When the Reading FC Legacy Shirt Number series was published last month, it delighted three season ticket holders in particular, sisters Ali and Mo, and Mo ‘s son James.
High up on the list at Numbers 70 and 103 respectively were the brothers William and Johnny George. Johnny is Ali and Mo’s great-grandfather and James’s great-great-grandfather – that’s four generations of family connection with the club.
Johnny’s last game for Reading was long ago in 1894, but he did make it back on to the pitch, albeit in two-dimensional photographic form, in 2024! He featured in a protest flag at the pitch invasion that forced the abandonment of the Port Vale match, as a member of the 1892 team group in the top left corner.
Photo Credit: Jason Dawson
Ali and Mo have ‘form’ in such matters, having also been part of the protests against Robert Maxwell’s intended ‘merger’ of Reading and Oxford United in 1983. Good on you, both! It’s all a necessary part of being a true Reading fan, regrettably.
Johnny George played in a strong amateur Reading side of the early 1890s that won the Berks & Bucks Cup in 1892 but lost dramatically (0-18 since you ask) to the professionals of Preston North End in the FA Cup in 1894. He and his brother, who also played for Royal Arsenal, were true Biscuitmen in that they actually worked in the Huntley & Palmers factory.
The 1892 B&B Cup winners. Johnny George, middle row, second left
It’s great to find a family connection with the club which goes back over 120 years. Can any current supporter beat that? A Simonds, an Albury, a Field perhaps?
Roger Titford