Reading’s 2016/17 play-Off finalists: Where are they now?

The Royals are the closest they’ve been to the Championship play-offs in four years, since losing to Huddersfield Town on penalties at Wembley in 2017.

Reading reached the play-off final, where they faced Huddersfield Town, after amassing 85 points in a stellar first season under then-manager Jaap Stam. The Dutchman’s obsessive passing style, as frustrating as it could be for the Berkshire faithful, proved more then effective in firing Reading towards Wembley with some pundits even going as far to label Reading as the ‘Barcelona of the Championship’.

Stam was adamant that the tika-taka way was the only way. His press conference after Reading’s convincing 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in October 2016 was somewhat impressive and somewhat odd, but encapsulated this idea. He alluded to being displeased by the Royals’ display for, simply, not keeping enough of the ball. It was this fixation that led to Stam’s own demise and subsequent sacking the season after.

But, that’s a story for another day. A plethora of summer signings, many of which worked out, were crucial in Reading’s push to Wembley. They included John Swift and Liam Moore – both of whom are still first team regulars at the Madejski. Similarly, Stam’s work with Liam Kelly (for whom it has arguably not quite worked out since leaving Reading) was impressive – the then-20-year-old was pivotal in the Royals’ exploits that year.

Stam’s relationships with his players was noted to be particularly good. It became quite apparent that, in contrast to the Dutchman’s reputation during his playing days, Stam wouldn’t ever shout or scream in the dressing room. He was detail and hard-work oriented.

“He was incredible…his training and tactics too – some of the football he got us playing that season was unbelievable…the way he was as a person and what he’d done in his career – he could have come to Reading, seen us as players and been on a different level because he has played at the top of the game. But the way he merged himself in to the standard of the players and the league was really impressive” – current Charlton right back Chris Gunter on Jaap Stam at Reading.

Stam and the Reading squad in 2016/17 enjoyed the club’s best season since their relegation from the Premier League in 2013. But, only six months since they came within, quite literally, inches of the crossbar of the top flight, the Royals were languishing in 16th in the Championship. A squad overhaul that hadn’t worked at all contributed to this.

The play-off defeat to Huddersfield, on May 29th 2017, marked the beginning of a slippery slope for Reading. The Royals’ squad six months later would be a shadow of what it had been at Wembley, both on paper and in real life.

So, where has Reading’s 2016/17 play-off final squad ended up?

(3-5-2)

#26 – Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

The Royals’ number one (or number 26) at Wembley was veteran Omani shot-stopper Ali Al-Habsi. Al Habsi won Reading’s Player of the Season for the second time in a row only a few weeks before the Royals arrived at Wembley, and saved Michael Hefele’s penalty in the shootout. A stellar season for the then-35-year-old came to a cruel end in the capital and he signed for Saudi side Al-Hilal later that summer.

Al-Habsi, now 39, has retired from professional football. Only this month, he was appointed to Oman’s ‘Main Committee for High Performance Sports’ as an adviser. H H Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, announced Al-Habsi’s appointment on March 22nd 2021.

#20 – Tiago Ilori (CB)

Ex-Liverpool youngster Ilori’s inclusion in the play-off final starting eleven was a little bit of a surprise. Stam had decided to go overly defensive against Huddersfield, playing a 3-5-2 rather than the 4-3-3 that fans had become accustomed to during the regular season.

Ilori had actually become Reading’s record-signing after joining for a reported £3.75 million that January. However, the Portuguese defender never quite won fans over despite making 53 appearances for Reading in a two-year spell. He joined Sporting Lisbon in January 2019, and is now on loan at French side FC Lorient. Ilori has failed to make an appearance in Ligue 1 since the move in February as Lorient battle the drop.

#16 – Liam Moore (CB)

Moore is only one of two players that started for Reading at Wembley who remain at the club to this day. Now reinstated as captain after ex-manager Mark Bowen tried to force Moore out of the club in the summer of 2020, the 28-year-old may have another crack at the play-offs with Reading should they remain in the top six over the last eight games.

Moore is, arguably, one of Reading’s best signings in the last ten years. Reportedly picked up for around £1.5 million in the summer of 2016, Moore has now nearly made 200 appearances for Reading. Whether fans have forgotten his penalty miss against Huddersfield in the final is unlikely, but forgiven, yes.

#4 – Joey Van Den Berg (CB)

If you had to name a stereotypical Jaap Stam-type player, Joey Van Den Berg would be just that. Signed on a free transfer from SC Heerenveen, Van Den Berg was a proper no-nonsense defensive midfielder who was occasionally used at centre-back. Some fans saw Van Den Berg as rash and uncoordinated – only in the team to smash people – but he was the sort of midfielder that Reading needed. Somebody who did the dirty stuff.

Used at left centre back against Huddersfield, Van Den Berg stayed with Reading post-Wembley. He started 61 games for the Royals in total, before joining NEC in the Dutch second tier. Things, in truth, went downhill for Van Den Berg after leaving Reading.

His contract at NEC was terminated in November 2019, and the Dutchman spent three months as a free agent. He now ‘plays’ for amateur side MVV Alcides, but injury has prevented him from making more than three appearances since joining in February 2020.

“I had to come in with him (then-manager Paul Clement) and Brian Tevreden (technical director). And then they told me I had to train with the U23s or you can leave the club…they wanted to get in my head but from the moment I stepped in that office I was thinking you can say whatever you want but I’m going to sit this one out because it was the best contract of my life…I thought that was just bad as a person. I don’t know why you would do that to somebody. I sure as hell would not do it like that” – Van Den Berg on his Reading exit. 

#2 – Chris Gunter (RWB)

Chris Gunter was a player that polarised opinion at Reading for much of his stay. He was like marmite; some fans adored his work ethic and professionality, and others, simply, didn’t think he was that good. One thing that is undisputable, however, is that Gunter stuck by Reading through the highs and lows, despite interest from Premier League clubs after his performance at Euro 2016.

In 2018/19, then-Royals boss Jose Gomes froze Gunter, alongside Garath McCleary, out of the Reading squad. Forced to train with the U23s and reportedly barred from the first team buildings at the training ground, Gunter was only assimilated back into the first team life under Gomes’ replacement, Mark Bowen. In the summer of 2020, Gunter’s contract expired and he signed for Charlton Athletic. Gunter has made 32 appearances for the Addicks so far.

#24 – Tyler Blackett (LWB)

Blackett’s inclusion in the starting eleven over Jordan Obita surprised many Reading fans. Obita had started all but seven of Reading’s league games, although had missed the second leg of the Royals’ semi-final win over Fulham. Stam’s decision to start Blackett perhaps summed up his approach to the final – play it safe and defensive rather than go all out and push for the win.

Like Chris Gunter, Blackett left Reading in the summer of 2020 as part of a mass-exodus at the Madejski. He joined Nottingham Forest, who seemed to be building a squad more than capable of winning promotion. But, it hasn’t gone well at the City Ground for both Blackett and Forest. Injuries and poor performances have left Blackett with only nine appearances under his belt so far in Nottingham.

‘Honestly it has not been what I wanted, it has been difficult at times but it is football. You have to keep going as there will always be ups and downs’ – Blackett on his time at Nottingham Forest so far. 

#6 – George Evans (CM)

With all due respect to Evans, he was the perfect example of an ‘average’ player at Reading. Never making any glaring errors but neither particularly impressive, the midfielder retained his place in Reading’s starting 11 against Huddersfield from the semi-final victory over Fulham.

Evans remained in Berkshire for the 2017/18 season, but like many, suffered from the general malaise around the club. The Englishman joined Frank Lampard’s Derby County in August 2018, but only started 28 games in over two years for the Rams. Evans now plays for Millwall, where he’s often deployed at centre back.

#23 – Danny Williams

Danny Williams was a key player in Reading’s play-off push. Williams was a real engine in the midfield, driving Reading forward on the attack and equally helping out in defence. Premier League interest quickly appeared, and only intensified after Reading failed to go up. In fact, Williams joined victors Huddersfield on a free transfer in July 2017 after rejecting a new contract from Reading.

A German-American dual citizen, Williams made 25 Premier League appearances in total for the Terriers. He was released upon their relegation in 2019, and joined Cypriot side Pafos. As of March 2021, Danny Williams is a free agent. Away from football, Williams has founded a clothing label called Beautiful Struggles, which, according to its website is ‘a streetwear/premium label where European heritage meets American culture’.

#8 – John Swift

Creative midfielder Swift was one of many positives for Reading during the 16/17 season. Signed on a free transfer from Chelsea, Swift has turned out to be a real bargain. With a year’s worth of Championship experience under his belt just up the M4 at Brentford, Swift arrived in Berkshire with potential – but not one that Reading fans expected him to exploit so quickly.

A return of nine goals in 42 appearances (all competitions) – one of which was Reading’s first goal of the campaign at home to Preston North End – put Swift on the right track from the off. He was nominated for the EFL Young Player or the Year award in March 2017, eventually losing out to none other than Ollie Watkins.

Now nearly into the last year of the five-year contract extension Swift signed in 2017 at Reading, you do wonder just how good Swift could have been had he not suffered the countless injury set backs that have plagued his Reading spell. Don’t get us wrong – Swift, for the most part, has been fantastic for Reading. Like many a number ten, however, Swift has been labelled with the ‘luxury player’ and ‘on his day’ tags perhaps once too often for his liking.

‘On his day’, though, he’s absolutely fantastic.

#50 – Lewis Grabban

Now-Nottingham Forest striker Lewis Grabban is one of a few prolific strikers who have moved on loan to Reading as a stop-gap over the years – the others being Billy Sharp and Glenn Murray (2014 and 2015). Grabban lined up alongside Yann Kermorgant at Wembley in a strike pairing that had the potential to really come off, but never quite did in the manner some may have wished.

Grabban scored three goals in 17 games, before joining Sunderland in the summer of 2o17. He’s now playing under Chris Hughton at Nottingham Forest (via Aston Villa), alongside Tyler Blackett. Grabban scored 20 goals in 45 appearances in 2019/20, but has only three this season.

#18 – Yann Kermorgant

Yann Kermorgant is arguably the best striker Reading have had since Adam Le Fondre, pre-Lucas Joao. The powerful French forward was integral to Jaap Stam’s side, equally useful in attack and defence. Kermorgant’s 18 goals were the highest any Reading player had scored in a single season since Shane Long’s 25 in 2010/11.

Kermorgant, however, was getting on a little and found game time hard to come by in the 17/18 season. He planned to retire in the summer of 2018, but rather bizarrely made a U-turn when Reading decided to offer him an equally bizarre one-year extension into the summer of 2019. He made 25 Championship appearances for Reading in the 17/18 season but the club terminated his contract at the end of his original deal (summer 2018), before he could make it into the one-year extension amid rumours of  a breakdown in relationship with then-manager Paul Clement.

“You could see he started to get rid of the guys who had a bit of character, maybe too much character for him, and that’s something I felt wasn’t great because we needed character, we needed guys who would be ready for the fight. After, at the end of the season, I didn’t think we could work together” – Kermorgant via The Tilehurst End

This sentiment was echoed by Darren Bent a year earlier, describing Clement as someone who ‘didn’t like confrontation’. Kermorgant then joined Vannes OC (based in Brittany), before retiring from professional football in 2020.

On the bench – where are they now?

Anssi Jaakkola (GK) – Bristol Rovers, Jordan Obita (LB) – Wycombe Wanderers, Liam Kelly (CM) – Oxford United, Garath McCleary (RW) – Wycombe Wanderers, Roy Beerens (LW) – Retired, Adrian Popa (RW) – FC Voluntari, Joseph Mendes (ST) – Chamois Niortais.

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