With another season of visits to crappy little clubs at shoebox grounds ahead of us, it appears that Bournemouth are trying to outdo the rest in incompetence. They began work on their new ground (on the same site as the old one) in January, confidently saying that it would be complete by August. They even arranged a home pre-season friendly for late July! Now they have asked the Football League for their first few games of the season to be scheduled away from home, and for permission to use Dorchester Town's ground up to Sunday, 4th November. The League have agreed, as long as certain conditions are met, including that Dorchester's ground must have room for 600 away fans for League games, and 900 for cup ties. I wonder what the weather's like in Dorchester.
Announcements of a retained list have changed a bit since the arrival of the Bosman rule, but Reading have today announced a list of eight players who will be leaving because we cannot agree new contracts. This will undoubtedly be a mixture of players who we wanted to keep but couldn't meet their terms, and those to whom we decided not to offer a deal. Head of the first group (and possibly the only member) is Darren Caskey, who will hopefully move to a higher grade of football rather than just to a team offering better wages at our level.
The only other real surprise in the list was Jim McIntyre, who has performed well but has clearly been a victim of the failure to gain promotion. Other players leaving are Scott Howie, Lee Hodges, Andy Gurney, Alex Haddow, Chris Smith and John Polston. Chris Smith has been in talks with York City for some while whilst Polston announced his retirement earlier in the season. Technically these players will all remain on Reading's books until their contracts expire on 30th June, 2001, and it is not impossible (though unlikely) that we may yet come to a deal with one or more of them.
Furthermore, Neil Smith, who has one full season left on his contract, has been told that he is not going to get much chance of a first team spot, and so can leave if he can find another club. The Evening Post also reports that Adam Lockwood is likely to leave, but this has not been confirmed by the club.
Of the three remaining players whose contracts expire at the end of June, Ricky Newman, Phil Parkinson and Nathan Tyson will be offered new deals. Tyson's would be for one year, whilst Newman and Parkinson would be offered two years. Alan Pardew has also said that Parkinson can gradually move into the coaching side of the club.
Dorchester Town have announced a pre-season friendly at home to Reading on Saturday, 28th July, kick-off at 3pm. No announcement about this game from Reading as yet, but they have now confirmed the home friendly against Tottenham on Wednesday, 1st August. (Later news: Reading have confirmed the Dorchester friendly, as well as games against Weymouth, Tiverton Town and Rushden & Diamonds, plus reserve games against Didcot Town and Walton & Hersham.)
Here is a message for those fans of certain other Division 2 clubs (such as Bournemouth and Wigan Athletic) who have been gloating over Sunday's result. Ask yourself this question - would you rather be playing against Reading or Walsall next season? Well? Everything looks a bit different now, doesn't it?
The events of earlier this week will give us all heartache for the rest of our lives, regardless of what happens in the coming year. However, after the brief period of mourning, and hopefully lessons learnt, it's time to look forward again. Here's a quick recap of some of the recent news concerning Reading, and what's coming up in the near future:
Players in - It's certain that Adrian Whitbread wll sign a two -year deal on 1st July. There are also strong rumours that Andy Hughes of Notts County and Jason Lee of Peterborough United will sign at the same time. Hughes will come with a transfer fee, though. There were also rumours that Jorge Leitao of Walsall had signed a pre-contract agreement with Reading (which I think is illegal given that the two clubs play in the same country) but Sunday's result has presumably scuppered that even if it was true.
Players out - There are plenty of players out of contract on 30th June. John Polston will definitely retire whilst Chris Smith, Lee Hodges and Alex Haddow will definitely leave. Nathan Tyson is almost certain to do so as well. Reports suggest that Ricky Newman will be offered a one-year contract. Jim McIntyre and Phil Parkinson will surely be offered contracts and are likely to sign them. Scott Howie and Andy Gurney might be offered contracts but will probably leave if they can find a club where they have a better chance of regular first-team football. That leaves Darren Caskey, who I think will leave if he can move up a division, but will otherwise stay at Reading. Also, Kevin Dillon's contract runs out this summer, unless he signed an extension that I didn't hear about - there have been rumours that he might get a manager's job in the north-east. I think there is also a possibility that one of our big three strikers might move on - all are capable of excelling at a higher level, and it's unlikely that we will play all three on a regular basis, so one of them might decide to look elsewhere over the summer.
Injuries - Jamie Cureton is due to have a groin operation on Tuesday, whilst Anthony Rougier was planning a summer operation on his ankle. Trinidad & Tobago have World Cup games on 16th, 20th and 30th June, though, so Rougier might well have to wait.
Pre-season Friendlies - Aldershot Town, Maidenhead United, Farnborough Town and Tottenham Hotspur have all announced friendlies against Reading, although none have been confirmed at the Reading end yet. Details are on the results page.
Division 2 - We will be welcoming Huddersfield Town, Tranmere Rovers, Queens Park Rangers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chesterfield and Blackpool to the division. Nothing much to fear there. Not at all welcome but temporarily with us again are Cardiff City. Nothing at all to fear on the playing side from them either, of course.
Academy - The Under-18s made a resasonable FA Youth Cup showing last season suggesting that we might do quite well in the Under-19 League this season. Our Under-17s beat the national champions Ipswich Town twice in the last two months of last season, suggesting that we might look for an even better FA Youth Cup run next season.
Madejski Stadium - there will be a new pitch for next season, whilst the Maurice Evans Stand will become reserved seating despite all the polls of fans showing widespread views in favour of it remaining unreserved.
Season tickets - apparently on sale from Thursday (sorry, I got that wrong before), and with a Championship season to look forward to.
Jamie Cureton and Martin Butler get another goal apiece, but Reading lose 3-2 to Walsall after extra time in the Division 2 play-off final. The turning point was a freakish own goal off Anthony Rougier (who knew nothing at all about it) that handed Walsall their second equaliser of the game. For a brief match report, click here.
There really is no adequate excuse for our failure to get promotion this season by one means or another.
Other news - Sod the play-offs, here's the big story! Barry Hunter has been successful in his attempt to win a place on Anne Robinson's show, "The Weakest Link", according to the BBC (and they should know!). He is hoping to strike a blow for the intelligent footballer. No further comment is necessary.
Play-off final preview - So the big day is almost upon us. All of the non-playing issues surrounding Sunday's play-off final are covered in The Play-off Page, so this preview will only be about the teams. Alan Pardew showed with his selection of Adrian Williams ahead of Barry Hunter for the semi-final second leg against Wigan Athletic that he is prepared to make tough decisions before selecting a side. He has a few to deal with before this match.
In goal Phil Whitehead obviously selects himself. At the start of the season I rated him at about the same level as Scott Howie, but particularly in the last few months he has really grown into the role and has been making some fantastic saves. Obviously we will never know whether Howie would have done the same had he got the nod, but he did have the opportunity in previous seasons and will take a place on the bench.
The back four is not as settled as it might be, with Adrian Whitbread ineligible after playing a key role at the end of the season, and Graeme Murty out for the last two games through injury. If Murty is fit, I think he will play ahead of Andy Gurney who will probably not even get a place on the bench. After his performances in the last two games, that will be tough on him. At centre-back there seems no reason to change the pairing of Williams and Adi Viveash. Viveash will be up against his old club, of course, and took some verbal stick from one of the Walsall forwards back in November that I am sure he has not forgotten. Williams had a ropey start to the game against Wigan but improved as he got more into the swing of things. Hunter will have to settle for the bench, but might get called upon if we struggle in the air. At left-back, Matthew Robinson will obviously start, although he has failed to reach the heights of last season since coming back from injury.
Midfield is another unsettled area with so many options available. I think Jim McIntyre will start wide on the left, with Anthony Rougier waiting on the bench to replace him if necessary, whilst Phil Parkinson is a certain starter in midfield. Then it all starts to become a bit unclear, with Keith Jones, Darren Caskey, James Harper and Sammy Igoe in contention for the two remaining places. I think I would start with Harper in the middle and Caskey on the right, leaving the other two on the bench to provide later options. However, Pardew rates Igoe more highly than I do, and so is likely to stick with him on the right and Caskey in the middle. The Evening Post has today reported that Igoe has an ankle injury but it doesn't sound nearly bad enough to keep him out of the team, incidentally.
Up-front, it should be Martin Butler and Jamie Cureton looking to increase their goal tally as the country's leading partnership, and concluding their fight for the title of Division 2 leading scorer in all competitions (although it's difficult to see Butler catching Cureton up in that one). Butler played for Walsall until four years ago - sometimes in defence I believe! - and was not rated by their fans. He hasn't really shone in the two games against them this season, so this is the ideal opportunity. Nicky Forster will start on the bench and is almost certain to come on at some stage. With Cureton having an operation on Tuesday, it is obviously more likely that he will be replaced at some stage if we are level or winning.
In the two League games between the sides this season, Reading got off to the far better start, but Walsall showed the ability to fight back. In the away game, they gained a victory only due to the extreme incompetence of an inexperienced official. In the home game, we outclassed them until leading 2-0 but then allowed them a soft goal immediately afterwards and never managed to get back the momentum. Perhaps the current side has by now learnt the lesson of relaxing whilst in the lead, allowing us to begin to exorcise the ghosts of the 1995 play-off final.
Other news - Season ticket prices have been announced. It's a rather strange day on which to do so, although the price will be the same whatever division we're in next season. Part of the announcement was that the Maurice Evans Stand will be reserved seating next season, which may be the reason for slipping it out when everyone is concentrating on other matters. More about this next week.
Play-off final news - The team have left Reading for a hotel in the Swansea area. Graeme Murty is definitely fit for Sunday, as he has clearance from the doctor.
Other news - Tottenham Hotspur have announced that one of their pre-season friendlies is against Reading at Madejski Stadium on Wednesday, 1st August with kick-off at 7.45pm.
Play-off final news - The club have announced that Darren Caskey will be fit for Sunday, and that Graeme Murty is back in training and so should also be available. In Murty's case, that of course assumes that nothing else happens! Caskey was recovering from a foot injury sustained against Wigan Athletic last Wednesday, whilst Murty's problem followed a clash of heads with Nicky Forster on the training ground nearly a fortnight ago.
Reading ticket sales for the play-off final are now up to 32,000. No further news on how many more Walsall have sold, but it was 12,500 as of Monday.
The referee for the final is confirmed as Eddie Wolstenholme from Blackburn, as described in the news for Sunday, 20th May.
Other news - The Madejski Stadium pitch is being relaid ready for next season.
The Evening Post has reported that Jamie Cureton has needed an operation for a groin injury for the last three months and will undergo surgery on Tuesday of next week. There were rumours about this before, particularly given that Cureton has been substituted in almost every game he played. Cureton expects to be healthy about six weeks after the operation, which will be just in time for pre-season training.
Both Aldershot Town and Maidenhead United have confirmed home friendlies with Reading on Saturday, 14th July. Rather than being one game for the first team and one game for the reserves, this probably follows the practice of recent years where Reading's first Saturday action involves a split squad. I don't think there's too much difficulty in deciding which match to attend this July! There's been no confirmation from Reading about any pre-season friendlies yet, as far as I can tell, but that is fair enough given that this season hasn't finished yet.
Trinidad & Tobago won their Copa Caribe semi-final against Cuba 2-0 yesterday, and face Haiti in the final on Friday. The particular significance of this is that T&T have now qualified for the Gold Cup (the CONCACAF equivalent of the European Championships) which is to be held in early January of 2002. This means that we will have to face the possibility of losing Anthony Rougier for a few games around that time.
Play-off final news - The Evening Post has an interview with Darren Caskey which suggests that he should be fit for Sunday's game. Caskey limped off early in the second half of the home match against Wigan with a foot injury. The news about Graeme Murty sounds less hopeful, as he is still waiting for medical clearance. On the other hand, we probably would say that at this stage. As Murty left the stadium after the game on Wednesday, I held one finger up and asked him how many he could see. "Four", he replied. Either he has a sense of humour or else is still suffering from concussion - draw your own conclusions. (This exclusive one-word interview is copyright of 1871.)
Other news - Farnborough Town have announced that they will be playing Reading at home in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, 4th August (kick-off at 3pm).
The York Evening Press has stated that York City intend to sign defender Chris Smith for next season. Smith is one of the Reading players out of contract on 30th June, and played on trial for York reserves at the end of this season. The deal is expected to go ahead when the York manager returns from holiday this week.
Forest Green Rovers have said that they would like to sign centre-back Adam Lockwood, who was on loan there at the end of this season. However, Lockwood's contract with Reading is not up this summer, and I think that we sent him there for experience, rather than as a prelude to a sale.
The referee for the play-off final is apparently Eddie Wolstenholme from Blackburn. The only Reading game he has taken charge of in the last few years was the 2-0 home win over Bristol Rovers last season. The notable feature of that game was when he sent Ian Holloway from the bench but not Martin Allen after the two of them had been at it hammer and tongs all game. The other incident that sticks in the mind was when Bristol Rovers were waiting to take a free-kick. There were two balls on the field so Nicky Forster kicked one of them off, and managed to get booked for time-wasting despite even the Bristol players speaking in his defence. Wolstenholme is an experienced referee, having taken the Division 1 play-off final in 1997/98 (when Charlton beat Sunderland on penalties after a 4-4 draw). Also, and perhaps this is rather strange, he did the 4-2 victory for Walsall over Stoke City in the semi-final second leg last week.
The Evening Post today reports that Lee Hodges will leave Reading. In fact, even though we have one game left he has been told that he can go now, which seems a bit odd. (For example, wouldn't Hodges be the obvious replacement if Jim McIntyre and Anthony Rougier run into each other in training and both get injured?) Among other players whose contract is up at the end of this season, Alex Haddow and Chris Smith are definitely going to leave, and there have been persistent rumours that so too will Nathan Tyson. There may be more to add to this list depending on what happens in the play-off final.
As far as players joining the club go, Adrian Whitbread should sign a two-year deal once we reach 1st July.
Ticket information from the official site:
Reading have been allocated a total of 40,000 tickets for the play-off final with Walsall on Sunday 27th May (3pm kick off) at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, 18th May to season ticket holders only, with a maximum of six per person. Tickets will only be sold to personal callers at the Stadium; that is, there will be no telephone, e-mail or internet sales. All season ticket cards must be presented upon purchase. The ticket office will be open tomorrow between 8am and 8pm.
Remaining tickets will go on general sale on Saturday, 19th May, with a maximum of nine per person. They will be available to personal callers at the Stadium or by telephone, although the club recommends personal visits to the Stadium when possible. Again, the ticket office will be open between 8am and 8pm on Saturday.
The ticket office will not be open to personal callers on Sunday, but it will be possible to book tickets by telephone (0118 968 1000 from 9am to 8pm).
The tickets will be available in the following price bands:
£39 - middle tier seats
£34 - upper tier seats, front rows
£29 - lower/upper tier seats, middle rows
£22 - lower tier seats, front and back rows plus upper tier
seats, back rows
£15 - Family Enclosure for Under-16s or seniors
£11 - Family Enclosure for Under-16s or seniors
Eighty-five minutes of hell, five minutes of blue-and-white heaven!
Not too long ago, fans of Wigan Athletic (both of them!) were singing the praises of Nicky Forster after his late equaliser at home to Bournemouth gifted them a place in the play-offs. And now it is their hero Forster who popped up in injury time to score the late winner that meant Reading beat Wigan 2-1 to progess to the Division 2 play-off final against Walsall at Cardiff on Sunday, 27th May. Martin Butler had scored Reading's other goal a few minutes earlier after Wigan had led for most of the game. The game was played in front of a new stadium record crowd of 22,034. For match details (report to follow), click here.
Some other news - Simon Cox has taken squad number 36 after being called up as cover when Phil Whitehead suffered a hamstring strain last week. And Chris Casper still has problems with his leg, following the fracture at Ninan Park on 26th December 1999, even though he has been playing for the reserves recently. He says that he may have to have another operation over the summer, although he is trying to avoid it if at all possible. As well as the personal lawsuit he is bringing against Scott Carpenter for the tackle that caused his problems, Reading FC are also considering taking action against the former Cardiff City player, now with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Wigan preview - well, there could be just 90 minutes of sport left at Madejski Stadium this season. The rules are quite simple - there is no "away goals count double" rule, there is no golden goal, but there can be 30 minutes of extra time, and a penalty shootout if scores are level. All that means is that Sunday's 0-0 draw away to Wigan Athletic might just as well not have happened. Even if it is officially called a play-off semi-final second leg, this is a one-off game, and that does at least mean that the side finishing higher in the table gets the advantage of playing at home.
The pattern of the game will surely be similar to Sunday's. The away side will sit back and defend, whilst the home team batter them. The difference should be that Reading have a fearsome attack and you just know that Wigan will be far more worried about Butler and Cureton (not to mention Forster, McIntyre, Harper, Caskey, etc.) than we were about their so-called forward line. The only thing that slightly concerns me is that in the League game at Madejski Stadium, Wigan came out and played some good football, and looked dangerous on the break. In the end, it was James Harper's pace against De Zeeuw, plus Jim McIntyre's clinical finish that won us that game.
There may be changes in the Reading team tomorrow night. I don't think that Graeme Murty would return for Andy Gurney even if he is fit, though. If there are tactical moves it will probably be in midfield, where any of Darren Caskey, James Harper or Anthony Rougier could give us a more attacking line-up. With the possibility of a two-hour game, I think Caskey will be on the bench, but Harper certainly has the engine to play at full pace throughout.
If it does come to the dreaded penalty shootout, then we have Caskey, Martin Butler and Jamie Cureton, all of whom took their sides' penalties last season, and so have the experience. Nicky Forster and McIntyre have both scored penalties for the reserves this season, whilst Harper took a good one in the reserve League Cup Final at Norwich last month. I had this vague feeling that Barry Hunter was lining up to take the fifth penalty in that shootout although we didn't get the chance to find out. You'd also expect that some of the more experienced players like Rougier, Parkinson and Jones could cope with the pressure element of the situation (mind you I'd have said the same about Keith Curle and he still managed to miss one in the Simod Cup semi-final in 1988).
As stated in the news items for Wednesday, 9th May the referee is David Laws - I'll settle for him being fair and honest, but really I hope he is as biased towards the home side as he was when he refereed the game at the Jar Jar Binks Stadium in April of last year.
The Reading areas of the stadium for tomorrow's game are now sold out. Wigan are selling tickets until 10am until tomorrow, and had managed to shift 1,367 by the end of today. Assuming they sell no more, that should mean an attendance of 22,800. In any event it will be a ground record. Fans are asked to wear blue-and-white. And that means YOU!
As expected, Wigan Athletic have failed to take up anywhere near their full allocation of tickets for the game on Wednesday. This means that a further 1,800 tickets are now on sale for Reading fans in the South Stand. This is in addition to a few remaining in the Upper West. Wigan have actually sold just 776 tickets as of noon Monday!
Mystery surrounds the attendance for the game yesterday. Officially, there were 3,540 Reading fans in the East Stand, a figure that does not square with either the visual evidence or the statement on Friday that we had sold 4,000 tickets (with a full day's sales still to come). Actually, there's no mystery here at all - gate receipts for the play-off games are shared, and it's clear that Wigan have decided to cream some money off before declaring the income for the game. To justify this, they have deliberately understated the attendance in all areas of the ground. I look forward to the crowd at a full Madesjki Stadium on Wednesday being announced as 16,000.
Graeme Murty missed Sunday's game with a head injury. This was sustained in training following a clash of heads (I don't know with whom), and required an air ambulance helicopter to be in attendance. I assume that Murty flew away in the helicopter but I'm not certain of that. Phil Whitehead suffered a hamstring strain on Friday and had to take a fitness test before the game (which thankfully he passed!), which explains Saturday's news about Simon Cox being called up into the squad.
Reading draw 0-0 against Wigan Athletic in the play-off semi-final first leg. It's quite clear that we came for a goalless draw and we just about managed to get it. Andy Gurney played at right-back - Graeme Murty missed the game, apparently due to a serious head injury picked up in training this week. However, my story from yesterday about Simon Cox being reserve goalkeeper didn't quite happen. Cox was in the squad but Scott Howie was on the bench. Also on the bench was Adrian Williams, making a welcome return to the first-team squad, although he didn't get on the pitch. For a match report, click here. The Orange day worked well, with many Reading fans bedecked in orange, as well as a huge number of balloons.
In the FA Trophy Final, Adam Lockwood played the full 90 minutes for Forest Green Rovers in front of 10,000 at Villa Park. However, his side lost 1-0 to Canvey Island. With a relegation fight and a cup run, Lockwood will certainly have gained more from this loan experience than we could ever have expected.
Earlier news - If you're not able to make it to Wigan today, then don't forget that the FA Trophy Final between Forest Green Rovers and Canvey Island is live on Sky Sports 1 at 12 noon. Adam Lockwood is on loan at Forest Green Rovers and should be playing in this match. Once the Trophy game is over, Sky Sports 1 are showing a Division 1 play-off game. That programme begins at 2.30pm and is likely to include the goal action from JJB Stadium. In particular, because the Sky live game does not start until 3.30pm, they will probably show any early goals within moments of them hitting the back of the Wigan net.
Some further team news for tomorrow's play-off game. Despite my hope that we would sign Adrian Whitbread on a permanent deal, having pulled the wool over Wigan's eyes, Teletext have reported that he has returned to Portsmouth. I have also heard that both Scott Howie and Jamie Ashdown are injured, so Simon Cox has been called up to our squad for the play-offs. Cox has had a superb season, winning the Maurice Edelston award for achievement by an Under-19 player this season despite still being eligible for the Under-17s. I am sure that if we do have to call on him, he will let no-one down.
According to Ceefax, Aldershot have announced their pre-season friendlies. Rumour has it that one of these is a home game with Reading, at the Recreation Ground, scheduled for Saturday, 14th July. In recent years, Reading have tended to play two friendlies on one day, splitting the squad between them. This may well be one of those games.
Further to the match preview below, Ceefax are reporting that we will NOT be allowed to play Adrian Whitbread in our play-off games. This is because he is an outfielder, and so we cannot extend his loan. I wait eagerly for the announcement later today that we have purchased him, and he can therefore play.
Wigan preview - Sunday's match against Wigan Athletic is of course the most important of the season so far. Reading must be hoping for a repeat of our only previous play-off semi-final first leg match back in 1995 when a comprehensive 3-1 win at Tranmere Rovers put the tie beyond doubt before the second leg had even begun.
It really shouldn't be beyond us to perform at a similar level this weekend. Wigan have some good players but they have not fired on all cylinders this season. Their main problem has been a failure to score goals and although their defence is good, Reading have the high quality forwards to break them down. I think our biggest problem might be the temptation to play for a 0-0 draw, or to sit on a one-goal lead should we get it. If we go out and play football against Wigan, they will not be able to cope with us.
The Reading line-up is not going to show too many changes from recent games, although one at least may be forced. If you look at the news for 29th April, 2000 you can see that I said we wouldn't be able to extend Adrian Whitbread's loan (because we had already reached the maximum of 93 days), but that we would be allowed to buy him. Obviously I hope I was wrong on the first part, but it is no surprise to me that Reading are now stating that the Football League have rejected our application for an extension. Hopefully, this is just a smokescreen to confuse Wigan, but I still can't see how Whibread can play for us on loan without breaking the rules. Reading have already said that if Whitbread does not play, Barry Hunter will take his place, with Adie Williams as cover.
Jim McIntyre missed last week's game, which I assume was because his wife was about to give birth. Now that her ordeal is over (or in another sense, is just beginning!), McIntyre will presumably be back in the squad. I'd like to see him start wide on the left, as he has been in good form in recent months.
Wigan's colours are also blue and white, so Reading will be wearing the orange change strip. Martin Allen has asked all fans to wear their orange replica shirts or failing that something orange. I apologise for my earlier cycnicism - this might work, after all.
What it might look like (just pretend that's Martin Butler rather than Patrick Kluivert):
As stated in the news items for Wednesday, 9th May the referee is Roy Pearson - hopefully he will prove to be unbiased and so give us a chance to end our record of NEVER having won a game in the town of Wigan.
For more information about the play-offs, don't forget to visit The Play-off Page.
Jamie Cureton has won the Nationwide League Player of the Month award for April. He got 26% of the vote, beating Matt Jansen of Blackburn Rovers into second place. Well done, all those who voted for him.
Tragically, the great Wigan Athletic cheap coach deal for the second leg has hit a snag. Instead of twenty coaches for their fans, Wigan are now saying that they can only get hold of ten, and are claiming that it's because Liverpool have already booked all the available ones to take their fans to the UEFA Cup Final in Germany! Personally, I think Wigan have just realised that they had no hope whatsoever of finding that many fans wanting to travel on a lost cause.
Reading's Under-19 side lost 5-0 at home to Coventry City today. This guarantees that we will finish eighth in our group of ten teams. The Under-19s still have one fixture unplayed, the home game with West Ham United, but I suspect that this will not take place. It had been arranged for this Saturday but was then cancelled.
Some stunning news - Meridian have scheduled a programme called Meridian Match Special from midnight to 1.05am on Wednesday, 16th May. The only southern club playing that night are Reading so they must surely be showing our game.
The referees for our play-off games have been announced. Roy Pearson of Peterlee will do the trip to Wigan on Sunday, whilst more worryingly it is David Laws of Whitley Bay for the home leg. Pearson was on show for our 2-1 away win at Notts County last season and the 3-0 defeat at Wrexham on the opening day of the previous season. He has been a Football League referee for six seasons but was also a FIFA standard linesman, officiating in the 1994 World Cup semi-final between Bulgaria and Italy, as well as a European Cup Final and an FA Cup Final. So at least he's hardly likely to be overawed by the home crowd.
Laws has been a League referee since 1995. He took charge of our 2-0 win at Bury back in October, our 1-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic in April of last season, the 1-0 defeat at Chesterfield the season before that, and (shudder) the 6-0 loss at Tranmere Rovers back in the darkest days of Terry Bullivant. The reason for my concern is that game in April 2000 at the JJB Stadium. The goal we conceded was a penalty, given for a "foul" by Adie Williams that occurred several yards outside the area (and which in any event was a dive rather than a foul, the Wigan forward managing to get sufficient distance on his dive to land inside the area). Later in the game Martin Butler scored a perfectly good goal that Laws disallowed for handball. Click here to read the match report that I wrote at the time, courtesy of The View From South Wales. (The key parts are "Basically we were cheated out of any chance of winning by a corrupt referee" and "Next season he'll be driving a flash new car, I expect.") Perhaps he was just biased to the home team, rather than specifically to Wigan Athletic, but I'm still concerned.
Reading's reserves complete their season with a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers. For a match report, click here. This confirms that we finish third in the table. With such a high league finish, as well as an appearance in the League Cup Final, this is by far the best season for the reserves in the 30 years that I have watched Reading. Although our reserve league no longer includes Premiership clubs, or some from Division 1, it is still a fine achievement - for most of the seasons that we spent in the old Football Combination we finished in the bottom two. One of the other results today means that Fulham have won the League, beating Norwich City into second place.
Just to prove how worried Wigan Athletic are about the number of Reading supporters attending the two semi-final games, they are pulling all the stops out to increase the number of their own fans. For the game at Reading, Wigan have booked twenty coaches and are charging just £5 a head for travel. For the game at Wigan, they are charging members of the junior supporters club only £2 to go into their North Stand (often called the Gary Glitter Stand for reasons that will become obvious). And incidentally, I don't blame them for any of this - they recognise how important it is to progress, and how their fans can help them attempt to do so. Neither do I blame the Reading administration for not adopting the same tactics, as clearly we have far more fans than Wigan without having to resort to special offers.
Tickets for the play-off semi-final first leg away to Wigan Athletic have gone on sale slightly earlier than expected. We apparently have 5,000 tickets for the Adidas (East) Stand, although if previous games at the JJB Stadium are anything to go by we should be able to get at least another 1,500 if necessary. Kick-off time for the away leg has been confirmed as 3pm.
Wigan Athletic are putting tickets on sale for their home game in the play-offs from Tuesday morning. They are also still saying that the game will kick-off at 3pm. Previously they had said that they were not planning to make the game all-ticket (although they were advising everyone to buy one) and don't appear to have changed their stance on this.
Reading and Bournemouth draw 3-3 but that doesn't even come close to describing the game, one of the most exciting since the move from Elm Park. We went 2-0 down before Martin Butler scored with an unstoppable shot after a tapped free-kick. Bournemouth increased their lead to 3-1, and then Darren Caskey got our second direct from a free-kick with literally his first touch. Nicky Forster tapped in the equaliser two minutes from the end of normal time, before Graeme Murty headed out from under the bar to keep the scores level. We had been behind for almost the whole game but the draw is enough to keep Bournemouth out of the play-offs, and our performance in the last 20 minutes or so certainly sets us up for the next THREE games. The match saw a new official record crowd for Madejski Stadium of 20,589, which is also the third highest Division 2 attendance this season (with Stoke beating us today by just two spectators). For match details (report to follow), click here.
Before the game, Martin Butler received the Player of the Year
award - when I wrote my match preview on Friday, I hadn't
realised that the results had already been announced in the
Reading Chronicle. The full result was:
1st - Martin Butler, 1260 votes
2nd - Phil Parkinson, 932 votes
3rd - Jamie Cureton, 712 votes
4th - Phil Whitehead, 653 votes
Nearly 4,000 votes were cast in total.
Also before the match, three awards for the most improved Academy players were given out. The inaugural Maurice Evans Memorial Trophy for the player who has made most progress this season across the whole of the Academy structure went to Joey Alcott. Maurice's son was on hand to make the presentation. There were two other awards presented, for the most improved players at Under-19 and Under-17 levels. The Under-19 award went to Simon Cox, which is very impressive considering he is still eligible for the Under-17s, whilst the Under-17 award went to Gary Middleton (who would be eligible for the Under-16s were it not for the fact that the Academy structure does not include an Under-16 side). These two awards are called the Maurice Edelston Awards.
Saturday's match also featured the single best pre-match entertainment item I've seen at a Reading game. The pitch was cleared, but I couldn't hear the tannoy announcement and so was vaguely expecting a parachutist to appear with the match ball. It was therefore a major shock when two Army helicopters appeared from nowhere and hovered over the pitch for some while before landing. One delivered the match ball to John Madejski, whilst the other appeared to be just for show. After some photos they took off again, did a few simple turns, and then flew into the distance. Whoever dreamed up this idea should get some serious praise!
Results elsewhere mean that we will play sixth-placed Wigan Athletic in the play-off semi-finals and then either Walsall or Stoke City in the final. Wigan announced on Friday that their home leg, should it happen, would be at 3pm on Sunday, 13th May, although there now seems to be some doubt over the kick-off time because of possible television coverage. They also said that it would not be all-ticket for home fans. They have an away stand that can hold 8,000. Also on Friday, Wigan stated that they would have 2,500 tickets for the game at Madejski Stadium on Wednesday, 16th May.
Based on League goals only, Jamie Cureton finishes the season as the joint leading scorer in Division 2 with 27 goals and is fourth in the whole country (assuming no spectacular goalscoring feats in the remaining Premiership or Division 1 games). Based on total goals, Cureton is the clear leader in Division 2 with 30, and his only realistic challenger to that crown during the play-offs is Martin Butler, currently on 26.
Tomorrow's final League game against Bournemouth will see the first sell-out at Madejski Stadium, and therefore should beat the official record attendance of 20,055. Another target would be the highest Division 2 attendance of the season, which is currently 22,133 for Stoke City at home to Port Vale, although Stoke are also at home tomorrow and are likely to get another large crowd themselves. However, the reduction in capacity to allow for unreserved seating in two stands, plus the buffer area between the two sets of supporters, might mean that our attendance is around 21,000. Although the game is sold out, there seem to be quite a few fans from both sides attempting to sell tickets via the internet, so it should be possible to get hold of a ticket if you look in the obvious places.
Reading are already guaranteed to finish third in the table, but may yet have an influence on who we meet in the play-off semi-finals. Bournemouth must win to stand any chance of finishing fifth or sixth, and even a win will be of no use to them if Stoke City and Wigan Athletic also both win (they're at home to Swindon Town and Bristol City respectively). As far as I am concerned the play-offs are a lottery with no guarantee that the best side will win, so I don't see that it matters who we play. However, if we were to play Wigan then every Reading fan who wants to will be able to attend both games, so they would be my preferred opponents (and I solemnly promise that I am not just saying that because it's only ten miles from where I live!).
It's difficult to know what the Reading line-up will be. The team has badly under-performed in the last three halves of football and so Alan Pardew may well be tempted to make some changes. I think that he will put out his best side, unless there are any niggling injuries that he is concerned about, as any other selection might mean that we lose momentum. I think I would expect to see the same eleven as started at Colchester, except with Keith Jones in place of James Harper and perhaps Nicky Forster instead of Jamie Cureton (given the recent groin injury problem that Cureton has suffered). Matthew Robinson has been disappointing recently, but there is really only Andy Gurney to replace him, and that change would surprise me.
Most people will have read that Bournemouth have won eight of their last nine games, but strangely none of the reports I've seen mention that the one defeat was their home game against us. Despite a gift goal and a totally unjust penalty, they still failed to take anything from that match because they lack our finishing ability or our defence. There is no doubt that Bournemouth are on a good run of form and will be confident, but their last few months have been quite similar to the end of Reading's season last year. There has been no pressure at all on Bournemouth as nobody expected them to make the play-offs - now suddenly there is an enormous amount of pressure, and they have a group of players who are untested under those conditions. And one other point - only three of those eight recent wins were away from home, and none of them were against decent opposition.
Two other events are scheduled to take place before the game - the award for the Player of the Season and the first ever award of the Maurice Evans Memorial Trophy. The latter is for the player in Reading's Academy system who has made the most progress this season, including development on and off the field. I voted for Jamie Cureton in the Player of the Season but I expect Martin Butler to beat him to the prize.
Walsall win tonight and so are guaranteed to finish in fourth place in the division. This means that Reading's play-off opponents will be either Stoke City, Wigan Athletic or Bournemouth.
Jamie Cureton is one of the nine shortlisted players for the Nationwide League Player of the Month. To vote for him, ring 09009 100 561 before noon on Wednesday, 9th May. The winner is announced on Thursday, 10th May.
Reading have announced the ticket arrangements for the play-offs. There seems little point in me rewriting them, so the following is more-or-less copied from the official site:
Semi-final, away leg - Sunday, 13th May:
The club expects to receive the tickets on Tuesday 8th May, and they will go on sale immediately to season ticket holders and Supporters’ Club members only, one per person for season ticket holders and Supporters' Club members. Any remaining tickets will go on general sale on Thursday 10th May.
Semi-final, home leg - Wednesday 16th May, 7.45pm:
Tickets will go on sale immediately after the game on Saturday, 5th May from the West Stand ticket office to season ticket holders only, with a maximum of four per season ticket holder. The club strongly recommends that season ticket holders use this opportunity to purchase their tickets after the game. (Season ticket holders will receive an actual ticket, rather than having their smartcard updated.) The ticket office will be open to personal callers and for telephone bookings on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, 10am to 4pm (to season ticket holders).
Supporters' Club members will be able to purchase tickets on Tuesday 8th May. All remaining seats, plus unclaimed season ticket seats, will go on general sale on Wednesday 9th May. The online ticketing service will also sell tickets from this day.
All stands will have reserved seating for this fixture. Tickets will be priced at the normal 2000/01 season rates.
Final - Sunday 27th May, 3pm at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff:
Assuming that all goes well in the semi-final, the tickets will go on sale on Friday 18th May for season ticket holders only, and for personal callers only - a maximum of six tickets per season ticket. All unsold tickets will go on general sale on Saturday 19th May, but there will be no play-off ticket sales on Sunday 20th May.
Final tickets will be sold by price category and on the basis of the best seats being sold first. Given the high demand, supporters will not be able to select individual seats but will be able to select the price category of tickets they wish to purchase.
Reading's reserves beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 at Farnborough with a hat-trick from Lee Hodges. Adrian Williams plays the whole 90 minutes. For a match report, click here. We stay third in the table.
Chris Smith and Alex Haddow played for Kidderminster reserves in their 5-0 win over Rushden & Diamonds on Monday evening. Haddow got two of the goals and they are both expected to be invited back for a further game this week.
If you look at the card for Huntingdon horse racing today, you will see that the races are named after mascots, including some from football clubs. The reason is that the meeting was switched from Hereford at late notice and there was no time to find proper sponsors. Unfortunately there is no race called the Kingsley Royal Chase - I dont know how they chose which mascots to use but the top two from the Mascot Grand National in September 2000 are both represented, so Kingsley needs to show better in this year's race to be sure of such honours in the future.
At the PFA Awards dinner, they showed a couple of minutes footage of highlights from Division 2 this season. This included a number of goals from Jamie Cureton and Martin Butler, all of which were greeted with loud cheers from a section of the audience (whilst the rest of the footage was watched in near silence). I suspect that Martin Allen was probably involved in this somewhere along the line. It may be that Butler was not at the dinner, as he was not shown on camera during the reading out of the PFA Select XI for Division 2.
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