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Archived News - June 2003

Monday, 30th June

Transfer news has moved on apace today:
(a) Reading have stated that the fee for Scott Murray will be £400,000 plus a further £250,000 depending on appearances and on whether Reading get to the Premiership. The Bristol City chairman said he was confident of receiving the full £650,000! Murray is on holiday at the moment, and will discuss person terms when he returns. However, as he has already talked about moving from Weston-super-Mare to nearer the Reading area this seems to be near a conclusion.
(b) We have also agreed an as yet undisclosed fee with the administrators of Wimbledon for David Connolly, as first mooted over a week ago. However, given the difficulty Portsmouth have had making contact with the people involved as they attempted to sign two other Wimbledon players, this may not prove to be as significant as it might seem.
(c) There is also confirmed interest in Liverpool winger Richie Partridge, a player most notable in Reading terms for scoring against us at Highfield Road last Boxing Day. His agent has said that the two clubs have spoken, but that Reading have not yet been in contact with the player.

Today is the day that contracts of many players around the country expire. This means that there are likely to be announcements of new destinations for lots of players starting from tomorrow. With Alan Pardew away, there probably won't be any official signing ceremonies at Reading for another week, but we might find out for certain where some of the players that we released will end up.

Sunday, 29th June

Bristol City have announced that Scott Murray should join Reading next week for a fee of £650,000, with just a few minor details of the deal yet to be worked out. The speedy right-sided midfielder should fit into our normal 4-5-1 line-up extremely well. I guess that there's still a chance we could be gazumped if the deal isn't yet signed and sealed, but no other club seemed to be showing as much interest whilst Reading were making bids over the last couple of weeks.

FIFA's Executive Committee last week made some important decisions about the future of the World Cup and the international game generally. One very significant change, which needs to be ratified at the next FIFA Congress, is that players who had dual nationality, and so had to make a choice about which country they represented, may make one switch to their chosen country before they reach the age of 21. Previously any competitive appearance, even in the UEFA Under-17 Championship, committed a player to that nation's football sides for life. Among Reading's current crop of international youngsters, this situation has affected Darren Campbell, Jamie Young and Ahmet Rifat in the last year. It's not clear to me whether the ruling is retrospective because Campbell had previously committed himself to playing for Scotland.

Thursday, 26th June

It looks as if the future of the three players whose contracts expire next week but who were offered new deals by Reading is now almost clear. Adi Viveash has agreed a deal with Swindon Town, although because of the Wiltshire club's financial situation this needs Football League approval before his move is complete. Ricky Newman has said that he will sign a new one-year contract with Reading. Jamie Cureton seems certain to leave, although his destination is not yet known.

Of the players released, Anthony Rougier has definitely secured a deal but I don't know for certain with which club (Brighton and Hove Albion would be the obvious one), whilst Sammy Igoe has a contract offer from Swindon subject to the same conditions as that of Viveash. Phil Whitehead has supposedly had talks with York City, whilst I have heard nothing about either Alex Smith or Steve Warren over the summer.

Sky Sports have announced the games they will show live in the first two months of the season, which includes Reading's home game with Rotherham United and the trip to Sunderland. Reading will receive £60,000 from Sky for the home game, but I don't know whether we get the same sum or a lower amount for the away match. After many years in which the police have stated that we cannot play a match on August Bank Holiday Monday because of the rock festival (even against teams like Wrexham), it seems that as soon as a TV company flashes some cash they cave in.

Wednesday, 25th June

Reading will travel to Boston United in the first round of the League Cup this season. As last season, the round is over one leg rather than two, and there will be a result on the night.

Tuesday, 24th June

After completing the first couple of weeks of pre-season training with Reading, Andre Boucaud will sign on loan for Peterborough United. The deal will run from 18th July and will initially last for about a month. Then the two clubs will talk about a possible extension up to 93 days or to the end of the season. Boucaud had a successful spell on loan at the London Road club at the end of last season, including making his League debut.

The League Cup will this season be known as the Carling Cup (although not here as I am sticking with "League Cup" from now on). The first round draw will take place tomorrow at 10am - I assume that this will include the 72 clubs in the Football League. Twelve Premiership clubs will start the competition in Round 2, whilst the remaining 8 (those taking part in the Champions League or UEFA Cup) will join for Round 3.

The first round draw is regionalised (north and south) and seeded by League position last season. The team we will face will therefore be one of the following: Bournemouth, Boston United, Brentford, Bristol Rovers, Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Kidderminster Harriers, Leyton Orient, Northampton Town, Oxford United, Peterborough United, Rushden and Diamonds, Southend United, Swansea City, Torquay United, Wycombe Wanderers and Yeovil Town.

Monday, 23rd June

For the last USA game in the Confederations Cup, against Cameroon this evening, Marcus Hahnemann was again an unused substitute. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, but the US team had already been eliminated from the competition after two defeats in their first two games.

Saturday, 21st June

Marcus Hahnemann was again an unused substitute as the USA lost 1-0 to Brazil in the Confederations Cup this evening in Lyon. You can watch the game on Channel 5 at 2.25am on Tuesday, 24th June (i.e. Monday night). USA cannot now qualify for the knock-out stage of the tournament, but do have one remaining group game, against Cameroon on Monday evening.

Today's Daily Mail (not a newspaper that this website would ever trust on any subject, I hasten to add) reports that Wimbledon have accepted a £500,000 bid from Reading for their London-born Republic of Ireland international forward David Connolly.

Thursday, 19th June

The USA team's Confederations Cup campaign began this evening but Marcus Hahnemann was named only as a substitute as they lost 2-1 to Turkey in Saint-Etienne. Extended highlights of the game will be on Channel 5 at 1.15am tonight, but obviously with no Reading participation on the pitch interest might not be quite as high as it could have been. The next game is against Brazil on Saturday evening - there's a good chance that the USA will use a different goalkeeper in that game which might mean a chance for Marcus.

The Football League has released what it laughingly describes as a fixture list for next season. This time last year they gave us 46 dates for Reading's League games but only just over half actually took place on the announced date and time. This year's work of fiction will appear on the results page of this website eventually, although the delay will allow me to correct the more obvious errors in this season's announcement.

Monday, 16th June

A thankful change to the reserve league structure for next season, as after an appeal Reading have been moved into the Central and Eastern Division of the Football Combination. There are 15 other teams in our new division and we will play each of them once. Our opponents are Aldershot Town, Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion, Cambridge United, Colchester United, Crystal Palace, Gillingham, Luton Town, Millwall, Northampton Town, Norwich City, Peterborough United, Queens Park Rangers, Southend United and Wycombe Wanderers. I assume that the League Cup group remains unchanged.

I had previously said that Barnet might be in the Combination if they applied for re-election but it appears that this is not the case. That might even be the reason we were allowed to switch divisions, combined with the fact that Yeovil Town have now joined the other division of the league.

Adrian Whitbread has joined Barnet as coach on a non-contract basis, teaming up with their manager and ex-Royals assistant boss Martin Allen. When Whitbread first announced his retirement from playing there were comments that he might remain with Reading as an Academy coach. Although this clearly isn't happening immediately, he has said that he will not sever contacts with Reading, effectively with the hope of returning to Madejski Stadium one day. There will be a third Reading connection at Barnet from the start of August when Joe Gamble joins them on loan.

Friday, 13th June

Bristol City have stated that they have turned down a £500,000 bid for Scott Murray from Reading. Given the current state of the transfer market and the fact that Murray has only one year left on his contract, this seems an unbelievably high offer for a Division 2 player. However, it also seems to imply that we are pretty serious about improving the squad for next season.

Wednesday, 11th June

The Football Combination had their AGM yesterday, and there have been some major changes. The League will in future be split into two geographical divisions. Reading have been placed in the 10-club Wales and West Division, although we are apparently appealing against this decision (and hopefully also against the name). The other teams in the division will be Bournemouth, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Cardiff City, Cheltenham Town, Oxford United, Plymouth Argyle, Swansea City and Swindon Town. Each team will play the others home and away for a full league programme of 18 games. There will be 15 or 16 teams in the Central and East Division playing each other once only.

The League Cup competition will return with four groups across both divisions - we are in Group D with Aldershot Town, Brentford, Swindon Town and Wycombe Wanderers. Teams will play each other once each before the group winners go into a knockout phase.

As is obvious from the above lists, Swansea City have managed to successfully gain entry to the League after being rejected last season on geographical grounds, whilst also admitted to the league are Aldershot Town. Portsmouth have left due to their promotion out of the Football League, whilst Leyton Orient have resigned. Peterborough United remain in the League despite previously stating that they would leave. Barnet need to apply for re-election but have not yet done so, and will be the 16th team in the Central and East Division if they are successful.

Sponsors for the last few years, Avon Insurance, have withdrawn and the league will now be sponsored by Pontin's, rejoicing in the absurd name of Pontin's Holidays Combination. The cup competition will be called the Pontin's Combination Cup. This website will refer in future only to the Football Combination and the League Cup.

It's clear that this league is no longer suitable for Reading's aspirations and fortunately, as I understand it, all clubs operating an Academy system will be invited to join the FA Premier Reserve League from 2004/05. We should jump at the chance.

Tuesday, 10th June

Steve Sidwell played for England Under-21 against Slovakia in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying round tonight. England won 2-0 with Sidwell playing the whole game. To see how this affects the group position, as well as to check out future games, go to the international dates page.

Jamie Cureton, whose contract with Reading expires at the end of this month, is to attend a DC United game this Saturday whilst spending time with the Washington-based Major League Soccer team on a trial.

Sunday, 8th June

Marcus Hahnemann was in the starting line-up for the USA v New Zealand friendly this evening, gaining his fourth international cap. Marcus had little to do and was substituted at half-time with the score at 1-1. The final score was United States of America 2 New Zealand 1.

Friday, 6th June

Marcus Hahnemann is training with the USA squad for a friendly game against New Zealand on Sunday before the squad departs for the Confederations Cup in France. For Sunday's game, only an 18-man squad is allowed so the US team have released some of their players to play for clubs in the Major Soccer League. One of those released is goalkeeper Tim Howard who appears to be Hahnemann's main rival for a starting place in the side. It seems certain that the Reading player will play some part in Sunday's game and probably start. This would mean a gap of almost eight-and-a-half years since his last international.

Thursday, 5th June

Bristol City have stated that Reading have enquired about the availability of their Scottish right winger, Scott Murray, but added that discussions went no further than that. Alan Pardew has said that signing a right-sided midfielder is his first priority this summer.

The AGM of the Football League took place today at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium. Some important changes for next season regarding play-offs and points deductions were on the table for discussion, but votes on these proposals were not taken. In particular, this means that next season's play-off format will be the same as that for this season. As far as I can tell, this was due to pressure from the Premiership rather than being due to an attack of common sense on the part of Football League chairmen.

Monday, 2nd June

Steve Sidwell made his debut for England Under-21 this evening, as the home side beat Serbia & Montenegro 3-2 in a friendly game in Hull. He played the whole game and is the first Reading player ever to represent England at this level. BBC Radio Humberside had live commentary of the game over the internet and their summariser, Nick Barmby, said that Sidwell was the pick of all the players in the first half. More surprisingly, the Reading midfielder got Man of the Match on Sky Sports. This can only be because they had forgotten that he was a Reading player, having talked only about his career at Arsenal and Brighton before the game.

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