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2003/04 Reports

Match facts:

Reading goals: None
Assists: None
Opposition goal: After 16 minutes
Half-time: West Ham United 1 Reading 0
Gamebreaker: Final whistle
Attendance: 32,634
Weather: Hot, dry, sunny
Referee: Dermot Gallagher (Banbury)

Reading line-up: 1 Marcus Hahnemann; 2 Graeme Murty, 8 Adie Williams, 5 Steve Brown, 3 Nicky Shorey; 7 Scott Murray (22 Nathan Tyson, 79 minutes), 14 Steve Sidwell, 15 James Harper (4 Kevin Watson, 75 minutes), 11 Andy Hughes; 10 Nicky Forster, 9 Shaun Goater
Subs not used: 21 Jamie Ashdown, 6 John Mackie, 25 Ricky Newman
Starting formation:

Reading yellow cards: Steve Sidwell (foul, 22 minutes), Andy Hughes (foul, 79 minutes)
Reading red cards: None

Match report:

Match notes:

The starting line-up was the same as for the Wimbledon game. However, John Mackie and fit-again Kevin Watson replaced Omar Daley and John Salako on the bench.

When West Ham scored, it was the first time this season that Reading had been behind during a game.

Match preview:

Well, what to write for this one? To some extent, it doesn't matter because hardly anyone is going to see this before the game as I'm having difficulty publishing pages!

Anyway, I would expect the Reading players to be relatively unaffected by the events of this week, and the West Ham players to be totally unaffected. Reading fans will be keener to win, if possible, whilst West Ham fans will make the mistake of all so-called big clubs of thinking that they will have an easy victory. They will therefore turn on their players if they don't look like getting it.

It's far more difficult than usual to predict the Reading team, for the obvious reason that it's being selected for the first time ever by Kevin Dillon. However, it's difficult to see too many changes from the side that beat Wimbledon 3-0 in the last league game. Personally, I'd like to see Kevin Watson playing but I can't really see him displacing James Harper or Steve Sidwell. Andy Hughes had a good game at Wimbledon but John Salako might have a slight chance of getting in the side. The other players all pick themselves.

West Ham have signed a couple of loan players this week, so may well put out a side that has never played together before. The only one of their players I shall bother to show much interest in is David Connolly, who of course could have been a Reading player had he played his cards right in the summer.

This is the first ever League game between the two sides, and the first time Reading have visited West Ham since the days of the Southern League. We did however beat them on penalties in the League Cup two years ago, and in a friendly one year ago, so a hat-trick would be nice.

Ticket information:

This will be Reading's first ever competitive first-team game at Upton Park (or the Boleyn Ground as we should really call it). We have 2,531 tickets in a portion of the lower tier in the Centenary Stand behind one of the goals. They go on sale to season ticket holders (two per ticket) from Thursday, 28th August, to STAR members (one per member) from Monday, 1st September, and on general sale from Tuesday, 2nd September. Prices are:
Adult - £22
Senior - £13
Junior - £10
Wheelchair £15 (including helper)

A further allocation of about 150 tickets were later made available, but all had sold out.

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