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The History of Reading Football Club covers almost 150 years of both success and failure of the football club from Reading, England. ==Early years (1871–1941)== Reading F.C. were formed on 25 December 1871 by founder Joseph Edward Sydenham.〔(Discover gems of our heritage ), ''Reading Chronicle'', 10 September 2009.〕 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, when the company closed their factory. This history is reflected in the name of the club's unofficial fanzine, Hob Nob Anyone?, named after a popular British biscuit. The switch to professionalism in 1895 resulted in the need for a bigger ground and, to this end, the club moved again, to the purpose-built Elm Park on 5 September 1896. In 1913 Reading toured Italy and beat Genoa 4–2 and A.C. Milan 5–0, narrowly lost 2–1 to Casale, before beating Italian champions Pro Vercelli 6–0 and the full Italian national team 2–0, prompting the leading sports newspaper Corriere della Sera to write "without doubt, Reading FC are the finest foreign team seen in Italy." Reading were invited back for another tour the following year, but there is no evidence it took place. It is possible it was cancelled due to the imminence of World War I, which claimed the lives of many Reading F.C. players, including Alan Foster, who put a hat-trick past Milan. Reading were elected to the Third Division of the Football League in 1920, and have spent 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 at Wolverhampton in the semi-final. Attendance at the 1–0 victory over Brentford in round five set a new attendance record for Elm Park, at 33,042 people.〔 Reading were relegated to Football League Third Division South in May 1931. The club defeated Bristol City to win the Southern Section Cup in 1938, and won the London War Cup in 1941 by defeating Brentford 3–2 in the final at Stamford Bridge.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Reading F.C.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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