As with every season, the summer marks a reset as seven new teams enter League One from above and below.

Birmingham City, Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town mark regular foes from the Royals' two-decade stay in the upper tiers, while Stockport County, Mansfield Town, Wrexham and Crawley Town represent new opponents for the younger generation of Royals fans.

Take a look below at the last time each 'new' team were faced and how Reading fared.

Reading 1-1 Birmingham City: Saturday, April 7, 2023

Billed as a key clash for Reading’s survival bid, the match immediately following the Royals’ points deduction which plunged them back into relegation danger, over 16,000 turned out on Good Friday. All went to plan early on for Paul Ince’s men, Andy Carroll netting a well-worked goal. All the air was sucked out of the ground before half-time when Lukas Jutkiewicz equalised. Last-gasp defeat to Preston North End on Easter Monday sealed Ince’s fate, and Noel Hunt’s bounce was unable to prevent a slip into the third tier.

Huddersfield Town 2-0 Reading: Monday, May 8, 2023

With relegation already confirmed ahead of the final day trip to the Terriers, who stayed up at Reading’s expense, less than half of the originally sold-out away allocation was full at the John Smith’s Stadium. What was supposed to be Neil Warnock’s swansong, before deciding to stay on at Huddersfield into the new season, went exactly as expected. A downbeat Royals side fell to a convincing defeat as Josh Koroma and Joseph Hungbo fired past Coniah Boyce-Clarke.

Reading 2-1 Rotherham United: Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Less than 10,000 supporters decided to spend their Valentine’s Day evening at the SCL Stadium for a bottom-half clash between the Royals and Millers. Lee Peltier deservedly put Matt Taylor’s side ahead in the first half. Carroll equalised early on, and Tyrese Fornah popped up in stoppage time to earn Reading’s first win of 2023, perhaps against the run of play.

Stockport County 5-1 Reading: Tuesday, March 3, 1998

From one relegation campaign to another, Tommy Burns’ Royals ended the club’s long association at Elm Park with a drop to the third tier. A heavy defeat at Edgeley Park, trailing 5-0 after 70 minutes, was in the middle of a wretched run of 13 defeats in 14 matches. The Hatters, who were playing in the sixth tier as recently as 2018, are yet to run out at the SCL Stadium.

Reading 3-1 Mansfield Town: Monday, April 12, 1993

Similar to Stockport, Mansfield have never appeared at RG2. 31 years ago, Mark McGhee was player-manager at Elm Park and the Royals finished eighth in what is now League One. Less than 5,000 were in attendance as Stuart Lovell, Mick Gooding and Scott Taylor found the net. Fast-forward 12 months and Reading were celebrating promotion to the First Division, kickstarting an exciting two seasons in Berkshire.

Wrexham 0-2 Reading: Saturday, December 29, 2001

Alan Pardew’s Royals were hunting for promotion after suffering play-off heartache in 2000/01. Nicky Forster and John Salako did the damage the last time the two sides met, coming at the Racecourse Ground, kick-starting a seven-match winning streak over the New Year period. Drawing nine of the last 10 matches, promotion back to the second tier was secured in dramatic fashion at Griffin Park on the final day.

Crawley Town 1-3 Reading: Saturday, January 5, 2013

Premier League Reading had their first meeting, and only until next season, with Crawley Town a decade ago. Nicky Adam’s put the Red Devils ahead inside 60 seconds but Adam Le Fondre’s brace and another from current Under-21 boss Noel Hunt was enough to ensure this banana skin was avoided. Sheffield United were dispatched 4-0 in the fourth round but another set of Red Devils, Manchester United, brought the run to an end in round five.