when the company closed their factory. They were founder members of the Southern League in 1894 and In 1896 they moved to the purpose-built Elm Park. The highlight of the club’s early history was winning the Southern League’s Second Division title in  1911.  Reading were one of the clubs chosen en bloc from the Southern Division to form the new Third Division of the Football League in 1920. They were to spend the majority of the time since then in the third and fourth tiers of the League, with occasional flirtations with the second tier. Reading's best performance in the FA Cup came in 1926–27 when they lost to eventual winners Cardiff City in the semi-final. When the regional divisions were scrapped in 1958, Reading were placed in Division Three and remained there until being relegated to Division Four in 1971 In 1976 they won promotion only to drop back again the following seasons. In 1979, Reading won the Fourth Division championship for the first time. The 1982-83 season almost saw Reading go out of business. Relegated back to Division Four and facing a financial crisis, plans were made to sell off Elm Park and merge the club with Robert Maxwell's Oxford United to form a new club to be known as Thames Valley Royals which was eventually abandoned. Reading bounced back winning promotion in 1984. Two seasons later, in 1986, the club won the Third Division title and returned to Division Two after an absence of 55 years. Once again the club's success was short lived and after two seasons Reading were relegated. 

In 1990, the club was bought by John Madejski who injected a new sense of ambition. In 1994 Reading won promotion to Division One (formerly Division Two) and then a place in the play-offs in 1995 after finishing in second place. Because of the reduction in the size of the Premier League, only two promotion places were available: in any other season Reading would have won automatic promotion to the top flight. In 1998 Reading were relegated to Division Two but the following year  moved into the new 24,200-seat Madejski Stadium, named after chairman. In 2002, the club returned to Division One and the following season once again qualified for the play offs. Steady consolidation was rewarded when, in 2006, the club ran away with the Championship title to take their place in the Premiership, the first time Reading had played in the top level.  The Royals defied pre-season predictions of relegation to finish the season in eighth place with 55 points. This second season was less successful and Reading were relegated back to the Championship. They returned to the top tier of English football at the end of the 2011-12 season as champions but lasted only one season. Reading achieved their highest finish since relegation back to the Championship by finishing third during 2016-17 and reaching the play-offs, where they beat Fulham on aggregate before facing Huddersfield Town in the final at Wembley where they lost on penalties following 0–0 draw after extra time.  The next two seasons saw them narrowly avoid relegation before establishing themselves as a mid-table side. Reading were relegated to League One in May 2023 putting them back in the third tier of English football for the first time in 21 years.