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There have been many families who provided more than one Reading player, as well as Reading players who have relations who played for other clubs or are famous for non-footballing reasons. I find that often the exact relationships get blurred, so this page is meant to redress the balance. The order is that of family name of the Reading player. Links will take you to the Where Are They Now? section of www.13inarow.com.
There are many more families to add - the following are just a taste of what is to come.
The Allen Royal Family
....................Mr Allen = Mrs Allen
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........Les Allen...............Denis
Allen......Mr Allen
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Clive Allen....Bradley Allen....Martin Allen.....Paul
Allen
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...............................Charlie Allen
Denis Allen (born 2/3/1939) played for Reading, as well as Charlton Athletic and Bournemouth. He was player-manager at Southern League Cheltenham Town and later a director of Exeter City. He also gained two caps for Malaya whilst on national service.
Martin Allen (born 14/8/1965 in Reading) joined Reading as assistant manager in January 2000 but left the club in November 2001. He played for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United, Portsmouth and Southend United. He was part of the Reading Schools Under-15 team that reached the national final of the English Schools' Trophy in 1980, and also played for England Youth and England Under-21.
Les Allen (born 4/9/1937) played for three London clubs, and was part of the double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side in 1960/61. He also won England Under-23 caps.
Clive Allen (born 20/5/1961) played for a large number of clubs, and also appeared for England Schoolboys, England Youth, England Under-21 and the full England side.
Paul Allen (born 28/8/1962) played for a number of League clubs, and also won caps for England Youth and England Under-23. In 1980 he became the youngest player to appear in a Wembley FA Cup final. He currently works for the PFA and is also in charge of marketing for the Masters series.
Bradley Allen (born 13/9/1971) played for a number of League clubs, and also won caps for England Youth and England Under-21.
Charlie Allen has signed for the Reading Under-10 Academy side for the 2001/02 season.
Craig Etherington (born 16/9/1979) was at West Ham United until they released him in the summer of 2001. He was described in the Reading Evening Post on 20th February, 2001 as being Martin Allen's nephew, but I'm not sure whether that means he is the son of Martin's sister or sister-in-law. For that reason he's not yet shown in the family tree above - I'll add him when I can get more information.
The Branfoot Royal Family
Sir John Mills = Mary Hayley Bell
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......-----------------.......................Ian
Branfoot = Mrs Branfoot
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Juliet Mills....Hayley Mills = Roy Boulting........-----------------
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.........................Crispian Mills..=..Jo
Branfoot.....Grant Branfoot
Ian Branfoot (born 26/1/1947) joined Reading as first team coach in June 1983, and was promoted to manager a year later. He left the club in October 1989 after leading Reading from Division 4 to Division 2 (and then back down to Division 3), as well as to Wembley glory in the Simod Cup. Subsequently, he has been a coach at Crystal Palace and manager of both Southampton and Fulham. His playing career began at Sheffield Wednesday, and included spells at Doncaster Rovers and Lincoln City before he moved into coaching. He was Academy Director at Sunderland but left in May 2002.
Jo Mills (nee Branfoot) is reputed to have designed (at the age of eight) the Reading FC club badge that was used between 1989 and 1996. That badge was a simple shield with four stripes, and it is certainly believable that it was designed by an eight-year-old. However, I've never really been convinced by the story, and anyway I think she must have been at least 12 at the time! She is now a model married to Crispian Mills and also appears on the cover of the Kula Shaker single "Hey Dude". You'll have spotted that this website is not big on pictures but here's one of her with her husband (in which she seems very keen to show off the ring), and another of the sleeve of "Hey Dude":
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I would be lying if I said I could detect any Branfoot family resemblance whatsoever.........
Grant Branfoot had a trial at Reading, presumably unsuccessful. He instead went into advertising and is currently national buying manager at Blade, the purchasing arm of an advertising firm called Concord. I think that means that he buys outdoor advertising space, but as you can well imagine the corporate description is written in such vague and woolly language that it's impossible to understand what the organisation actually does.
Crispian Mills (born 18/1/1973) was lead singer of Kula Shaker before leaving in September 1999 to pursue a career with his new band, which is called .... errr .... Crispian Mills. He married Jo Branfoot in 1996 in India in a 3-hour Hindu ceremony.
Hayley Mills (born 18/4/1946) came to fame as a child actress in the films Polyanna and Whistle Down The Wind, and has continued to work both on television and in films. She has a son, Jason "Ace" Lawson, by the actor Leigh Lawson.
Roy Boulting (born 21/11/1913, died 5/11/2001) was a film director particularly noted for 1960s comedies such as "Heavens Above". He was 57 when he married the 25-year-old Hayley Mills in 1971, and they split up four years later when Crispian was just two years old. This is presumably why Crispian took his mother's surname. Boulting was also at Reading School in his youth, but (I think) expelled.
Sir John Mills (born 22/2/1908) won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for Ryan's Daughter, has been in over 100 other films and continues to work even in his nineties. He has also been a producer and director.
Mary Hayley Bell (born 22/1/1911) is a novelist and playwright.
Juliet Mills (born 21/11/1941) is yet another actress, making her screen debut aged only a few months old. She has starred on both stage and screen.
The Gray Royal Family
.................Mr Gray = Mrs Gray
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........Eddie Gray.............Frank
Gray
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Stuart Gray....Nicholas Gray....Andy Gray
Stuart Gray (born 18/12/1973) was one of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" signed for Reading by Tommy Burns on transfer deadline day in 1998. He cost £100,000 from Glasgow Celtic and stayed until March 2001 when he signed with Rushden & Diamonds. Despite being born in Yorkshire, he played for Scotland Under-21s. He is not the same person as the former Southampton manager appointed in 2001 who then moved to Aston Villa.
Eddie Gray (born 17/1/1948) played for Leeds United for 18 years, including two League Championships, one FA Cup and a losing appearance as substitute in the 1975 European Cup Final (with his brother playing as well). He also played for Scotland schoolboys, Scotland Under-23, and won 12 full Scottish caps. He managed Leeds United, Rochdale and Hull City before moving into a career with BBC Radio Leeds and then Radio 5. Later he returned to Leeds to work with the youth team, and subsequently became reserve team coach and then assistant manager. Somewhere along the line he picked up an MBE for services to football.
Frank Gray (born 27/10/1954) played for four League clubs, including a spell at Leeds when his brother was manager. He also played for Scotland schoolboys, Scotland Under-23, and gained 32 full Scottish caps. At Leeds, he gained a League Championship and an FA Cup winner's medal, and also played in the losing 1975 European Cup Final side (when his brother came on as substitute). Later in his career he played in the victorious Nottingham Forest side in the 1980 European Cup Final. He was briefly manager at Darlington, and then a coach of Southampton's Under-14 Academy side. He is also a football agent, representing Claus Jorgensen among others.
Andy Gray (born 15/11/1977) has spent his career with Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, as well as several loan spells, before moving to Bradford City. Despite being born in Yorkshire, he has Scotland Youth caps. He is not the same person as either the Reading youth player of the early 1990s or the Sky Sports football pundit. However, there were rumours about him moving to Reading in 1998, which proved false.
Nicholas Gray is on the books at Leeds United - he's Stuart's younger brother and I assume he is somewhere in their Academy system.
The Stowell Royal Family
Not an obvious inclusion, but you'll soon realise why it's here.
............Arthur Stowell = Blanche Beer
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..Jim Stowell = Mary=................My
gran = My grandad
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.........Peter Stowell.....................My
mum = My dad
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Matt Stowell....Adam Stowell......The webmaster!.....My
brother = Frances
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..............................................................Emma
Matt Stowell (born 1/3/1977) was a Reading youth and reserve team player until 1996. He left for Slough Town, was sold to Bristol City for £15,000, and then moved to Yeovil Town, playing against Reading in the 1999 FA Cup tie between the two sides. Next he moved to Rushden & Diamonds, but in November 2001 left for Hampton & Richmond Borough. After a spell with Henley Town, he emigrated to Italy to play for Vultur Rionero and then AS Trapani.
Adam Stowell (born 1985?) had an unsuccessful trial with Reading's Academy during the 2000/01 season, and was named as a substitute for at least one Under-17 game. He was previously in the Brentford youth system and after a spell with AFC Wallingford moved to Chalfont St Peter.
The Webb Royal Family
Douggie Webb = Joan Webb
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.........Neil Webb = Shelley Webb
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......Luke Webb........Josh Webb
Douggie Webb (born 10/3/1939) joined Reading straight from school and was at the club for 11 years. He was forced to retire from professional football through injury but was able to subsequently play for Cheltenham Town, Dartford, Ramsgate and Hungerford Town where he was also coach. He then returned to Reading as youth coach, physio and then reserve manager.
Joan Webb worked in Reading's commerical department in the 1970s and 1980s. At one stage she was assistant commercial manager.
Neil Webb (born 30/7/1963 in Reading) became Reading's second youngest League player when he made his debut in 1980 having made his way through the club's youth system. He moved on to Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Swindon Town and Grimsby Town. He played for England Youth, England Under-21, England B and won 26 full England caps. He was also in the England squad for the 1990 World Cup, coming on as substitute in the 3rd place match against Italy. After a time in local radio and brief spells with Weymouth, Aldershot Town, Merthyr Tydfil and West Reading, he moved to Reading Town as manager. Business actvities made it difficult for him to devote time to the job, so after a short while he moved to general manager and then left the club.
Shelley Webb is a writer and TV presenter. She wrote a book called "Footballers' Wives" and described that category of people as "Malibu-drinking bimbos who live in mock-Tudor mansions, wear white stilettos and collectively have a lower IQ than the average football mascot". Impossible to disagree with that. She and Neil split up in 1997.
Luke Webb is in the Arsenal Academy system. He joined them in 1998 aged 11, and so is presumably in the Under-15 side for the 2001/02 season.
Josh Webb is in Reading's Under-12 Academy squad for the 2001/02 season.
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