One Day In History - Reading 1963-64

Rangers made the trip to Elm Park, Reading - a place they had frequented regularly since the 1930s, but yielded little success during that time.

Teams: Reading v Queens Park Rangers

Date: Saturday March 28, 1964

Competition: Football League Division Three

Venue: Elm Park, Reading.

The R's made the trip to Elm Park with little hope of a successful result - having been victorious there only once in their previous 13 visits.

Roy Bentley's men were looking in excellent form in their bid to chase down the leading pack - and he had certainly taught them how to hit the back of the net.

Whenever the Royals were defeated they never went down without a fight, epitomised by the 4-2 defeat away at Brentford - but when they won they certainly knew how to win handsomely.

Victories over Colchester United (5-3), Brentford (4-3) and Barnsley (6-1) displayed how devastating Bentley's men could be in front of goal as they sought to climb the table.

More recently the Royals progress had been blighted by dropped home points to Oldham Athletic (0-1) and Bristol City (1-1) as they looked to get their chase back on track against QPR.

Rangers by comparison were caught at the wrong end of the table under Alec Stock - a failed take-over approach by John Bloom and the retirement of Tony Ingham combined to make bleak reading for the R's.

Things on the pitch showed signs of improvement however following an indifferent Christmas and New Year period. Their first win in four against Wrexham (1-0) was crowned with a goal from John Collins.

One factor from this game would have been tiredness, having beaten Wrexham on Good Friday - they played the Royals the very next day on Easter Saturday.

Only two changes were made to the Rangers line-up with Peter Angell and Terry McQuade making way for Brian Taylor and 15-year-old Frank Sibley in his second appearance for the club.

It was indeed QPR that triumphed at Elm Park and continued Reading's run of only one win in five games. Inverness-born forward George McLeod was in fine form to finish the game with two goals.

Reading did manage to get themselves on the scoresheet but it wasn't enough as Rangers recorded back to back wins in as many days.

The R's themselves only lost twice more that season to ease any relegation worries to finish 15th - undefeated in the final six games and setting themselves up for a successful period to come.

What may have originally been perceived as a negative with Mr Bloom's take-over being voted out - it turned out to be the correct decision in light of his washing machine company 'rolls' going under.

Reading finished in sixth, eight points from the top and the eventually promoted duo of Coventry City and Crystal Palace - and their form flitted in the third tier as the years progressed.

Final Score: Reading 1-2 Queens Park Rangers

Attendance: 7,886

Queens Park Rangers: Sprigett, Taylor, Brady P., Malcolm, Brady R., Keen, Sibley, Bedford, Leary, Collins, McLeod.

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