Elm Park's Top Attendances

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I compiled this hand-written list a few years ago, and it includes every crowd to top 23,000. It's worth pointing out that that figure has been exceeded many times at the Madejski Stadium, but this article deals solely with the old ground. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Interesting to note that 13 of the top 16 came in the FA Cup, with games against modest opponents such as Wrexham, Swansea and Doncaster proving huge draws. That just illustrates how important the national Cup was to supporters in times gone by. 

 

Reading's new ground at Elm Park opened in 1896, and it hosted its first 10,000 attendance against Southern League rivals Southampton the following year. That figure was repeated against the same opponents in 1899, and they are the two crowds to top five figures in the Victorian era. Reading reached the quarter-final of the FA Cup in 1901 where they faced Spurs in front of a new high of 14,401, but this was topped during a replayed tie with Nottingham Forest in 1903 with 14,900.

 

That mark remained for nine years, but when Reading pulled off a shock replay win against Aston Villa in February 1912, interest in the town was huge after they drew Manchester United at home. United had risen to the top of English football, boasting star names such as Billy Meredith and Charlie Roberts, and Elm Park received ground improvements as it prepared for a bumper attendance. A new high was achieved as 24,069 crammed into the ground, and when the club's first £1,000 haul was piled high on the counting table, the directors literally danced with joy.

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The record lasted for 14 years before Reading faced Bristol City in a promotion clash in Division Three (South) in front of 24,354. Within a year, this was topped twice during the run to the FA Cup semi-final in 1927; firstly against Manchester United, with 28,918, before the club's all-time home attendance record of 33,042 was set for the fifth round clash with Brentford. The crowd would have been packed in like sardines, and it's certain that many would have seen very little of the action in the days before concrete terracing had been constructed.

 

Before the Second World War, Elm Park's capacity was reckoned to be 35,000, and after Reading had drawn Arsenal at home in the cup in 1935 the club were confident of this being tested. In the event, 'only' 30,621 turned up, though this is still enough to rank number two on the list.

 

​Reading's best home League crowd was recorded when 29,092 paid to see Notts County for a Division Three (South) fixture in 1949. So why was it so high? There were three contributing factors; in the post-war years, football attendances rocketed up and down the country after seven long years without official league competition. Second was the fact it was a top-of-the-table clash, but the main draw was a chance to see County's centre-forward Tommy Lawton, an England international and one of the great players of the day.

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The other League crowd that stands out was for another top-of-the-table showdown, this time against Plymouth in 1952. Reading won the match 2-0 in front of more than 28.000, and, incredibly, the victory was actually their 19th out of 20 games. The form sadly tailed off after that though, and they had to settle for the runners-up spot in the days when only the Champions went up.

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Elm Park's top attendance for the League Cup is the 25,046 that saw Reading, on their way to winning the 4th Division title, take on top-flight Southampton in November 1978. I was there that night, and the club has never had a higher home crowd since. I'm pretty sure a few games in the old ground's latter days would have got on the list, such as FA Cup ties against Arsenal and Man Utd plus the Simod Cup semi-final, but by then the capacity had been drastically reduced due to safety concerns.