Reading
League Position: 19th (2013/14: 7th)
Average league attendance: 17,221 (2013/14: 19,170)
Top league goalscorer: Glenn Murray (8); Simon Cox (8); Pavel Pogrebnyak (8)
Steve Clarke goes into his first full season as Reading manager with the aim of improving 19th place, attained last season after a poor league campaign.
In mid-September, Reading lay in sixth place thanks to a four match winning run. However, they then went six matches without success and by Boxing Day were in 17th position. By that time manager Nigel Adkins had left Reading after a 6-1 defeat at Birmingham City on 15 December.
Adkins was replaced by Steve Clarke, who had been out of football for a year following his departure as West Bromwich Albion boss in December 2013. Whilst results improved, their league form was still patchy.
However, it was the FA Cup in which Reading reserved their best performances. Successive away wins at Huddersfield Town (1-0), Cardiff City (2-1) and Derby County (2-1) gave them a place in the Quarter-Finals and another away tie, this time at League One Bradford City.
A goalless draw at Valley Parade brought the tie back to Berkshire. Clarke’s side swept past Bradford 3-0 to give Reading their first FA Cup Semi-Final in 88 years and a trip to Wembley.
Facing Premier League Arsenal, Garath McCleary equalised Alexis Sanchez’s 39th minute opener to take the tie into extra time. However, a goalkeeping error from Adam Federici gifted The Gunners passage into the Final.
By this time Reading had not won in the Championship for more than a month, with their Championship safety still unsecure. They upset the form book in the final day of the league programme to crush Derby County’s hopes of a Play-Off place, winning 3-0 at the iPro Stadium.
Loan striker Glenn Murray finished joint top goalscorer with Simon Cox and Pavel Pogrebnyak on eight apiece. It is upfront where Reading need to strengthen if they are to improve their Championship fortunes next season.