The 1985-86 season was a mighty success for the Royals and the form of their ace striker, Trevor Senior helped the club to gain promotion at the end of the 1985-86 season as they won the third division championship, Senior scored twenty seven league goals during the season, one of the leading goal scorers in the football league. Reading had a decent run in the FA cup, reaching the forth round, however they could not prolong their stay in the tournament as they lost 3-0 to Bury.
The 1986-97 season proved to be joyous times for Reading FC, Ian Branfoot had now established the side as a second division club as they finished off in a respectful mid table finish, 13th position. They had no luck in the FA Cup as they met Arsenal in the third round and lost a tie 3-1 to the Gunners.
The 1987-88 season proved to be a mixed bag for Reading, the huge disappointment was the relegation back to the third tier of English football, finishing the season off in 22nd place, however Reading enjoyed huge success in the Simod Cup, they reached the final of the competition, meeting Luton in the finale, it proved to be a fine match for the Royals as they turned over first division outfit, Luton, 4-1, with goals coming by Michael Gilkes, Stuart Beavon, Mick Tait and Smillie.
Reading had a poor return to the third division, they only managed to finish it off in 18th place, which in turn resulted in the departure of their manager, Ian Branfoot. They also reached the forth round of the FA Cup, however they stumbled out the competition in the forth round losing to Grimsby Town, 2-1 in a forth round replay.
They installed Ian Porterfield as their new manager at the start of the 1989-90 season and they enjoyed a fine run in the league, finishing the campaign off in tenth position, they also reached the forth round of the FA Cup, losing 4-1 to Newcastle united, a team they met few months prior in the second round of the league cup, conceding four goals against them again in that tie, losing 4-0.