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Record Attendances

Highest Attendances

For details of Reading's home grounds, see here. The largest crowds to watch Reading matches are as follows:

   At Elm Park
    33,042   Brentford (FA)          19 Feb 1927
    30,621   Arsenal (FA)            16 Feb 1935
    29,248   The Wednesday (FA)      26 Jan 1929
    29,092   Notts County (D3S)      24 Sep 1949
    28,918   Manchester Utd (FA)      8 Jan 1927
    28,129   Swansea Town (FA)       12 Jan 1952
    28,055   Plymouth Arg (D3S)       8 Mar 1952
    27,243   Leicester City (FA)     28 Jan 1928

   At Madejski Stadium
    24,184   Everton (PL)            17 Nov 2012
    24,183   West Ham Utd (PL)       29 Dec 2012
    24,160   Tottenham H (PL)        16 Sep 2012
    24,139   Liverpool (PL)          13 Apr 2013
    24,135   Manchester Utd (PL)     19 Jan 2008
    24,125   Arsenal (PL)            17 Dec 2012
    24,125   Tottenham H (PL)         3 May 2008
    24,122   Aston Villa (PL)        10 Feb 2007
    24,121   Liverpool (PL)           7 Apr 2007

   At away grounds
    75,910   Manchester Utd (PL)     30 Dec 2006  (Old Trafford, Manchester)
    75,655   Manchester Utd (PL)     12 Aug 2007  (Old Trafford, Manchester)
    75,605   Manchester Utd (PL)     16 Mar 2013  (Old Trafford, Manchester)
    75,213   Manchester Utd (FA)     18 Feb 2013  (Old Trafford, Manchester)
    70,608   Manchester Utd (FA)     17 Feb 2007  (Old Trafford, Manchester)
    60,132   Arsenal (PL)             3 Mar 2007  (Ashburton Grove, London)
    60,109   Arsenal (PL)            19 Apr 2008  (Ashburton Grove, London)
    60,082   Arsenal (PL)            30 Mar 2013  (Ashburton Grove, London)
    52,179   Newcastle Utd (PL)       5 Apr 2008  (St James Park, Newcastle)
    49,411   Newcastle Utd (PL)      19 Jan 2013  (St James Park, Newcastle)
    48,182   Newcastle Utd (PL)       6 Dec 2006  (St James Park, Newcastle)
    47,007   Manchester C (PL)       22 Dec 2012  (Eastlands, Manchester)

   At neutral grounds
    86,581   Swansea City (PO)       30 May 2011  (Wembley Stadium, London)
    64,107   Bolton Wand (PO)        29 May 1995  (Wembley Stadium, London)
    61,740   Luton Town (FMC)        27 Mar 1988  (Wembley Stadium, London)
    50,496   Walsall (PO)            27 May 2001  (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
    39,476   Cardiff City (FA)       26 Mar 1927  (Molineux, Wolverhampton)

The biggest Elm Park crowd I was ever part of was the 24,046 who watched Southampton in the League Cup in 1978-79, and I can bear witness that it was impossible to move in a crowd of that size.

Colchester's record crowd is 19,072 against Reading in the FA Cup First Round on 27th November 1948. Unfortunately the game was abandoned with the score at 1-1, and only 13,371 saw Reading win 4-2 at the second attempt a week later. Cheltenham's record crowd at Whaddon Road is 8,326 against Reading in the FA Cup First Round on 17th November 1956. Their highest ever crowd was 10,389 against Blackpool at the Cheltenham Athletic Ground in the FA Cup Third Round in 1933-34. Wycombe's record League crowd is 9,250 against Reading on 26th February 2002. This is surpassed only by the crowd of 9,650 against Wimbledon in their famous FA Cup run the previous year.

Lowest Attendances

The lowest attendances in competitive matches (excluding the Southern League) are as follows:

   At Elm Park
       801   Watford (D3SC)          26 Oct 1938
     1,097   Bristol City (D3SC)     28 Sep 1938
     1,136   AFC Bournemouth (FLT)   18 Aug 1982
     1,151   Northampton T (AMC)     20 Nov 1991
     1,209   Brighton & HA (AMC)      1 Dec 1992
     1,218   Crystal Palace (D3SC)    8 Mar 1939

   At Madejski Stadium
     1,561   Leyton Orient (AMC)      8 Dec 1999
     2,725   Colchester Utd (AMC)    30 Oct 2001

   At away grounds
       631   Chester City (D3)        5 Mar 1991  (Sealand Road, Chester)
       734   Rochdale (D4)           24 May 1978  (Spotland, Rochdale)
       800   Bristol City (D3SC)     12 Oct 1938  (Ashton Gate, Bristol)
       838   Southport (D4)          14 Mar 1978  (Haig Avenue, Southport)
       856   Workington T (D3)       13 May 1967  (Borough Park, Workington)
       913   Rochdale (D4)            3 May 1976  (Spotland, Rochdale)

The lowest Elm Park league crowd was 1,934 against Bradford City on 30th April 1991, just topping (if that is the right word) the 1,943 against Preston on 2nd October 1982. The lowest Madejski Stadium league crowd is 5,393 against Bury on 20th October 1999.

Average Attendances

This graph traces Reading's home league attendances between 1920-21 and 2012-13. Note that figures are only approximate before 1925. Different colours are used to indicate different divisions, as in the positional graph. Clicking on the graph cycles between the average, highest and lowest crowds.

Average Attendances

The highest average is 23,862.0 in 2012-13, while the lowest is 3,458.7 in 1982-83. Over the entire period over 19.2 million people have attended Reading home games at an average of 9,921.6. The figures for the current season are:

The highest away average is 35,757.2 in 2007-08, while the lowest is 2,952.0 in 1974-75. The away figures for the current season are:

The highest overall average (home and away) is 29,683.7 in 2012-13, while the lowest is 3,742.1 in 1983-84. The overall figures for the current season are: