In recent years, we've been a bit of a bogey team for Stoke City (or Joke City, as they are more accurately known). The fact that we managed to lose at the Britannia Stadium in 1999/2000 was enough to tell us exactly how bad things had got. Fortunately we got some small measure of revenge by beating them on the last day of the season. It would have been nice if we had kept them out of the play-offs but it was even more amusing that Bristol Rovers failed to get there.
The home game for 2000/01 was moved to a Tuesday night on police advice because of the Rock Festival. I don't understand that at all - for a start the policing at Reading home games is completely clueless and has no effect at all on the level of trouble at the game. Also, the Festival had finished before the Bank Holiday Monday, anyway. Still, I'm sure there's a VERY VERY good reason which has absolutely nothing to do with either the finances or convenience of the police force, and everything to do with them reducing crime, disorder and fear.
Some Stoke information:
Record defeat - 0-10 against Preston North End
Last Reading victory - 1-0 in February 2002
Nearest station to ground - Stoke
Trivia - Stoke claim to have been formed in 1863, making them one of the few League clubs older than us. This is of course a lie, and they know it. There was a team called Stoke City that started in 1863, but it is not the same club as the one currently in existence. The current club were in fact formed in 1873, one or two years after any self-respecting club had started.
If you want to discuss anything with the few Stoke fans capable of both using a computer and reading, then here is one messageboard:
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