The 2012–13 season was Reading Football Club's third season in the Premier League, and the first since their relegation to the Championship in 2008. Reading secured automatic promotion on 17 April 2012 following a 1–0 win against Nottingham Forest and were crowned as Championship winners four days later. They began the season in August with a 1–1 draw against Stoke City but had to wait until mid-November for their first league win, a 2–1 win over Everton on 17 November 2012. A run of four wins in six around January saw Brian McDermott and Adam Le Fondre named Manager of the Month and Player of the Month respectively, though one month later, after defeats by relegation rivals Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa, McDermott was sacked as the club's manager. He was replaced by Nigel Adkins on 26 March, ending Eamonn Dolan's two-week stint as caretaker manager. On 28 April, following a 0–0 home draw against Queens Park Rangers, Reading were relegated to the Championship for the 2013–14 season. They finished the season with six wins from 38 games, the lowest number in their history.
In addition to the Premier League, the club also participated in the two domestic cup competitions. After beating Peterborough United and QPR in the second and third rounds respectively, Reading were knocked out of the League Cup in the fourth round by Arsenal after a dramatic 7–5 extra time defeat. In the FA Cup they recorded victories over Crawley Town and Sheffield United, before a close 2–1 defeat by Manchester United in the fifth round. At the end of the season Adam Le Fondre, who was Reading's top scorer with 14 goals, was named the club's Player of the Season.
Promotion
On 17 April 2012, during the 2011–12 season, Reading required a better performance than rivals West Ham United to achieve automatic promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. On the evening, West Ham drew 1–1 with Bristol City, and Reading's Mikele Leigertwood scored an 81st-minute goal from an Ian Harte free kick against Nottingham Forest to secure promotion. Upon the final whistle, there was a pitch invasion at the Madejski Stadium.
Season review
Pre-season
Transfers
On 2 May, Reading announced that they would be renewing ten players contracts whilst 13 would be released. The players leaving included Andy Griffin, Brian Howard and Tomasz Cywka, as well as a number of youngsters. Experienced duo Ian Harte and Brynjar Gunnarsson were both handed one-year extensions along with several young professionals and scholars including Michael Hector and Gozie Ugwu. Reading completed their first signing of the season on 16 May with Garath McCleary signing a three-year deal on a Bosman transfer from Nottingham Forest. The club were linked with a number of players over the next six weeks before Danny Guthrie joined on a free transfer from Newcastle United, becoming Reading's second signing of the summer. The following week Pavel Pogrebnyak signed a four-year deal on a free transfer from Fulham following the approval of his work permit, and the day after, on 6 July, Irish youngster Pierce Sweeney joined for an undisclosed fee from Bray Wanderers. Nicky Shorey rejoined the club on a one-year deal on 10 July following his release from West Bromwich Albion, whilst three days later the first outgoing business of the season was completed with Mathieu Manset joining Sion on a three-year contract. On 17 July the club completed a double signing with Adrian Mariappa and Chris Gunter joining from Watford and Nottingham Forest respectively. Both signed on three-year deals for an undisclosed fee.
Several young players left the club on loan during the summer. Left back Joseph Mills became the first outgoing player, joining Burnley on a season long loan on 17 July, whilst two days later Gozie Ugwu, having just signed a new 2-year contract, was loaned to Yeovil Town until 1 January 2013. The following week Michael Hector joined League One team Shrewsbury Town until 2 January 2013 and on 30 July Angus MacDonald joined AFC Wimbledon on a six-month deal. On 4 August there were two more loan departures with Karl Sheppard joining Accrington Stanley on a six-month loan and Brett Williams joining Woking on a season long deal. Two days later Michail Antonio left the club permanently, joining Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee and on 17 August, Mikkel Andersen joined Portsmouth on a one-month loan, with Jordan Obita joining him four days later on a similar deal. Having trained with the club since mid July, Stuart Taylor signed a one-year deal on 20 August, completing Reading's summer transfer business.