Reading Teams in the FA Cup

The FA Cup was initially very much a Home Counties competition, so it is not surprising that teams from in and around Berkshire feature prominently in its early history. For example, Marlow and Maidenhead met in the First Round in 1871 and have appeared in virtually every competition since. Reading first competed in 1877, however they were not the first team from the town to enter. That honour belongs to Reading Hornets, who first entered in the previous season. The distinction between Hornets and Reading was always blurred: they shared many of the same players and played on the same ground. However after their heavy defeat at Maidenhead in 1877 the Hornets decided to disband and join forces with Reading. In the 1880s three further Reading teams, Reading Abbey, Reading Minster and South Reading, all made an appearance in the competition. South Reading were beaten by Reading in the 1883-84 FA Cup, and were twice Berks & Bucks Senior Cup finalists.

FA Cup 1876-77

4 Nov

Swifts

Reading Hornets

FA Cup 1877-78

27 Oct	R1	Maidenhead	10	Reading Hornets	0
7 Nov¹	R1	READING	2	South Norwood	0
8 Dec	R2	Upton Park	1	READING	0
¹ played at the Dolphin Ground, Slough

FA Cup 1878-79

9 Nov	R1	READING	1	Hendon FC	0
18 Dec	R2	READING	0	Old Etonians	1

FA Cup 1879-80

	R1	Henley	−	READING¹	−
¹ Reading scratched

FA Cup 1880-81

13 Nov	R1	READING	5	Hotspur	1
13 Nov	R1	Reading Abbey	1	St Albans	0
13 Nov	R1	Romford	1	Reading Minster	1
	(R)	Reading Minster¹	−	Romford	−
11 Dec	R2	Reading Abbey	2	Acton	1
18 Dec	R2	READING	0	Swifts	1
12 Feb	R3	Romford	2	Reading Abbey	0
¹ Reading Minster scratched

FA Cup 1881-82

22 Oct	R1	Windsor Home Park	0	Reading Minster	1
22 Oct	R1	Woodford Bridge	1	Reading Abbey	1
29 Oct	R1	READING	5	Hendon FC	0
12 Nov	(R)	Reading Abbey	2	Woodford Bridge	1
26 Nov	R2	READING	1	West End¹	1
26 Nov	R2	Reading Abbey	1	Hotspur	4
3 Dec	R2	Reading Minster	3	Romford	1
	R3	READING²	−	bye	−
17 Dec	R3	Hotspur	0	Reading Minster	0
26 Dec	(R)	Reading Minster	0	Hotspur	2
	R4	Marlow	−	READING³	−
¹ West End disqualified ² Reading given a bye in Round 3 ³ Reading scratched

FA Cup 1882-83

	R1	READING¹	−	bye	−
	R1	Reading Minster	−	Remnants²	−
21 Oct	R1	South Reading	2³	Dreadnought	1³
4 Nov	(R)	Dreadnought	1	South Reading	2
	R2	Marlow	−	Reading Minster⁴	−
	R2	South Reading⁵	−	bye	−
29 Nov	R2	Royal Engineers	8	READING	0
6 Jan	R3	Hendon FC	11	South Reading	1
¹ Reading given a bye in Round 1 ² Remnants scratched ³ replay ordered after protest ⁴ Reading Minster scratched ⁵ South Reading given a bye in Round 2

FA Cup 1883-84

10 Nov	R1	READING	2	South Reading	2
10 Nov	R1	Reading Minster	1	Old Carthusians	10
17 Nov	(R)	South Reading	0	READING	4
1 Dec	R2	READING	1	West End	0
22 Dec	R3	READING	1	Upton Park	6

FA Cup 1884-85

8 Nov	R1	Hanover United	1	Reading Minster	0
8 Nov	R1	READING	2	Rochester	0
8 Nov	R1	South Reading	4	Casuals	0
6 Dec	R2	Swifts	3	South Reading	2
6 Dec	R2	Upton Park	3	READING	1

FA Cup 1885-86

31 Oct	R1	Dulwich	1	South Reading	2
31 Oct	R1	Rochester	6	READING	1
21 Nov	R2	Clapton¹	1	South Reading	1
	R3	South Reading	−	Clapham Rovers²	−
2 Jan	R4	South Reading	0	Brentwood	3
¹ Clapton disqualified ² Clapham Rovers scratched

FA Cup 1886-87

23 Oct	R1	Old Carthusians	2	READING	1
30 Oct	R1	South Reading	0	Maidenhead	2

FA Cup 1887-88

8 Oct	R1	Marlow	4	South Reading	1
15 Oct	R1	READING	0¹	Dulwich	2¹
	(R)	Dulwich	−	READING²	−
¹ replay ordered after protest ² Reading scratched