Sport in Reading, Berkshire

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Reading is home to a number of professional sports teams and various amateur sports clubs.

Contents

Football

The Madejski Stadium, home of Reading Football Club and formerly London Irish Madejski Stadium inside, September 2008.jpg
The Madejski Stadium, home of Reading Football Club and formerly London Irish

Reading is the home of Reading Football Club, an association football club nicknamed The Royals, formed in 1871. [1] Formerly based at Elm Park, the club plays at the 24,161 capacity [2] Madejski Stadium, named after chairman Sir John Madejski. After winning the 2005–06 Football League Championship with a record of 106 points, Reading F.C. spent two seasons in the Premier League [3] before being relegated to The Championship. During their Premier League first season, they fractionally missed-out on UEFA Cup qualification.

Reading Town Football Club, formed in 1966, [4] played at Scours Lane and were playing in the Hellenic League Premier Division prior to folding in June 2016. Reading City Football Club (Formerly Highmoor Ibis) have since moved back to Scours Lane having formerly played there up to 2011 which was renamed Rivermoor Stadium in 2016 upon the clubs return and currently play in the Hellenic League Premier Division.

Rugby

Reading was a centre for rugby union football in the area, with the Aviva Premiership team London Irish as tenants at the Madejski Stadium until they moved back to London into the Brentford Community Stadium at the start of the 2020-21 Premiership Season. Reading is home to three senior semi-professional rugby clubs; Reading Abbey R.F.C., Redingensians R.F.C. and Reading R.F.C.

Palmer Park Stadium

Palmer Park Stadium Palmer Park Stadium.jpg
Palmer Park Stadium

Palmer Park Stadium within Palmer Park has a velodrome and athletics track. It is used by Palmer Park Velo, Reading Athletic Club [5] and the Berkshire Renegades for training. [6]

Basketball

The Reading Rockets basketball club plays in the English Basketball League.

Hockey

Reading Hockey Club enter teams in both the Men's and Women's England Hockey Leagues.

Rowing

Reading Rowing Club on the River Thames ReadingRowClub01.JPG
Reading Rowing Club on the River Thames

Rowing is pursued by the Reading Rowing Club, the Reading University Boat Club, [7] both next to Caversham Bridge whilst Reading Blue Coat School trains in Sonning adjacent to The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham, which provides training facilities for the GB National Squad. [8] However almost all club rowing is done on the River Thames. The annual Reading Town Regatta takes place near Thames Valley Park, [9] with the Reading Amateur Regatta taking place in June, usually two weeks prior to Henley Royal Regatta.

Speedway

The town was home to a motorcycle speedway team, Reading Racers. Speedway came to Reading in 1968 at Tilehurst Stadium, until the team moved to Smallmead Stadium in Whitley, [10] which was demolished at the end of 2008. The team was inactive pending the building of a new stadium, which it was hoped to complete in 2012. [11] The team reformed in 2016 joining the newly formed Southern Developmental League the following year. The team currently races in Swindon awaiting a new stadium in Reading to be built to return to the town in.

Marathon

The Reading Half Marathon 2004 climbing Russell Street in West Reading Reading Half Marathon in 2004.jpg
The Reading Half Marathon 2004 climbing Russell Street in West Reading

The Reading Half Marathon is held on the streets of Reading in March of each year, with 16,000 competitors from elite to fun runners. [12] It was first run in 1983 and took place in every subsequent year except 2001, when it was cancelled because of concerns over that year's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. [13]

Triathlon

The British Triathlon Association was formed at the town's former Mall health club on 11 December 1982. [14] Britain's first-ever triathlon took place just outside Reading at Kirtons's Farm in Pingewood in 1983 and was revived in 1994 and 95. [15] Thames Valley Triathletes, based in the town, is Britain's oldest triathlon club, having its origins in the 1984 event at nearby Heckfield, when a relay team raced under the name Reading Triathlon Club. [16]

Other sports

The Hexagon theatre was home to snooker's Grand Prix tournament, one of the sport's "Big Four", from 1984 to 94. [17] [18]

The town hosts Australian rules football team Reading Kangaroos and American football team Berkshire Renegades.

Reading-born Richard Burns became the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship, in 2001. [19]

Reading has previously been the town in which two former Formula One teams, Canadian constructor Walter Wolf Racing (from 1977–1979) and Brazilian constructor Fittipaldi Automotive (from 1977–1982), based their headquarters. Former Formula One driver Innes Ireland (who is best known for racing for Team Lotus from 1959–1961, as well as driving for British Racing Partnership and BRM between 1962 and 1966), lived in Reading until he succumbed to cancer at the age of 63 in 1993.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading, Berkshire</span> Town and borough in Berkshire, England

Reading is a town and borough in Berkshire, England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is 40 miles (64 km) east of Swindon, 24 miles (39 km) south of Oxford, 40 miles (64 km) west of London and 16 miles (26 km) north of Basingstoke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkshire</span> County of England

Berkshire is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berkshire in 1957 because of the presence of Windsor Castle, and letters patent were issued in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. The county town is Reading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Reading Football Club is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is managed by Paul Ince.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Madejski</span>

Sir John Robert Madejski, OBE, DL is an English businessman, with commercial interests spanning property, broadcast media, hotels, restaurants, publishing and football. He changed his name when his stepfather, a Polish airman during World War II, returned to England to marry his mother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Reading Town Football Club were a semi-professional English football club in the Hellenic League Division One East, based in Reading, Berkshire. It was affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madejski Stadium</span> Sports stadium in Reading, Berkshire, England

The Madejski Stadium is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon. It is an all-seater bowl stadium with a capacity of 24,161 and is located close to the M4 motorway. The West Stand contains the voco Reading Hotel, formerly known as the Millennium Madejski Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">107 Jack FM</span> Independent local radio station in the English town of Reading

107 JACK fm Berkshire was an Independent Local Radio station in the English town of Reading. The station was based at studios in the Madejski Stadium, home of Reading F.C. and London Irish. The station's transmitter is located on the Tilehurst Water Tower.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wokingham & Emmbrook F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Wokingham & Emmbrook F.C. are a football club based in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Wokingham Town and adopted their current name in 2004, following a merger with Emmbrook Sports. Their nickname is "The Satsumas", a reference to the team's colours. They currently play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmer Green</span> Human settlement in England

Emmer Green is the northernmost suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire within the unitary authority, centred 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town. Having most of its own commerce, sport and other amenities, Emmer Green has an arbitrary divide with larger Caversham and a border with Oxfordshire, the county in which both places formerly stood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlow United F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Marlow United Football Club is a football club based in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England. They were established in 1977 and were among the founding members of the Reading Football League in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caversham Lakes</span>

Caversham Lakes is a set of lakes created through gravel extraction between the suburb of Caversham in Reading, Berkshire and the hamlet of Sonning Eye in Oxfordshire, just north of the River Thames and also refers to the sports buildings and facilities alongside those lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eye and Dunsden</span>

Eye and Dunsden is a largely rural civil parish in the most southern part of the English county of Oxfordshire. It includes the villages of Sonning Eye, Dunsden Green and Playhatch and borders on the River Thames with the village of Sonning in Berkshire connected via multi-span medieval Sonning Bridge. Before 1866, Eye & Dunsden was part of the trans-county parish of Sonning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elm Park (stadium)</span>

Elm Park was a football stadium in the West Reading district of Reading, Berkshire, England. The stadium was the home of Reading Football Club from 1896 to 1998, when they moved to the new Madejski Stadium.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading Amateur Regatta</span>

Reading Amateur Regatta is a rowing regatta, on the River Thames in England which takes place at Reading, Berkshire on the reach above Caversham Lock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlow Rowing Club</span>

Marlow Rowing Club is a rowing club on the River Thames in England, on the southern bank of the Thames at Bisham in Berkshire, opposite the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire just beside Marlow Bridge and on the reach above Marlow Lock. Founded in 1871, it is one of the main rowing and sculling centres in England. Members of the club have represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games and World Championships.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodley United F.C.</span> Association football club in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windsor F.C.</span> Association football club in England

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References

  1. ↑ "The History of Reading Football Club". Reading Football Club. 2 May 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Madejski Stadium information". Reading Football Club. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Fordham, Jonny (8 July 2009). "Nicky Shorey doubts Reading FC's '106' record will be beaten". Reading Post. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  4. ↑ "Reading Town News Season 2010/11". Uhlsport Hellenic Football League. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "How to Join". Reading Athletic Club. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "About us". Berkshire Renegades American Football Club. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "Home". Reading University Boat Club. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. ↑ "Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake". BBC News. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "find". Reading Town Regatta. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  10. ↑ "Tears and Glory". Reading Speedway. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Work extension to start new Reading stadium". BBC News. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Reading Half Marathon 2010 Race Info". Reading Half Marathon. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "Reading half marathon 2011 'will be biggest yet'". BBC News. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "British Triathlon Celebrates 25th Anniversary". Triathlon. 11 December 2007. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  15. ↑ "History of triathlon". British Triathlon. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  16. ↑ "Triathlon's coming home... to Reading". Reading Chronicle. 13 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  17. ↑ "Snooker Legends". Reading Arts. Archived from the original on 25 November 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  18. ↑ "Snooker: A vacuum at the Hexagon before Taylor stages a clean sweep" . The Independent. UK. 13 October 1992. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  19. ↑ "Former world champion Burns dies". BBC News. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
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