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.

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.

[8] 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.

[9] The following week Pavel Pogrebnyak signed a four-year deal on a free transfer from Fulham following the approval of his work permit,[10] and the day after, on 6 July, Irish youngster Pierce Sweeney joined for an undisclosed fee from Bray Wanderers.

[11] Nicky Shorey rejoined the club on a one-year deal on 10 July following his release from West Bromwich Albion,[12] whilst three days later the first outgoing business of the season was completed with Mathieu Manset joining Sion on a three-year contract.

[29] On 4 August they drew 2–2 away at AFC Bournemouth thanks to goals from Adrian Mariappa and Hal Robson-Kanu before they travelled Brighton & Hove Albion for the Michael Kuipers testimonial three days later.

[42] Reading's fixture list experienced further disruption after the away game against Sunderland on 25 August was called off an hour before kickoff due to a waterlogged pitch at the Stadium of Light.

[45] Reading played a near full-strength side won the game emphatically 8–1 thanks to hat-tricks from Adam Le Fondre and Jay Tabb, as well as goals from Alex Pearce and Jem Karacan.

[51] The following Saturday Reading made the trip to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion and despite several good saves from McCarthy, they lost 1–0 after a 71st minute Romelu Lukaku goal.

[63] Prior to the game Jason Roberts caused controversy by refusing to wear a Kick It Out T-shirt in protest at a perceived lack of action against racism by the organisation.

[66] On the same day Jordan Obita returned early from his loan spell at Portsmouth following a family bereavement,[67][68] though Mikkel Andersen's stay at Fratton Park was extended for a third, and final month.

Having headed in a Nicky Shorey free-kick to draw the scores level, Le Fondre then converted a late penalty and Reading held on to earn their first Premier League win at the eleventh attempt.

[83] Although the win against Everton briefly lifted the Royals out of the bottom three, defeats by relegation rivals Wigan and Aston Villa meant they finished November in 19th, four points off safety.

[86] The news was followed by confirmation that, despite initial hopes his injury sustained in November was not too serious, Alex McCarthy had been forced to undergo shoulder surgery, potentially ruling him out for the rest of the season.

[92] In a quiet month of loan activity young goalkeeper Jon Henly was the only outgoing player, joining Hungerford Town on 14 December on a one-month deal.

Adam Le Fondre had a second half goal disallowed for handball though they created few other chances with Federici forced to pull off a number of saves to keep Swansea from scoring.

With less than ten minutes remaining Jimmy Kébé pulled one back from close range, before winning a penalty which Adam Le Fondre converted to level the scores.

[110][111] On 8 January midfielder Hope Akpan signed on a three-and-a-half-year deal from Crawley Town for £300,000 plus add-ons,[112] and he was followed by Stephen Kelly who joined from Fulham on a two-and-a-half-year contract three days later.

Following the closure of the transfer window manager Brian McDermott revealed that the club had tried, and failed, in last-minute deals to sign Tom Ince,[117] and former Reading player Gylfi Sigurðsson.

[120] Young striker Dominic Samuel joined Colchester United on a one-month youth loan on 3 January[121] with Karl Sheppard returning from his spell at Accrington Stanley the same day.

[122] The day after, Jake Taylor extended his loan with Cheltenham Town for another month, though Lawson D'Ath's deal with the Robins was not renewed and he returned to Reading having made three appearances.

[123] On 8 January Angus MacDonald's loan to Torquay United was extended until the end of the season[124] and a week later Jon Henly returned after a one-month stay with Hungerford Town.

Goals from Marouane Fellaini, Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas gave Everton a commanding lead, with Hal Robson-Kanu's late strike only a consolation as the hosts ran 3–1 winners.

[145] The evening before the game, the club had received further bad news with Jason Roberts revealing that he would miss the rest of the season after having surgery on the hip injury he sustained against Southampton in December.

[2] He was followed out of the club by first-team coaches Nigel Gibbs and Yannis Anastasiou, with Academy Manager Eamonn Dolan taking over first team duties in a caretaker capacity.

[154] Fifteen days after McDermott was sacked, Nigel Adkins was appointed as the Reading's new manager on a three-year contract with his former assistant at Southampton, Andy Crosby, also joining the club.

[157] April began with the return of Jordan Obita following his two-month spell at Oldham Athletic[158] and the extension of Jay Tabb's loan at Ipswich Town until the end of the season.

[162][163] On 11 April, Reading announced another young player would be joining the club over the summer with 17-year-old American goalkeeper Aleksander Gogic set to sign a two-year professional deal prior to the 2013–14 season.

[4] Reading travelled to Fulham on 4 May and recorded only their second away win of the season with two goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and one each from Jem Karacan and Adam Le Fondre securing a 4–2 victory.

[187] Following the run of defeats, the under-18s won ten matches in a row, including doubles over Chelsea and Crystal Palace, finishing second in the group on goal difference to Fulham and qualifying for knockout stage.