One for the historians

[No Fixed Abode]

Obviously - but a cheat-y way it might have happened - original fixture is abandoned and the game is re-arranged in the following midweek. Problem is the abandoned game never shows up in the record books. Torquay at home in 1973-74 would have come close. Interestingly (!) it was 3-0 when abandoned and 3-0 when re-scheduled.

There is that too - but as you say, it's only one fixture. I was thinking more a double header. Obviously it wouldn't happen when transport infrastructure was good but perhaps back in the days of the early years of the football league.

No - even when Reading started playing in a league (Southern 1894) it was one home / one away game against each opponent as it always was in the Football League.

There is one occasion when we played the same team two home games running in the same season - vs Reading School in 1871-72 - the club's first two games ever.

So it did happen. Silver Fox looks pretty silly now doesn't he.

[From Despair To Where?]

They were friendlies, not league games.

[Nameless]

And given they were our first ever games against a scratch school team they were probably actually just played on the bit of park that was available rather than any kind of 'home' ground as we know it....

[genome]

So it did happen. Silver Fox looks pretty silly now doesn't he.

[harry]

There is that too - but as you say, it's only one fixture. I was thinking more a double header. Obviously it wouldn't happen when transport infrastructure was good but perhaps back in the days of the early years of the football league.

No - even when Reading started playing in a league (Southern 1894) it was one home / one away game against each opponent as it always was in the Football League.

There is one occasion when we played the same team two home games running in the same season - vs Reading School in 1871-72 - the club's first two games ever.

So it did happen. Silver Fox looks pretty silly now doesn't he.

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[Ark Royal]

The last two league games of the 73/74 season were both against Chester, but obviously home and away. A rearranged home game on Monday 22nd April (won 3-0) followed by the away game at Sealand Road on Saturday 27th April (0-0).

[Sutekh]

Obvs. You can't play consecutive league games at home against the same opposition in the same season but with cup games then the last time it happened i think was in 2003 :

14 Jan - Reading 1-1 Walsall - FA Cup (lost 1-4 on penalties), att. 8,767
18 Jan - Reading 0-0 Walsall - football league, att. 11,786

Line up in the cup was ; hahnemann, murty, mackie, brown, shorey, igoe, harper, newman (hughes), tyson (salako), butler, forster ( cureton)

Line up in the league was ; hahnemann, murty, mackie, brown, shorey, igoe, harper, newman (salako), hughes, butler (tyson), forster (cureton)

Interested to know - with away games and cups included - if we've ever had a run of 3 or more games against the same opposition in the same season ( or over the end of one and the beginning of another ).

Note - if you look for runs of playing a team twice in succession in the league then there will be a good few of these as the league used to pair sides to play each other home and away over xmas and easter ( plus i believe the first season Reading were in the FL you played a team home one week and then the return fixture the next ).

[Old Biscuitman]

1952. The fixture list gave us a finishing tie against Notts County to close out the 51/52 season before opening against Notts County for the 52/53 season. There was only 98 days between the two games. We lost both.

Watched the first, but not the second.

[Ark Royal]

Obvs. You can't play consecutive league games at home against the same opposition in the same season but with cup games then the last time it happened i think was in 2003 :

14 Jan - Reading 1-1 Walsall - FA Cup (lost 1-4 on penalties), att. 8,767
18 Jan - Reading 0-0 Walsall - football league, att. 11,786

Line up in the cup was ; hahnemann, murty, mackie, brown, shorey, igoe, harper, newman (hughes), tyson (salako), butler, forster ( cureton)

Line up in the league was ; hahnemann, murty, mackie, brown, shorey, igoe, harper, newman (salako), hughes, butler (tyson), forster (cureton)

Interested to know - with away games and cups included - if we've ever had a run of 3 or more games against the same opposition in the same season ( or over the end of one and the beginning of another ).

Note - if you look for runs of playing a team twice in succession in the league then there will be a good few of these as the league used to pair sides to play each other home and away over xmas and easter ( plus i believe the first season Reading were in the FL you played a team home one week and then the return fixture the next ).

In the 32-33 season, Reading played Coventry four times in five games, including three consecutive games: 3-3 at EP in Div3S on 3rd December; 2-2 at EP in FA Cup 2nd Rd on 10th December; 3-3 at Highfield Road in FA Cup 2nd Rd replay on 15th December. A 4-0 win against Northampton at EP on 17th December was followed by a 1-0 win at Coventry on 19th December in the second replay.

[The Cube]

When was the last time we played successive home games against the same club in league games?

I'm going to follow the trend of the rest of the thread by answering a question other than the one asked. However, my answer will set the possible range for any future correct answers.

Reading's first league season was 1894/95 (Southern League 1st division). Clubs played each other once home and away. The last game of the season was a 6-2 home victory over Ilford. The first game of the 1895/96 season was a 3-1 victory over Ilford. So on the very first occasion that it was possible Reading played "successive home games against the same club in league games".

So my answer is 14 September 1895, and someone else can check if it has happened since. In fact, I don't know why Strap hasn't yet come in with the complete list using his database.

As an aside, Reading's home ground for both those seasons was Caversham Cricket Ground (the site now opposite Elizabeth House on Gosbrook Road). However, at the start and end of the season home games often had to move due to the cricket club wanting to play there. The usual alternative venue was Cox's Meadow - I haven't absolutely tracked down that site yet, but it was on the Caversham side of the Thames and I'm pretty sure it was either under what is now the Reading Bridge approach on George Street, or further over to where the cycle bridge is now. So it is possible that the two Ilford games were at different venues.

Another, and definite, change between the two games was that the first one was Reading's last competitive game as an amateur team whilst the next one was the first competitive game after turning professional.

[Royal Ginger]

Was there ever a ground share situation where this may have happened?

[Nameless]

A ground share would make no difference. Teams would be playing a home game followed by an away game. The fact they were on the same ground would not make them successive home games.