Fun Facts About Each Reading Squad Member

Alex picks out some fun things you may not have known about Royals players and staff, including one defender’s link to a famous Star Wars actor.

The season has ended and we’re in the midst of a long summer break, so it feels appropriate that we take an opportunity to bask in the warm glow that we got from the team that finished the season with us.

The team has never felt closer to the fans in recent times, and there is a real bond between the two. To celebrate this, I have done some internet sleuthing to try and discover some fun, new facts about each player who was on the books at the end of 2023/24 in order to give us another opportunity to appreciate them, and definitely not to fill content during a long, long summer before the League One season kicks off again.

Some of these you may know, some you may have heard about but weren’t sure of and hey, you may even learn something new. However, if you knew all of these then I’d want to know which Skynet factory built you please. Either way, who says football can’t be an education? Enjoy!

David Button

I was quite tempted to write here that David Button once had hair, but I’m not sure anyone would believe me. But honestly, have a quick search for David Button and Tottenham Hotspur and you’ll see it yourself.

Speaking of which, did you know he started his career at Spurs? He made his debut for them in 2009, coming on as a substitute for Carlo Cudicini. In his career, he has played for a whopping EIGHTEEN different clubs. Four of whom we competed against in League One this year: Shrewsbury Town, Leyton Orient, Barnsley and Charlton Athletic.

Clinton Mola

Did you know that Clinton Mola used to play with Ben Elliott in the Chelsea academy between 2015 and 2020? You did? Ah, well then. Good for you.

Then I’ll share with you this random fact nugget: in Spanish, “Mola” means “like”. So, Rubén Selles could say “me mola Mola” and have a little giggle at his word play. I’m not sure Mola speaks Spanish though, so he might just think Selles is either singing a song or the stress of the job finally broke him.

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Tom Holmes

Did you know that when Tom Holmes made his debut for Reading at the age of 17, against Bolton Wanderers, he was still studying his A-Levels? This debut helped him become the 47th player from Reading’s academy to play for the first team.

Holmes is also a Reading fan, having held a season ticket for the club from the age of 11. He is also eligible to play for the Canadian international team, due to his grandmother.

Ben Elliott

Did you know that Elliott used to play with Mola in the Chelsea academy between 2015 and 2020? You did? Ah, you read the Mola part. Good for you.

Elliott represents the Cameroonian international team, and has done since 2023, despite playing for the England youth teams up until the under-16s, and captaining the under-15s side. He qualifies to play for Cameroon due to his father being from there. And that’s Elliott’s fact. They get better, I promise.

Harlee Dean

Did you know that Harlee Dean is a bit of a local lad? He was born in Basingstoke, so he could have grown up supporting Reading, but is actually a West Ham United fan. But he probably kept an eye on us because who wouldn’t?

Dean also used to play with some of the squad before joining Reading. Dean and Button shared a season together in 2015 at Brentford and Dean shared the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday with Sam Hutchinson.

Lastly, Dean also won the Football League’s Unsung Hero of the Month award at the end of 2015, after witnessing a fan being hit by a car and seeking medical attention to help the fan.

Harvey Knibbs

Knibbs had quite the debut season for Reading, finishing third in the Player of the Season voting, among other things. However, perhaps it’s not all that surprising that he has an engine which never stops, given the background of his family.

Knibbs’ dad, Ralph, was actually a professional rugby player for Bristol. Harvey also has a twin brother. That’s pretty cool, right? His twin brother, Alex, is an Olympic athlete who competes in the hurdles and actually won a gold medal at the 2020 British Athletics Championships in the 400m hurdles.

Keep reading to find out which other squad member has a twin as well. That’s right – Knibbs having a twin isn’t even a unique fact!

Photo by J Kruger - British Athletics/British Athletics via Getty Images

Charlie Savage

I’ll be honest, I really wanted to avoid the very obvious fact related to Charlie but… he’s led quite a quiet life really, so here it goes. Savage has a connection with Reading FC, having been in attendance at the (then) Madejski Stadium to watch his dad play his final professional game of football.

Charlie Savage has forged his own career path and captained Manchester United before, in a pre-season friendly, and appeared for them in the Champions League. Both of these must have been real career milestones, for someone who joined their academy at the age of just four, apparently.

Sam Smith

Did you know that Smith actually started his footballing career with Manchester United’s academy? It’s possible that he and Savage knew each other during their spells there.

However, he left at any early age to join Reading’s academy and became the 43rd graduate to feature for the first team, making his debut in a Carabao Cup win at home to Gillingham at the start of the 2017/18 season. He eventually left for Cambridge United but returned to us again in the summer. But you might have noticed that already.

Femi Azeez

Azeez is another player who comes from a sporting family: his younger brother, Miguel (Azeez), used to play for Arsenal’s academy but left recently to join Spanish side Atlético Baleares.

This is another interesting fact as well: did you know Azeez is half Spanish? Perhaps he gets the Mola wordplay reference.

Paul Mukairu

Mukairu, despite only being 24 years old, has already played football in five different countries. He’s a well travelled man! He started his career in his native Nigeria with Nigerian FC Hearts Academy and then made the move to Turkey with Antalyaspor.

From here, he had a loan spell away from the club in Belgium with Anderlecht, playing under manager Vincent Kompany. After this, he joined FC Copenhagen in Denmark, where he worked alongside coach Selles and then joined him once again here in England with Reading for this season. I’d love to know how many languages he speaks.

Zane Monlouis

Erm… well… tricky one this. I’m not sure if Monlouis is actually just a figment of our imaginations. Has anyone actually ever seen him? The best I’ve got here is that he will have played alongside Femi’s brother, Miguel, for the majority of his youth career at Arsenal’s academy.

I might have to change the title of this article to just “facts” as I’m not entirely sure I can promise any “fun” if I get any more of these ones to contend with!

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan

Did you know that the correct way to pronounce his surname is e-hi-batch-u-man? Educational, again. He was actually born in Nigeria, but moved to the UK as a teenager.

Kelvin is also the 67th Reading academy graduate to feature for the first team, continuing our long trend of developing the talent line. Lastly, he is also the joint-tallest member of the squad, at 6´3” (1.91cm), sharing the honour with David Button.

Andy Yiadom

Our captain since the start of the 2022/23 season, Yiadom actually started his football career as a right-winger due to his pace, as opposed to being a right-back.

Did you know that the Ghana international has not only played for England at C Team level (which covers non-league players), but scored for them too? It was in a friendly match against Cyprus, which England’s C Team unfortunately lost 2-1. Yiadom was even named England C Team’s Player of the Year for 2015.

Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images

Yiadom is also a born leader, as he has captained three of the teams he has represented at club level. His first stint in the role was for Barnet, captaining them in their first season returning to League Two from the non-league level, in the 2015/16 season.

After this, he moved to Barnsley and was named captain for the 2017/18 season, before departing for Reading and making it a hat-trick of captaincies.

Nesta Guinness-Walker

We can’t allow Nesta Guinness-Walker to leave without spreading the word about this incredible fact nugget: he’s the great-grandson of none other than Sir Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Unfortunately, it seems that “The Force” doesn’t skip generations.

Jayden Wareham

Wareham is another relatively local lad, having been born 25-30 minutes down the road in Ascot. This brings us to the “did you know?” of him actually starting his youth football career with us but leaving all the way back in 2014 to join QPR. From there, he went to Woking, and then to Chelsea where he would have played with Ben Elliott, and then back to us again.

Funny old world, isn’t it? He is almost too literally taking the same route as Sam Smith to break into the first team.

Jeriel Dorsett

This is quite a fun one for Jeriel Dorsett. Well, I say Jeriel but actually that’s not quite his first name. His full name is Abraham Jeriel Richard Dorsett. I assume there’s a reason why he goes by Jeriel instead of Abraham, but it’d be nice to see an Abe playing for us one day.

Another fact about Abe Jeriel Dorsett: while on loan to League Two side Rochdale in 2021/22, he won the club’s Player of the Season award. Closer to home, Dorsett was the 56th Reading academy graduate to feature for the first team.

Dean Bouzanis

Bouzanis is actually full of interesting facts, so well done to him for making my life all that easier. I’ll never forget it, Dean. First one: he has a younger brother, Anthony, who also plays professional football as a goalkeeper for APIA Leichhardt FC, in their hometown of Sydney in Australia.

Speaking of professional football, did you know where Bouzanis started his professional career? Liverpool! I checked to see if there was maybe another Liverpool FC in Australia, but nope. He legitimately spent four years on the books there.

Lastly, Bouzanis is another player who comes from a family with a prevalent sporting background. We’ve already discussed his brother, but did you know his fiancé is none other than Arsenal Women’s defender Steph Catley?

Joel Pereira

Did you know that the Portuguese goalkeeper was born in Switzerland? Mad, but true. I also did some digging to find out why he picked up the nickname “El Gato”, which means “The Cat”. Here’s a quote of his from 2012:

“I was called that because I was jumping around. Now, no one uses this nickname but it might come back.”

Yep. Safe to say it did come back, Joel.

Sam Hutchinson

To be honest, Hutchinson’s facts aren’t so much fun as they are a little bit melancholic. A reminder of what his career could have been like. Firstly, did you know Hutchinson originally retired from professional football back in 2010?

It was at the age of 21, due to concerns about a persistent knee injury he kept aggravating while at Chelsea. However, after 16 months, he returned to Chelsea to sign a new deal. I guess this explains his troubles with injury, but fair play to him for persisting.

Secondly, back in 2007, the Daily Mail attempted to predict England’s future XI. Some names, such as Theo Walcott and Micah Richards, weren’t bad shouts. Others, like our very own James Henry, got closer to playing for Scotland than England. However, Hutchinson finds his way in the pick of the players, featuring at right-back.

Tyler Bindon

Another Reading player that comes from a sporting family! Did you know that Tyler’s dad, Grant, was the captain of New Zealand’s volleyball team? Which makes you wonder... where did his footballing talent come from?

The answer is his mum. Jenny played 77 times as a goalkeeper for the New Zealand Women’s national team. Given such strong links to New Zealand national teams, it’s no surprise that Tyler chose to represent New Zealand rather than USA in International football. Sorry, Ross.

Amadou Mbengue

Ahhh our cult hero, Monsieur Mbengue. Mad hatter that he is, there must be a whole article’s worth of fun facts about this guy. Does he sleep hanging upside down? Does he have a tattoo of Dave Kitson on his chest? Maybe his only form of sustenance is McDonald’s ketchup packets? Or that he flat shares with an Edwardian ghost called Quentin?

Ummm... no. Sadly not. It seems he’s a bit normal, really, all things considered. His nickname is “Cheeseburger” though, so yeah. I guess that´s something?

Mamadi Camará

Out of nowhere on the final game of the season, Camará came on as a sub. As it is, this means I need to find out something interesting about him. Did you know he was in the first four matchday squads of the League One season this season? True story. Even I forgot.

In truth, not much is known about him but he is the only footballer of Guinea-Bissau origin to have ever represented Reading in a permanent capacity, which is pretty cool. Honourable mentions go to Pelé and Alfa Semedo, who both had loan spells with us. Their manager is Luis Boa Morte, by the way. Ah, but I’m getting off track. Camará was the 66th Reading academy graduate to feature for the first team.

Lewis Wing

The 2023/24 player of the season winner has football in the family. Did you know that Lewis Wing is cousins with Jason Steele, who is currently the goalkeeper for Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League?

Furthermore, the two have actually played together. Steele, for some bizarre reason, was the manager of non-league side Newton Aycliffe Working Men’s Club back in 2012 and invited Wing to come and play for them. He never looked back.

Kelvin Abrefa

It’d be great if Ehibhatiomhan’s name was just Bhatiomhan. Then we could have Kelvin A and Kelvin B. Now, we just need to recruit B, C and D to make the dream possible. Anyway, Kelvin A was the 74th Reading academy graduate to appear for the first team.

He is also an incredibly multicultural young man. Did you know he was born in Italy? He later moved to England at a young age. Because his parents are both from Ghana, he is actually able to represent all three teams at International level but has chosen Ghana. A country famed for its great right-backs. Isn’t that right, Mr Yiadom?

Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Coniah Boyce-Clarke

Born and bred in Reading, Boyce-Clarke is still waiting to make a proper breakthrough into the spotlight for the first team. This will come as a surprise to many in the gaming world because he is a veritable legend for Football Manager fanatics, who regularly sign him up early on and watch him blossom into one of the great goalkeepers of the game.

It’s only a matter of time, hopefully, before life mimics fiction. Until now, it’s just a quirky fact abut the 76th Reading academy graduate.

Michael Craig

Craig is another Reading player with a sporting family. He is the other squad member with a twin - his identical brother Matthew, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur as a defensive midfielder. Matthew Craig spent the season on loan at League Two side Doncaster Rovers, featuring 18 times this season and even scoring a goal.

Matthew wore the number 37 shirt for Doncaster, which I am not sure has anything to do with anything but it is a bit of quirk, since Michael wears number 36 for us.

Michael also spent time at Spurs’ academy, but we stole him in the summer of 2022.

Tivonge Rushesha

Rushesha’s middle name is “Sacha”. I thought that’s all I would have but actually, it turns out he is the only player from Zimbabwe to represent Reading. Thank you for defecting from the Welsh youth teams, Tivonge! You´ve done me a solid there.

Matty Carson

And the last player to feature on this list is Matty Carson, so let’s go out with a bang here! Right? Matty? Right? What have you got for us?… Matty? What have you… oh. Is that all? Don’t you have a famous family member? Unusual middle name? No, I don’t think Alan is unusual. OK, fine, well, we’ll go with your first suggestion.

Carson has featured for the Liverpool and Burnley academies. In actual fact, Carson’s time at Liverpool overlapped with Bouzanis’ time their. They might have a history. Maybe Carson cleaned his boots for him?

Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images

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Now, I’m not blaming anyone here (Mr Carson), but let’s try and redeem this feature with a small bonus about the main first-team coaches and hope that gives us a way to sign off in style. Starting with…

Rubén Sellés

The gaffer. El Jefe. He already has a flag and a beer named after him, so he’s doing well. To be honest, the two fun facts that I had for him have already been covered here by Sim, but they’re pretty interesting so I’ll just repeat them and give Sim his props for the thorough research.

Firstly, Sellés full name is actually Rubén Sellés Salvador, and the word “Salvador” actually means “Saviour” in Spanish. It’s hard to argue that he hasn’t done incredibly to revive a club that seemed on the brink of death at times during the season.

As well as this, Sellés speaks five languages. Four you’ll know about (Spanish, English, Russian and Norwegian) but he also speaks Valencian, which is the local Spanish dialect of his hometown in Spain, Valencia.

James Oliver-Pearce

Do you know how James Oliver-Pearce was identified as a great coach and made the move to join Reading? Well, at the end of the 2021/22 season, while Oliver-Pearce was a first-team coach at AFC Wimbledon, none other than Mark Bowen stepped in to take temporary charge of the first team until the end of the season.

When Bowen came to Reading in the summer, he brought Oliver-Pearce along with him, having recognised his talents as a coach. It seems that Bowen has a great eye for bringing in talent at all levels of the club.

Tobias Loveland

I have become completely unstuck by Mr Loveland here. The best I’ve been able to find is that he used to work as part of the Southampton coaching staff with Sellés, while Sellés was there, both in his capacity of first-team coach and interim manager. Sorry, everyone. I’ll see if Mbengue can swap apartments with him, so Quentin can live with Tobias.

Tony Warner

Warner has had a solid career as a goalkeeper, and during his time at Liverpool at the start of his career he earned the nickname of “Tony Bonus” for picking up win bonuses, despite never making an appearance for the first team. Nice work if you can get it!

Warner has also played against Reading on a number of occasions, both in the Premier League for Fulham and at Championship level for Millwall and Cardiff City, all in the early 2000s.

Lastly, Warner also worked alongside and coached former Reading goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola while at Bristol Rovers, prior to joining Reading’s coaching staff.