James Earnshaw

Reading are one of 28 EFL sides commended for their matchday experience with Silver EFL Family Excellence status. The EFL’s Family Excellence Scheme assesses the family experience provided and rewards them with Gold, Silver and Bronze status for the quality of their match experience across a range of touchpoints including ticket purchase, matchday entertainment, accessibility, facilities and communications.  Clubs are visited twice throughout the season by independent family assessors and then awarded their rating.

Reading have released details for two pre-season friendlies this summer- including one supporters can watch. With the EFL campaign only just finishing, thoughts have already turned to next season and attempts to get prepared despite off-field issues remaining uncertain. After almost two months of exclusive negotiations, Dai Yongge remains the owner of the club, causing difficulties in planning for next season. However, second tier opponents have been confirmed for July.

Barnsley have appointed former Cheltenham Town manager Darrell Clarke on a two-year deal. The 47-year-old has two EFL promotions under his belt, with Bristol Rovers and Port Vale, having managed over 600 matches since 2010. The Tykes sacked Scot Neill Collins ahead of the play-offs after finishing sixth, eventually losing to Bolton Wanderers in the play-offs.

Former Reading youngster James Henry has been released after seven years at rivals Oxford United following their promotion to the Championship. 34-year-old Henry- born and raised in Woodley- rose through the ranks with him hometown club and made 18 first team appearances, scoring four times. However, struggling to force his way into a side in the Premier League, the midfielder made a name for himself in the EFL, most notably with spells at Millwall and Bolton. Joining Oxford in 2017, Henry went on to play 260 times for the U's and scored twice in 18 appearances for 2023/24.

Gareth Southgate has announced his 33-man Pre-Euro 2024 training squad for the upcoming European Championship. The tournament, due to start in less than a month, is taking place in Germany and features players such as Adam Wharton, Jude Bellingham and Conor Gallagher who were playing in the Championship as recently as 2020. But when did they last play Reading?

Championship goal-scoring star Jahmari Clarke is among nine Under-21s released by Reading at the end of the season. 20-year-old Clarke, who never made an appearance under Ruben Selles and had two loan spells away from the club this season, shot to fame when coming off the bench to score a brace in a 2-1 win over Birmingham City in 2021. The Jamaican Under-20 international failed to score again and departs with 14 Royals appearances.

Bolton Wanderers have released former Reading forward Jon Dadi Bodvarsson after losing the League One play-off final. Oxford United beat the Trotters 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to consign Ian Evatt's men to another third-tier campaign. Bodvarsson missed the final run-in for promotion with an injury, but the Icelander still managed hit double figures for goals and achieve his best individual tally since 2018.

Reading-raised teens Luca Fletcher and Christian Dunbar-McDonald featured for England as the Under-17s got their European Championships underway with a heavy win. Greg Lincoln's side hammered France 4-0 in their opening group stage win, with goals from Mikey Moore, Baylee Dipepa and Ethan Nwaneri in Cyprus. Fletcher came off the bench for the Young Lions with 17 minutes remaining, while Dunbar-McDonald played nine minutes. 16-year-old Fletcher, who moved to Manchester City last summer, earned the club a significant fee and sell-on for the coffers.