Dave Kitson is a former Premier League footballer for Reading and Stoke City.
He started his career at Cambridge United before joining Reading in 2003. He became player of the year and top scorer in 2004, 2005 and the club’s record breaking 106 point title winning season in 2005/06.
Dave was twice included in the PFA team of the year and holds the record for most goals scored by one player at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
He scored the first top flight goal in Reading’s 150 year history when he netted in a 3-2 home win against Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 2006/07 Premier League season as the Royals went on to finish 8th, their highest ever finish in English football.
After five successful seasons with Reading, Dave moved to Stoke City for a club record £6m fee.
He spent the next two seasons in the Premier League, famously scoring against Manchester City in an incredible 3-2 win at the Britannia Stadium.
Dave also played for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Oxford United in a career that saw him score more than 160 goals.
He remains one of only a handful of players to score in every professional division and in every professional domestic cup competition.
In 2019 Dave was inducted into the Reading FC Hall of Fame and, in 2022, he was inducted into the Cambridge United Hall of Fame.
In 2023 Dave founded CSRTS (City Status for Reading Through Sport), a not for profit organisation that as the name suggests, aims to secure City status for the town of Reading through sporting excellence. Its members include Sir John Madejski, Damian Green MP, Matt Roda MP and Sarah Humprhies (Head of Sport, Reading University).
Dave is well known in Reading. His children are all schooled in Reading and he and his wife both work in teaching in Reading.
Dave Kitson
