FEATURE: A LOOK AT OUR CUP EXPLOITS THIS CENTURY

THE 21ST CENTURY IN NUMBERS

The Royals crossed the white line in FA Cup action for the first time this century when we hosted Greys Athletic in the First Round in November 2000. Including that 4-0 win against the non-league side, the club has played a total of 67 matches to date, with Saturday’s clash with Burnley set to be number 68.

Of those 67 matches, the club record stands as follows:

• Wins: 28
• Draws: 15
• Losses: 24

Lee Hodges was the first player to find the back of the net in the blue and white hoops, latching onto a Sammy Igoe cross to convert from inside the box. The most recent goal was a cleverly taken strike from Chem Campbell, who bagged a brace against Harborough Town last month.

The scorekeepers have been kept busy over the past 25 years, with 181 goals scored at an average of 2.7 goals per game. Of those 181 goals, the Royals have notched a total of 97, whilst the variety of our goalkeepers have picked the ball out of the net a total of 84 times.

Between 2010 and 2016, the Royals reached the quarterfinals on four occasions, a fantastic feat for a club who were outside the top flight for all but one season during this spell.

Of the 24 completed tournaments since the turn of the millennium, we have been knocked out by a finalist on five occasions. Manchester City (2010/11) and Arsenal (2014/15) would go on to lift the trophy after defeating the Royals in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively.

Manchester United (2006/07 & 2022/23) and Crystal Palace (2015/16) would get the better of us on their road to becoming runners up.

FAMILIAR FOES

Including replays, the club has played two sides on six occasions—Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion. The Royals are yet to knock the Red Devils out of the competition after being drawn against them five times; however, we can boast an unbeaten record against the Baggies, knocking them out of the competition on four occasions.

We were drawn against Stevenage three times between 2011 and 2018, playing out four matches against the Boro and knocking them out of the competition on two occasions.

Cardiff City have also been drawn as our opponents on three occasions, making them our joint third most played team alongside the Hertfordshire-based side.

CUPSETS

Given the nature of the competition, the Royals have handed out and been on the receiving end of upsets throughout the past 25 years.

We have come out the victors against Premier League opposition on six occasions since the turn of the millennium, and on each of these occasions we have been outside the top flight ourselves.

The club have been a thorn in the side of West Brom throughout this period, defeating the then Premier League outfit three times in 2006, 2011 and 2016.

This weekend’s visitors Burnley were another top flight side to fall to then second-tier Royals in 2010.

Perhaps most impressively, a Brian McDermott-led Reading team were able to take the scalp of both Liverpool and Everton in back-to-back campaigns in 2010 and 2011, with both of those victories coming on Merseyside.

Whilst those victories will live long in the memory for supporters of a certain generation, it would be remiss for the club to not mention the few times we have been on the receiving end of the’magic of the cup’.

We have played five non-league sides throughout the past 25 years, suffering defeat on two occasions at the hands of Kidderminster Harriers in 2022 and Eastleigh in 2023.

Within the EFL pyramid, the club has endured three defeats to sides in the league below, with York City inflicting a loss in 2000 and 2001, while the Premier League-bound Royals of 2011/12 were beaten by Stevenage.

CUP Fooball FOR THE MASSES

Since the first supporter passed through the turnstiles for our victory against Greys Athletic in 2000, a total of 1,280,212 have watched the Royals in action in the FA Cup across 25 different stadiums.

The highest attended game was the historic FA Cup semi-final clash with Arsenal in 2015, where a total of 84,081 supporters saw the Royals narrowly lose to the Gunners in our first semi-final since the 1926/27 competition.

The lowest attended tie that was open to the public came in December 2000, when just 2,926 fans saw York City come back from 2-0 down to force a replay with the Royals.

With the Covid-19 campaign closing the doors to stadiums in 2020/21, the Royals have played a fixture behind closed doors—a 1-0 defeat to Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.