Tomorrow sees Rovers travel to the Madejski Stadium (officially the Select Car Leasing Stadium) where they will meet Reading for the 83rd league meeting between the sides.
To date, Rovers have won 30 of the previous 82 matches, Reading 34 and 18 have finished all square. League meetings between the sides date back to 1920/21 when both sides were newly elected to the Football League.
In that first season Reading were 2-1 winners on 4th December 1920, at their Elm Park Ground, while Rovers won the return fixture 3-2 at Eastville.
Last season Reading were 2-0 winners at The Memorial Stadium, while the return fixture saw the sides play out a 1-1 draw.
On the managerial front Mark McGhee, who appeared in 45 games for Reading and also managed the Berkshire outfit from May – December 1994, also occupied the hotseat at Rovers from January – December 2012.
Jeff Hopkins, who played for both clubs, was one of four joint caretaker managers of Reading following the departure of McGhee though they were in charge for just 20 days!
There’s a long list of players who have turned out for both clubs; I make it at least 26, and that figure includes current Rovers defender
Clinton Mola who appeared in 30 league games for Reading last season before a move to BS7 in the summer.
Rovers striker Chris Martin has also played for Reading, scoring once in 10 league games when during a loan spell with the club in 2018.
There are quite a few goalkeepers on the list of those to have appeared for both clubs, including Mikkel Andersen and Joe Lumley. Andersen, in two loan spells with Rovers, notched up 58 league appearances for us but made only three appearances for Reading.
Lumley, currently on Southampton’s books, appeared in 19 league games for Rovers when on loan from Queens Park Rangers and in 41 games for Reading in another loan spell, this time from Middlesbrough.
Of the outfield players who have played for both clubs, then look no further than Jamie Cureton and Jason Roberts as both scored in Rovers 6-0 demolition of Reading at The Medejski Stadium in January 1999. Cureton scored four goals that day, while Roberts scored the other two. Odd that both players turned out for Reading later in their careers!
Andy Gurney, who had scored nine goals in 108 league games for Rovers and made his league debut against Reading almost five years earlier, also appeared in that 6-0 drubbing, as he was making his debut for Reading. Yet another player making his debut that day was Rovers defender Andy Thomson, who was making the first of his 127 league appearances for The Gas.
The current League One standings show Reading in seventh place with 19 points after
their opening 11 games, while Rovers, down in 15th place, are only three points worse off after their first 12 games
In terms of current form, Reading have won four and lost two of their last six games, while Rovers have won three and lost three of their last six.
It could well be a tight game, but Rovers will take confidence from their midweek victory over Shrewsbury Town as they go in search of their second away win of the season.
If you’re travelling to the game, whether by Supporters Club coach or another provider, or if you are driving please travel safely and get behind the team once again.