[3] The following day the club released manager Brian McDermott of his duties,[4] whilst also announcing a pre-season friendly against Premier League side Bournemouth.
This meant Martin Kuhl would manage the fixture against Lincoln City on 16 July 2016 as the rest of the squad would be returning home on that same day.
[10] On 26 July, Reading announced that they had accepted an invitation to enter their Category One Academy in the revamped EFL Trophy,[11] being drawn against Bristol Rovers, Portsmouth and Yeovil Town the following day.
[12] On 28 July, the U23 side wear drawn against Everton, Athletic Bilbao and Hertha BSC in the Premier League International Cup.
[13] Following the conclusion of the 2015–16 season, Reading announced on 9 May 2016 that they would not be renewing the contracts of Anton Ferdinand, Hal Robson-Kanu, Simon Cox, Nana Owusu, Pierce Sweeney, Lewis Collins, Noor Husin, Hammad Lawal, Samúel Friðjónsson, Conor Shaughnessy and Bogdan Vashchuk.
[17] Also on 9 May 2016, Reading offered new contracts to Dominic Hyam, Robert Dickie, Shane Griffin, Sean Long, Aaron Kuhl, Liam Kelly, Zak Jules and George Legg, as well as Under-18 players Omar Richards, Harrison Bennett, Ryan East, Sam Smith, Luke Southwood, Billy Collings and Joe Tupper.
[22] As well as the transfers of Gravenberch and van den Berg being completed on 1 July, Reading announced that youngsters Lewis Ward, Zak Jules, George Legg, Sean Long, Shane Griffin, Liam Kelly, Aaron Kuhl, Robert Dickie, Dominic Hyam, Ryan East, Harrison Bennett, Joe Tupper, Billy Collings, Omar Richards, Luke Southward and Thomas McIntyre had all signed deals to stay with the club.
[26] The following day it was announced that Finnish goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola had signed from Ajax Cape Town on a two-year deal.
[Report 7] On 3 August, Paolo Hurtado returned to Vitória de Guimarães on a season-long loan, Lewis Ward joined Margate until 3 January 2017, George Legg joined Hungerford Town on a season-long loan,[32] and Oliver Norwood moved to Brighton & Hove Albion on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.
[33] On 5 August, winger Callum Harriott signed a three-year contract, moving from Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee.
[34] Reading loaned Craig Tanner to Plymouth Argyle,[35] and signed Liechtenstein international midfielder Sandro Wieser to a three-year contract the next day.
[46] During the summer transfer window, Portuguese youngster Lisandro Semedo left the club, joining AEZ Zakakiou in the Cypriot First Division.
Despite holding a 1–1 draw since the early stages of the second half, Reading conceded a penalty in the 90th minute, with the resultant goal giving Aston Villa their first away win in over a year.
[Report 19] On 6 October 2016 Icelandic U19 defender Sindri Scheving joined Cirencester Town on a one-month loan deal.
[Report 29] On 12 January, Reading suffered their second home defeat of the season, when former Royal Jamie Mackie scored for Queens Park Rangers in their 0–1 victory.
[Report 34] On 5 January 2017, Reading were linked with a move for Liverpool defender Tiago Ilori,[60] whilst Sean Long joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 season.
[62] Tanner extended his stay with Plymouth Argyle until the end of the season on 16 January 2017,[63] with Billy Collings moving to Brighton & Hove Albion the following day for an undisclosed fee.
[72] Reading completed the signing of Romanian International Adrian Popa, on a three-and-a-half-year contract on 30 January,[73] with Jordon Mutch, Reece Oxford and Lewis Grabban all joining on loan until the end of the season the following day.
[Report 36] On 13 February, Reading announced that academy players Ramarni Medford-Smith, Teddy Howe, Jordan Holsgrove and Tyler Frost, had all signed their first pro-contract with the club.
The same day, Reading travelled to Sheffield Wednesday where a 0–2 away win saw Adrian Popa run the length of the pitch in stoppage time to seal the victory.
[Report 48] On 22 April Reading lost 3–2 away to Nottingham Forest, remaining in third place pending the result of Huddersfield Town's midweek game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
[92] Reading's final league game of the season was a 2–4 away win at Burton Albion on 7 May,[Report 51] which confirmed their play-off semi-final opponents would be Fulham.
McShane received a red card for a high challenge, which suspended him for the upcoming home leg and potentially the play-off final.
[Report 52] On 12 May, Reading announced that they had offered new contracts to Jake Sheppard, Tarique Fosu, Zak Jules, Lewis Ward, Ryan East.
Andy Rinomhota, Andrija Novakovich, Sam Smith and Luke Southwood, whilst George Legg and Axel Andrésson had already signed new deals.
[94] On 29 May, Reading played in the EFL Championship play-off final against Huddersfield Town, drawing 0–0 in both regular and extra time before losing 4–3 in a penalty shootout.