The 1970-71 season proved to be Jack Mansell’s last season in charge at the club, as his campaign proved to be the ultimate nightmare. They were awful in the league, finishing the season off in 21st place, which in turn relegated the club to the forth division of English football for the first time in the history of the football club. They crashed out of the FA Cup in the third round and this in turn led to Mansell’s dismissal as their manager. Charlie Hurley took over in charge at the club during the 1971-72 campaign and the season saw the arrival of a future Canadian football star, Bob Lenarduzzi, a player who went on to move to play in the American soccer league and became a well known figure in the game in the USA and Canada. He soon became a fans favourite at Reading, however his arrival could not spur on a good season as Reading finished the campaign off in 16th position in the forth division. They did however manage a forth round finish in the FA cup which brought some respectability to their campaign.
The 1972-73 season saw a decent improvement, despite playing forth division football, the club managed a much improved finish of 7th place. They also embarked on another fine run in the FA Cup, once again reaching the forth round.
Hurley had brought both consistency and stability at the club during the 1973-74 season, finishing off in sixth position, and guiding the team to some fine performances along the way.
The Royals had new found confidence at the start of the 1969-70 season for promotion, however they failed to gain what they went in search for, finishing the season off in a very respectful seventh position. Their inspirational player, Steve Death, helped the club to fine some performances.