Personalised Reading Football Gifts
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Reading Personalised Gifts
Our Reading Gifts are unofficial products, and are in no way affiliated with Reading FC, unless specifically stated in the product information.
Reading Memorabilia and Gift Ideas
GoneDigging has a fabulous range of personalised Reading merchandise, including unique memorabilia and great gift ideas. Below you will find a selection of our most popular Reading gifts, in addition to a few interesting facts about the Royals.
Brief History of Reading FC
Reading FC was formed in 1871 and the club dedicated many of its early years to playing exhibitions and cup matches. The team earned European fame in 1913 through a successful tour of Italy. The Royals thrashed AC Milan 5-0 and beat the Italian national side and league champions, Pro Vercelli. The results boosted the club’s status in football and Reading joined the league in 1920. The Royals became founder members of both the Southern League and the Third Division and the club spent much of the twentieth century in the lower two leagues. Reading’s fortunes began to improve in the late 1980s, as the Royals were promoted to the Second Division as Third Division Champions in 1986. Reading won the new Second Division in 1991 and finished as runners-up of Division One in the following season. Unfortunately, the restructuring of the leagues to facilitate the new Premiership denied the club automatic promotion. After further near misses in play-off finals, Reading FC was finally promoted to the top flight for the first time in 2006. This was the result of a tremendous season in the Championship, which included a thirty-three match unbeaten streak and a record one hundred and six points.
Did you know…
Reading FC is nicknamed “The Royals", as Reading is located in the Royal county of Berkshire. The club was known as “The Biscuitmen" in the early years, as the famous Huntley and Palmers biscuit factory was based in the town.
In 2001, Reading became the first football club to register their supporters as an official member of the squad. The departure of Keith Scott had freed the number thirteen and it was decided that this number should be given to the fans in recognition of their terrific support. The club argued that this support contributes just as much to matches as any individual player.
The Royals have been based at the Madejski Stadium since moving there from Elm Park in 1998. The ground is named after the club’s owner, John Madejski, and it has a capacity of over 24,000 supporters. The inaugural match was a 3-0 victory against Luton Town and Grant Brebner was the first player to score a goal at the new ground. The Madejski Stadium is also home to the London Irish, even though the Rugby Union side is based forty miles away in Surrey.
Reading Memorabilia
We offer an exciting range of personalised Reading gifts, which includes various items of Reading memorabilia. These presents can be kept for years to come and are a terrific idea for any fan of the Royals.
Our Personalised Reading Football Book incorporates a variety of match reports, written by journalists who were there at the time. This reproduced newspaper coverage forms a fascinating record of some of the biggest games in the club’s history.
The Football Book opens with Reading’s 1-0 win against Aston Villa in the 1912 FA Cup second round and it goes on to feature the club’s terrific run to the FA Cup semi-final in 1927. Other FA Cup ties include the 6-2 victory against Millwall in 1960, the 3-3 draw against Newcastle United in 1990 and the dramatic 3-2 defeat of West Bromwich Albion in 2006. The Reading Book also includes the 5-4 aggregate win against Chelsea in the 1987 Littlewoods Cup and many league highlights, such as promotion wins, play-off finals and the climax of the tremendous season of 2006. Other classic league games include the 5-0 win against Bournemouth in 1952 - inspired by four goals from Ron Blackman - and the 6-2 defeat of Stockport in 1983, which included a Trevor Senior hat-trick scored in just over four minutes.
Twelve of the best match reports are also featured in our Personalised Reading Diary and Personalised Reading Calendar. Games include the 1-1 draw with Brentford in 2002 and the 5-0 thrashing of Derby County in 2006, both of which clinched promotion for the team. We also feature the exciting 3-6 mauling of Queens Park Rangers in 1961 and the 4-1win against Luton Town in the 1988 Simod Cup final. Both gifts can start from the month of your choice and they are a fantastic way to keep track of future events, whilst reminiscing upon former glory days.
More Gift Ideas
Our Personalised Reading Commentaries make unusual and entertaining presents for fans of the Royals. A professional radio commentator will record an original commentary, based upon your choice of match highlights. Your recipient could become the hero of the Madejski Stadium by saving a crucial penalty, providing a great assist or scoring a stunning last-minute goal. In doing so, they could also be nominated as Man of the Match.
Another fun gift idea is a Spoof Newspaper Headline. Recipients can become a famous Reading Old-timer, the Player of the Year or even the New England Manager.