Sanguine Had a look at this as I remember us being particularly useless away from home in my first full season watching Reading, which was our last at Elm Park and relegation into League One.
In 1997/98, we lost our last ten away games, scoring just four goals. Our overall away record that season was 3-5-15, for 18 points on our travels.
Fast forward however to 1998/99 in the third tier, and we lost our first five away games, taking our streak to 15 (I have a feeling the English league record is 20-something). At that point, our last 22 away league games read 2-3-17, for eight points. There may be worse examples in our history, but our current abysmal form is certainly the worst away league run, of 22 games, in the last 25 years or so.
Of course we broke our streak in true unfathomable fashion - we won 2-0 at Walsall in late September 1998 part of a run of just one away defeat in 13 games spanning nearly six months.
Having a look at Royals Record, it appears our longest run without an away win in the league was 21 in 1952-53 - nearly a full calendar year between away wins in the league. I think we're at 16 in a row at the moment - to exceed that we've have to not win away until after the Lincoln match in December.
I don't know what the record for failing to win away is, but Derby managed 25 in a row which included their 2007-08 Premier League season - and the three away matches before and after that season (they did win the play-offs away before promotion, so it may only be 22 whether or not that should be included). Their overall record was 0-6-19 in that time.
In terms of consecutive losses, our record is 15 in a row starting in the 1997-98 season - as you've mentioned.
my bad