Reading Football Club played the 2009–10 season in the Football League Championship, having lost 3–0 on aggregate to Burnley in the Championship playoff semi-final. Reading had a new manager, Brian McDermott, who succeeded ex-boss Brendan Rodgers on 27 January 2010, after excelling in an FA Cup run as caretaker manager.
Review & events
Preseason – July Reading travelled to Didcot Town for their first Pre-Season match where they ran out 5–1 winners with goals from Sigurdsson, Bignall, Henry, Harper and Church. Reading then lost 2–1 at Kettering Town with Church (11') scoring the only goal for the Berkshire side. Reading drew 2–2 with Premier League side, Chelsea in their final Pre-Season match, with goals from Jimmy Kebe and Scott Davies. However between the defeat to Kettering Town and draw with Chelsea Reading embarked on a tour of Sweden
Tour of Sweden Reading beat Jonsereds 8–0 with Robson-Kanu scoring a hat trick, Church and Davies scoring braces and a goal from Gunnarsson. The Royals' next game was against Tolo IF whom they beat 4–0 with Shane Long scoring all four of Reading's goals. Reading played Qviding in their 3rd and final game of the tour, winning 2–1, with both goals scored by Noel Hunt after Reading were 1–0 down.
Reading XI, reserve and other matches A Reading XI beat Tooting & Mitcham 3–0. Later on in the preseason campaign another Reading XI visited Farnborough where the Hampshire side were eventual 3–2 winners. Reading also played a 'Champions XI' in a Testimonial match, for former player Graeme Murty, winning the match 3–2.
August With the kick-off to the 2009–10 Championship season beginning on Saturday 8 August, Reading played Nottingham Forest and just like the season before, drew. Other fixtures in August were the heavy defeats to Newcastle and Sheffield United. However a draw away at Swansea and a convincing win at Barnsley were positives. Top scorer at the end of August is Noel Hunt
September First match of the month saw Reading draw at home to Doncaster Rovers 0–0. The Royals then lost at home to Cardiff 1–0. The defeat was followed up by a loss to Peterborough. Despite the Royals being 2–0 up at half time, the lead was lost and Peterborough ended up winning 3–2. The month ended with further disappointment at the Madejski Stadium where, despite again taking the lead through an early goal from Grzegorz Rasiak, Reading could only draw 1–1 with Watford.
October Leroy Lita returned to the Madejski Stadium on 2 October and scored the visitors second goal, as Middlesbrough won 2–0, extending Reading's winless run at home to 14 league games.
Squad
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Contract ends Apps. Goals Goalkeepers 1 Adam Federici GK Torres 2005 70 1 21 Ben Hamer GK Academy 2006 3 0 31 Mikkel Andersen GK AB 2007 0 0 41 Alex McCarthy GK Academy 2007 0 0 Defenders 2 Liam Rosenior DF Fulham 2007 2010 69 1 3 Chris Armstrong DF Sheffield United 2008 42 1 5 Matt Mills DF Doncaster Rovers 2009 30 2 16 Ívar Ingimarsson (club captain) DF Wolverhampton Wanderers 2003 266 12 22 Julian Kelly DF Academy 2008 12 0 24 Ryan Bertrand DF on loan from Chelsea 2009 2010 51 1 26 Alex Pearce (vice-captain) DF Academy 2006 53 6 35 Shaun Cummings DF Chelsea 2009 8 0 40 Andy Griffin DF on loan from Stoke City 2010 2010 25 0 44 Zurab Khizanishvili DF on loan from Blackburn Rovers 2010 2010 15 0 Midfielders 4 Kalifa Cissé MF Boavista 2007 2010 83 7 6 Brynjar Gunnarsson MF Watford 2005 143 10 7 Jay Tabb MF Coventry City 2009 2011 43 0 8 Marek Matějovský MF Mladá Boleslav 2008 2011 56 2 11 Jobi McAnuff MF Watford 2009 2012 41 3 14 Jimmy Kébé MF Lens 2008 2010 96 14 17 James Henry MF Academy 2004 18 4 19 Hal Robson-Kanu MF Academy 2007 18 0 20 Jem Karacan MF Academy 2007 48 2 25 Gylfi Sigurðsson MF Academy 2008 47 20 27 Scott Davies MF Academy 2004 5 0 28 Michail Antonio MF Tooting & Mitcham United 2008 2010 2 0 30 Oliver Bozanic MF Central Coast Mariners 2007 0 0 33 Mitchell Bryant MF Manchester United 2007 0 0 34 Brian Howard MF Sheffield United 2009 2012 39 3 37 Jake Taylor MF Academy 2009 0 0 38 Abdulai Bell-Baggie MF Academy 2009 0 0 Forwards 9 Shane Long FW Cork City 2005 151 27 10 Noel Hunt FW Dundee United 2008 2011 51 15 12 Dave Mooney FW Cork City 2008 2011 4 2 18 Simon Church FW Academy 2007 44 12 23 Grzegorz Rasiak FW Southampton 2009 2011 34 9 29 Nicholas Bignall FW Academy 2008 3 2 32 Radoslav Vasilev FW Slavia Sofia 2009 0 0 36 Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson FW on loan from Esbjerg fB 2010 2010 5 0 Out on loan Left during the season 11 Stephen Hunt MF Brentford 2005 173 20 15 James Harper MF Arsenal 2001 361 23 23 André Bikey DF Lokomotiv Moscow 2007 2010 73 7 48 Darren O'Dea DF on loan from Celtic 2009 2009 8 0
Transfers
In Date Position Nationality Name From Fee 8 August 2009 CB Matt Mills Doncaster Rovers £2,000,000 27 August 2009 LM Jobi McAnuff Watford Undisclosed 27 August 2009 FW Grzegorz Rasiak Southampton Undisclosed 2 September 2009 RB Shaun Cummings Chelsea Undisclosed 3 September 2009 CM Brian Howard Sheffield United Undisclosed
Out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee 30 June 2009 FW Kevin Doyle Wolves Undisclosed 11 August 2009 MF Stephen Hunt Hull City Undisclosed 18 August 2009 CB André Bikey Burnley Undisclosed 28 January 2010 MF James Harper Sheffield United Free
Loans in Date from Date to Position Nationality Name From 17 July 2009 Season-long LB Ryan Bertrand Chelsea 1 September 2009 26 December 2009 CB Darren O'Dea Celtic 3 January 2010 End of the season FW Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson Esbjerg 11 January 2010 End of the season RB Andy Griffin Stoke City 25 January 2010 End of the season CB Zurab Khizanishvili Blackburn Rovers
Loans out Date from Date to Position Nationality Name To 17 July 2009 6 Months MF Oliver Bozanic Cheltenham Town 5 August 2009 6 Months GK Alex McCarthy Yeovil Town 31 August 2009 4 Months FW Nicholas Bignall Stockport County 1 September 2009 4 Months GK Mikkel Andersen Bristol Rovers 2 September 2009 Season-long RB Liam Rosenior Ipswich Town 2 September 2009 Season-long MF James Harper Sheffield United 10 September 2009 29 December 2009 MF James Henry Millwall
Released Date Position Nationality Name Joined Date 7 May 2010 MF Oliver Bozanic Central Coast Mariners 10 May 2010 7 May 2010 MF Mitchell Bryant 7 May 2010 DF Liam Rosenior Hull City 29 October 2010 7 May 2010 FW Radoslav Vasilev Slavia Sofia July 2010
Competitions
Championship
Results summary
Results by round
Results
League table
FA Cup
Notes Jobi McAnuff was sent off for violent conduct after the final whistle.
Football League Cup
Player details Appearances and goals
|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Reading but left during the season:
Top scorers
PlacePositionNationNumberNameChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal 1 MF 25 Gylfi Sigurðsson 16 3 1 20 2 FW 18 Simon Church 10 2 0 12 MF 14 Jimmy Kébé 10 2 0 12 4 FW 9 Shane Long 6 3 0 9 FW 23 Grzegorz Rasiak 9 0 0 9 6 DF 26 Alex Pearce 4 0 0 4 7 MF 34 Brian Howard 2 1 0 3 MF 11 Jobi McAnuff 3 0 0 3 Own goal 2 0 1 3 9 FW 29 Nicholas Bignall 0 0 2 2 FW 10 Noel Hunt 2 0 0 2 DF 5 Matt Mills 2 0 0 2 FW 12 David Mooney 0 0 2 2 13 DF 24 Ryan Bertrand 1 0 0 1 MF 4 Kalifa Cissé 1 0 0 1 Total 68 11 6 85
Disciplinary record NumberNationPositionNameChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal4 MF Kalifa Cissé 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 05 DF Matt Mills 6 2 3 0 0 0 9 26 MF Brynjar Gunnarsson 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 07 MF Jay Tabb 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 08 MF Marek Matejovsky 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 09 FW Shane Long 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 211 MF Jobi McAnuff 3 0 0 1 0 0 3 114 MF Jimmy Kébé 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 016 DF Ivar Ingimarsson 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 118 FW Simon Church 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 019 MF Hal Robson-Kanu 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 020 MF Jem Karacan 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 023 FW Grzegorz Rasiak 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 024 DF Ryan Bertrand 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 025 MF Gylfi Sigurðsson 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 026 DF Alex Pearce 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 034 MF Brian Howard 5 0 1 0 0 0 6 040 DF Andy Griffin 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 044 DF Zurab Khizanishvili 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0TOTALS60311210725
Team kit The 2009–10 Reading F.C. kits.
References
Notes