Between August and December 1999, thousands of Reading fans voted for their 'Player of the Millennium', a poll intended to discover the club's greatest ever player.

As the first few votes began to roll in, it was clear that there was only going to be one winner - a man who captured the hearts of the Elm Park faithful despite only spending three years with the Club.the legendary Robin Friday.

Reading fan Mr S J Smith from Thatcham summed up the feelings of many supporters when he wrote that "Robin Friday was one of the game's great characters and had as much pure talent as any player I have ever seen." Friday, who scored 53 goals in 135 appearances for Reading in the mid-seventies, captured 26.8% of the vote, nearly twice as many as his nearest rival, and he is a clear and worthy winner of the vote for the Club's greatest ever player.

In second place, again by a clear margin, comes the man who has scored more goals for Reading than anybody else - the one and only Trevor Senior. 'Super Trev' served the Club with great distinction in two separate spells between 1983 and 1991, and he had an amazing goalscoring record of 191 goals in just 362 games. He was also a true sportsman who represented the Club with great dignity.

The vote was unable to decide who is the greatest goalkeeper in the club's history, because, amazingly, the third place saw a tie between Steve Death and Shaka Hislop. Deathie was a model of consistency throughout his twelve years at Elm Park and set a new Football League record at the end of the 1978/79 season by keeping a clean sheet in 11 consecutive games, while Hislop was the key member of the side that came so close to promotion to the Premiership in 1995.

In fifth place comes a modern hero, and the only current player to feature in the top ten - Captain Marvel Phil Parkinson. Parky, runaway winner of the Player of the Season vote for the last two years, has now surpassed 300 appearances for the Club since signing from Bury in 1992, and his all-action style of play and complete commitment to the cause have made him a huge favourite with the fans.

A different generation is represented in sixth place by Alf Messer, who captained the team with such distinction as they won the Division Three (South) title in 1925/26 and made a total of 295 appearances for Reading. Prolific striker Jimmy Quinn and flying winger Michael Gilkes follow in seventh and eighth places, while 40's-50's striker Ronnie Blackman, who pushes Senior very close for the honour of the all-time leading goalscorer, is in ninth position. The top ten is completed by appearance record-holder and Simod Cup winning captain Martin Hicks.

Other players to receive votes were (in alphabetical order): Denis Allen, Victor Bat, Stuart Beavon, Richie Bowman, Paul Brayson, Grant Brebner, Kevin Bremner, Johnny Brooks, Paul Cannoville, Darren Caskey, Kerry Dixon, Maurice Edelston, Maurice Evans, Freddie Fisher, Percy Freeman, Nicky Forster, Mick Gooding, Dean Horrix, Charlie Hurley, Mick Kearney, Dylan Kerr, James Lambert, Tony MacPhee, Colin Meldrum, Trevor Morley, Simon Osborn, Keith Scott, Roger Smee, Herbert Smith, Scott Taylor, Neil Webb, Jimmy Wheeler, Jerry Williams, Martin Williams, Steve Wood.

THE TOP TEN (WITH % OF TOTAL VOTE)
1. Robin Friday 26.8%
2. Trevor Senior 16.7%
3= Steve Death 8.8%
3= Shaka Hislop 8.8%
5. Phil Parkinson 6.4%
6. Alf Messer 3.9%
7. Jimmy Quinn 3.2%
8. Michael Gilkes 2.9%
9. Ronnie Blackman 2%
10. Martin Hicks 1.7%