| Competition | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| Friendly | Wednesday, 30th October (2.30pm) | Henley | Home | Drew 0-0 |
Match facts:
Reading goals: None
Opposition goals: None
Half-time: Reading 0 Henley 0
Attendance:
Weather: "Very unfavourable." At 9am that morning, it
was raining with a westerly wind and the barometer showed 29.58
inches (1001.6 millibars). Over the next 24 hours there was 0.44
inches (11.18 millimetres) of rain, some of it during the game,
and the maximum temperature was 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees
Centigrade).
Referee: Probably two umpires, one provided by each club
Reading line-up:
Subs not used: Substitutes not allowed?
Match report:
From the Reading Mercury, 2/11/1872 edition:
"Foot Ball Match - On Wednesday a match was played on the Recreation Ground, between the Reading and Henley Clubs. The weather was very unfavourable, and the match resulted in favour of Reading. The return match will be played at Henley."
From Kinch's Henley Advertiser, 2/11/1872 edition (paraphrase?):
Henley v Reading, played on the Reading ground in heavy rain, impossible to keep one's feet. Very even contest and neither side obtained a goal. "At the commencement of the game the Reading men were somewhat at fault, not having studied the Association rules."
A more detailed weather report, from the Reading Mercury of 2/11/1872:
As at 9am on 30/10/1872 in the Reading public
gardens:
Observed height of barometer - 29.55
Hygrometer - dry bulb 58, wet bulb 57
Dew Point - 55.7
Moisture - .924
Thermometer - Max 58, Min 48
Wind - SW
Rain - 0.03
Weather - rain
As at 9am on 31/10/1872 in the Reading public
gardens (only those items that might have applied to the previous
day):
Hygrometer - dry bulb 52, wet bulb 51
Dew Point - 49.7
Moisture - .925
Thermometer - Max 54, Min 48
Rain - 0.44
Match notes:
This was the first game of Reading Football Club's second season.
The Reading Mercury match report states that "the match resulted in favour of Reading", and I initially interpreted that as a victory. However, when the return match took place on 3/4/1873, the Berkshire Chronicle stated that the previous game between the two sides had ended as a draw. On an earlier visit to this page, you might have seen that I assumed this meant an error in the Chronicle, but the report from a Henley paper shows that in fact the game was a draw.
Match preview:
Advert in the Reading Mercury, 26/10/1872:
"Reading Football Club - A match will be played on Wednesday next, October 30th, at 2.30pm on the Recreation Ground, between the Reading Football Club and the Henley Football Club."
From the news section of the Reading Mercury, 26/10/1872:
"Football - On Wednesday, a football match will be played between the Reading and Henley Clubs, on the Recreation Ground in the King's Meadows."
Advert in the Berkshire Chronicle, 26/10/1872:
"Reading Football Club. A football match will be played on Wednesday next, October 30, at 2.30pm, on the Recreation Ground between the Reading Football Club and the Henley Football Club."
This is the first time that an advert was placed in the Berkshire Chronicle for a game - it's a little surprising that the text is not identical to the Reading Mercury advert even if the changes are mostly in punctuation.
Ticket information:
The game will be played at Reading Football Club's home ground of Reading Recreation Ground on King's Meadow. As this is in a public park and is not an enclosed ground there will be no admission charge.
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