Nigel Howe says...

[floyd__streete]

No one has scattered Reading fans round the Madejski, there is a huge block in Y25/Y26 who all sing, sadly too many seem to prefer winding up stewards to making a noise consistently.

Well, that is baloney and I am not having that. Y25 and Y26 tend to sit down rather subserviently when the trumped-up Hitlers in yellow come to do their rounds. Monday was a half-decent atmosphere in the first half until the yellow coats came and shushed the singers up. Tiresome; there is one I have observed who really does seem to enjoy his job, telling teenagers off. It must make him feel the big man.

[Alan Partridge]

It's about having your vocal fans all together all behind the goal .

Why ?
We have NEVER had our noisy fans behind a goal. Why break with many years of tradition ?

Put Pompey fans in a new stadium, in the middle of nowhere, with little drinking facilitiy then scatter all their fans around their new 'home' and see how much noise they make.

Pompey's fans are scattered round Fratton. And they sing all round Fratton.
No one has scattered Reading fans round the Madejski, there is a huge block in Y25/Y26 who all sing, sadly too many seem to prefer winding up stewards to making a noise consistently.

go through the lists of all the teams with good home support, where does the noise come from??

Including Portsmouth where most of their noise is generated from beihnd the goal.

[Behindu]

go through the lists of all the teams with good home support, where does the noise come from??

Including Portsmouth where most of their noise is generated from beihnd the goal.

But that's just because traditionally the area behind the goal was terrace (and cheaper) and to the side was seated (and more expensive) - we were fairly unusual in having a big terrace at the side.
At Spurs the Shelf was to the side and there may be others that I can't bring to mind right now The West Ham Chicken Run is to the side and IIRC the old Millwall 'end' was a side....
I don't think it makes any difference (assuming the roof isn;t lower at the end or something)
But then I'm also unconvinced about it being impossible to make a noise sitting down.
If people put half the effort into singing that they do into making excuses why they don;t sing then we'd all near ear plugs !!

[Gordon Cumming's right ho]

Without wishing in any way to sound a 'gayer', papereeyes and Kitsonista get posters of the year for their sound and objective contributions to this thread. Honourable mention goes to the sexually challenged 'Daniella'... How sweet!

Girls, I would quite happily pay for a session (no, not that type of session, you nobbers) in the PoW or R&T to discuss how we are going to make RFC are European super club in my lifetime.

Oh, and DG and AP can come along, too, for their inside insight.

And SWLR... Just because

[Gordons Cumming]

You knew how to treat your wife!!

Some good posts on here Kitsonista - keep posting, makes a change from reading the same ol shite!

We had our honeymoon in Paignton in April.

That was 25 years ago..............................

The English Riviera. I got mixed up with the other one!

[Gordons Cumming]

If people put half the effort into singing that they do into making excuses why they don;t sing then we'd all near ear plugs !!

I'd only need one though.

HTH

[Alan Partridge]

You knew how to treat your wife!!

Some good posts on here Kitsonista - keep posting, makes a change from reading the same ol shite!

We had our honeymoon in Paignton in April.

That was 25 years ago..............................

The English Riviera. I got mixed up with the other one!

Cheapskate!! Couldn't even shell out for Torbay or Babbacombe!! Had to go for bloody Paignton!

[The whole year inn]

Could we change the thread title to "simple Simon says...."

Kevin McCabe was coming out with tripe like this all last season.

Neither seem to realise that it does not fool the fans into thinking they are not in a relegation battle

[Woodcote Royal]

It's the winning of stuff (even Simod cups!) that gets people interested, why do Wolves, Burnley, Preston and even Stoke have reasonably good support, because they have huge numbers of older supporters who passed on the supporting "bug" to other members of the family. Lets face it, most people here started supporting Reading because a Dad, Uncle, Brother (ok, Mum, Sister or aunt) took them along first. Failing that a mate or work-colleague.

We need to win a title or an FA Cup AND stay in the prem, then we can start thinking ourselves a "BIG" club. At the moment, we're probably still "over-achieving" and still "plucky little Reading".

I take no serious issue with those who feel that it might take a generation of top flight football to establish the kind of hardcore support enjoyed by clubs like Norwich and Ipswich, even after several seasons in the Championship.

However, this view in isolation completely ignores the potentially massive benefits to be gained from our huge and affluent catchment area.

I've always maintained that when the Mad Stad is fully expanded to 38k we will average 30k+, which is all we need to become an average Prem side.

The Premiership has massive worldwide appeal and our grounds today are being filled increasingly by people who do not fit the mould of a typical football fan. These are the types who who will ensure that our enlarged stadium will be heavily populated from the off provided we avoid relegation.

We won't need any silverware; just the lure of top flight football to attract middle England and it's fat wallets in sufficient numbers and, over time, the fan base will continue grow as it has over the last decade.........................until we simply ran out of seats.

For example, 10,000 STH's decided to blank our televised cup tie with Liverpool and it was still as good as sold out.....................just the returning STH's would ensure something approaching 35k for the league match if we had the capacity.

We are in an enviable position, don't under estimate it.

[Vision]

Could we change the thread title to "simple Simon says...."

Kevin McCabe was coming out with tripe like this all last season.

Neither seem to realise that it does not fool the fans into thinking they are not in a relegation battle

The point is that his statement isn't really aimed at the fans or not the existing ones at least. It's aimed at potential buyers, potential signings and potential supporters. His job is to sell the potential of the club and in that respect the statement merely reflects that. Quite why some want to criticise it , i've no idea.

That said it's been a catalyst for the best thread on the team board for ages and actually makes quite interesting reading for a change.

[Behindu]

I'd point out that what Howe said is not really any different to what Peter Kenyon says, or comes out of the Emirates and just about any club. Obvioulsy with some subtle changes to suit circumstances.

I'm not sure that becasue McCabe talked about buying clubs in China or Sheff Utd's property portfolio you can draw the conclusion that we are 'in a relegation battle'.

[SWLR]

Without wishing in any way to sound a 'gayer', papereeyes and Kitsonista get posters of the year for their sound and objective contributions to this thread. Honourable mention goes to the sexually challenged 'Daniella'... How sweet!

Girls, I would quite happily pay for a session (no, not that type of session, you nobbers) in the PoW or R&T to discuss how we are going to make RFC are European super club in my lifetime.

Oh, and DG and AP can come along, too, for their inside insight.

And SWLR... Just because

You've outed me.... b*gger!

[Diamond]

going back to the original crux of the argument, many of us will have grown up supporting Reading at Elm Park. I remember being so thrilled to see crowds over 10k when McGhee was there, and also reading the same derision about the Mad Stad and getting the crowds.

Lower level football will NOT see us sell out a 38k seater arena, however, just as our gates have risen to "selling out" for every home game (in terms of tickets sold - not necessarily people turning up) we will sell 38k for 5-6 games a season if still in the FAPL - absolute certainty.

You have to think that there has to be a plan for more money to be spent on the team to support the demand to sell the extra seats as JM and NH are not dumb. So, given that the average players will be replaced by "better" players, surely this will create more demand?

Personally, i cant wait and i applaud NH for his comments and the fore-thought that got us where we are. 30k average gates are acheivable by a club the size of reading, providing the fans (and it will include many who dont yet come) have a team they want to watch

[Kitsonista]

going back to the original crux of the argument, many of us will have grown up supporting Reading at Elm Park. I remember being so thrilled to see crowds over 10k when McGhee was there, and also reading the same derision about the Mad Stad and getting the crowds.

Lower level football will NOT see us sell out a 38k seater arena, however, just as our gates have risen to "selling out" for every home game (in terms of tickets sold - not necessarily people turning up) we will sell 38k for 5-6 games a season if still in the FAPL - absolute certainty.

You have to think that there has to be a plan for more money to be spent on the team to support the demand to sell the extra seats as JM and NH are not dumb. So, given that the average players will be replaced by "better" players, surely this will create more demand?

Personally, i cant wait and i applaud NH for his comments and the fore-thought that got us where we are. 30k average gates are acheivable by a club the size of reading, providing the fans (and it will include many who dont yet come) have a team they want to watch

Agree totally Mr D, but, refering back to my earlier post, does JM have the bottle to carry it through? I think that we now need to step up a gear with the executive team. We need a CEO who can make the bank busting decision and bring in some "better" players, and push on with the ground expansion. John M is a God and will be revered for generations to come as the man who got us to the promised land. Now we're in the promised land we need a new visionary to lead us forward.

Just as players reach a peak and then move on, so should the Executive, except that JM should become Life President and the others should get a free season ticket, alongside old retired players. We should have a heroes of RFC bench in the directors box, with ex players who made outstanding contributions given free seats for every home game for life.

If you look at the established "big Clubs" they have a process for retaining the "old lags" which sends a community message out to the world - we look after our own. So every ex-RFC player, from the championship winning season especially, should know they have a home at RFC. In return they provide a service by glad handing the supporters and providing a focus for loyalty and historic continuity.

[Cookie]

Nigel....football is played on the pitch mate, and as long as half our team belongs in the Championship we will never rival those clubs you mention, sorry to burst the bubble of big club bullshit.

Go and support Torquay you killjoy.

Great comeback

Reading - talking big since 2001. Just please stop.

It's called ambition, you Devonian.

Brick by Brick

I don't doubt they have ambition or the way they go about it, but this nonsense doesn't need to be out in the open. Reading will never be as big as some of those clubs mentioned, so what if we have 38,000 seats soon, they will rarely be filled IMO, when we just about manage to sell out 24,000 I could see us getting around 30,000 ish for the big games? Do we have another 14,000 fans just waiting to get through the door? No, IMO.

Reading HAVE to spend big to try and compete with those clubs named, need some names here and need to go forward and replace half our current team if they are to rival those clubs in the short- medium term. That's not going to happen - probably rightly so. So why spout this sort of talk?

Best location? says who!!?

Never is an exceedingly long time.
I believe in the brick-on-brick gospel.

Top ten here we come.

[Son of Len]

Nigel....football is played on the pitch mate, and as long as half our team belongs in the Championship we will never rival those clubs you mention, sorry to burst the bubble of big club bullshit.

Go and support Torquay you killjoy.

Great comeback

Reading - talking big since 2001. Just please stop.

It's called ambition, you Devonian.

Brick by Brick

I don't doubt they have ambition or the way they go about it, but this nonsense doesn't need to be out in the open. Reading will never be as big as some of those clubs mentioned, so what if we have 38,000 seats soon, they will rarely be filled IMO, when we just about manage to sell out 24,000 I could see us getting around 30,000 ish for the big games? Do we have another 14,000 fans just waiting to get through the door? No, IMO.

Reading HAVE to spend big to try and compete with those clubs named, need some names here and need to go forward and replace half our current team if they are to rival those clubs in the short- medium term. That's not going to happen - probably rightly so. So why spout this sort of talk?

Best location? says who!!?

nob

we sell out every week, 24 k is no problem for us

30-38k just gives us the potential to reduce prices for kids, and casual fans
we have the biggest catchment area in the prem, no other prem club for miles in every direction, and no other decent football club close, in any division either IMHO-southhampton and pompey to the south
london to the east, and vast swathes of the country up to birmingham in the north
and bristol and cardiff to the west. that is a massive area
allied to that its also the most disirable area to live in the country,one of the most densely populated, and the richest.
seems pretty good to me

we have come from third tier to top tier in a very short space of time, having spent very little
this years money will see us financially secure for many years to come, and increased capacity and gates can only see us get bigger and better
once that money, and prem survival is safe we can really push on and start spending to match that ambition


and is this the same half of the team(belonging in the championship)that won the chamionship on record points and got to 8th in their 1st ever season in the top flight?

cLOLueless

However, we have the greatest density of Private Schools and the Egg Chasers and Boat Rowers are on the increase. You also have the high concentration of other League teams in leagues 1 and 2 etc and I can't see a S*****n born person ever, ever becoming a Royals supporter, or Wycombe or O****d or Ald****t either. The cachement area is predominantly about 10 mile zone around Reading.

Would you like to repeat that last bit to all the Yanks and Koreans, the Swedes and Norwiegians who support the club. Not to mention all the other fans who live in this country but not reading. And that is with only our second season in the premiership.

Two points:
First, Reading is in a great location. The population can support 38,000 and the demographics are favorable. According to what I found with a little bit of googling and assuming I can read the stats correctly, Reading has a higher percentage of higher management types than the Southeast and England as a whole. At the same time, Reading lags behind the rest of the Southeast in small employers. I don't know much about the area, but it seems to me it is a hotbed of relatively wealthy folks who may or may not commute to London. That is a gold mine to work with.

Second, as has been mentioned and to paraphrase a baseball film, if you win they will come. You don't even have to win "it." Many of us like to support the underdog. I come from Minnesota and, to speak baseball again, I root for my Twins to win over the large teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox. Now I live in New York and I support the Mets. Still big club, but nothing like the Yankees.

Btw, I wore my Reading shirt at the Corporate Challenge in Central Park in June and someone recognized the hoops. He saw the Royals a few years ago in League 2. There is a market outside of Reading, Berkshires and England.

[Kitsonista]

Nigel....football is played on the pitch mate, and as long as half our team belongs in the Championship we will never rival those clubs you mention, sorry to burst the bubble of big club bullshit.

Go and support Torquay you killjoy.

Great comeback

Reading - talking big since 2001. Just please stop.

It's called ambition, you Devonian.

Brick by Brick

I don't doubt they have ambition or the way they go about it, but this nonsense doesn't need to be out in the open. Reading will never be as big as some of those clubs mentioned, so what if we have 38,000 seats soon, they will rarely be filled IMO, when we just about manage to sell out 24,000 I could see us getting around 30,000 ish for the big games? Do we have another 14,000 fans just waiting to get through the door? No, IMO.

Reading HAVE to spend big to try and compete with those clubs named, need some names here and need to go forward and replace half our current team if they are to rival those clubs in the short- medium term. That's not going to happen - probably rightly so. So why spout this sort of talk?

Best location? says who!!?

nob

we sell out every week, 24 k is no problem for us

30-38k just gives us the potential to reduce prices for kids, and casual fans
we have the biggest catchment area in the prem, no other prem club for miles in every direction, and no other decent football club close, in any division either IMHO-southhampton and pompey to the south
london to the east, and vast swathes of the country up to birmingham in the north
and bristol and cardiff to the west. that is a massive area
allied to that its also the most disirable area to live in the country,one of the most densely populated, and the richest.
seems pretty good to me

we have come from third tier to top tier in a very short space of time, having spent very little
this years money will see us financially secure for many years to come, and increased capacity and gates can only see us get bigger and better
once that money, and prem survival is safe we can really push on and start spending to match that ambition


and is this the same half of the team(belonging in the championship)that won the chamionship on record points and got to 8th in their 1st ever season in the top flight?

cLOLueless

However, we have the greatest density of Private Schools and the Egg Chasers and Boat Rowers are on the increase. You also have the high concentration of other League teams in leagues 1 and 2 etc and I can't see a S*****n born person ever, ever becoming a Royals supporter, or Wycombe or O****d or Ald****t either. The cachement area is predominantly about 10 mile zone around Reading.

Would you like to repeat that last bit to all the Yanks and Koreans, the Swedes and Norwiegians who support the club. Not to mention all the other fans who live in this country but not reading. And that is with only our second season in the premiership.

Two points:
First, Reading is in a great location. The population can support 38,000 and the demographics are favorable. According to what I found with a little bit of googling and assuming I can read the stats correctly, Reading has a higher percentage of higher management types than the Southeast and England as a whole. At the same time, Reading lags behind the rest of the Southeast in small employers. I don't know much about the area, but it seems to me it is a hotbed of relatively wealthy folks who may or may not commute to London. That is a gold mine to work with.

Second, as has been mentioned and to paraphrase a baseball film, if you win they will come. You don't even have to win "it." Many of us like to support the underdog. I come from Minnesota and, to speak baseball again, I root for my Twins to win over the large teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox. Now I live in New York and I support the Mets. Still big club, but nothing like the Yankees.

Btw, I wore my Reading shirt at the Corporate Challenge in Central Park in June and someone recognized the hoops. He saw the Royals a few years ago in League 2. There is a market outside of Reading, Berkshires and England.

And round we go again........

It's precisely because we have the ABC1's in such volumes round here that we have the problems. ABC1's don't come to football they go to Rugger or row little boats or play golf. There's stil a perception of football as working class and full of hooligans. Tired old cliches but still prevalant, as is the man on the terrace berating the prawn sandwich brigade.

BTW I wore my RFC shirt on a Cruise to Alaska this year and a young guy from Los Angeles recognised it, but he'll never be a regular at the Madstad. So please don't harp on about Swedes, Koreans or Yanks, they don't put bums on seats, and provide no income to the club. Love having you on board though, don't be a stranger.

[Behindu]

And round we go again........

It's precisely because we have the ABC1's in such volumes round here that we have the problems. ABC1's don't come to football they go to Rugger or row little boats or play golf. There's stil a perception of football as working class and full of hooligans. Tired old cliches but still prevalant, as is the man on the terrace berating the prawn sandwich brigade.

BTW I wore my RFC shirt on a Cruise to Alaska this year and a young guy from Los Angeles recognised it, but he'll never be a regular at the Madstad. So please don't harp on about Swedes, Koreans or Yanks, they don't put bums on seats, and provide no income to the club. Love having you on board though, don't be a stranger.

What problems are you referring to ?
And what ground do you watch your football at if you don;t think we get a lot of fans turning up in smart cars wearing posh coats....
If the 'ABC1's son;t go to football can we stop the endless rants about how football has been taken away from the working classess ! If the working classes can;t afford to go, and the middle classes are too posh to go but the ground is still full then who the hell is going !!

As for foreign fans not providing revenue well thre are plenty of people from aborad who come to games and a lot of merchandise sold abroad - IIRC the Cork region alone alomost ran us out of shirts last season...

[Dirk Gently]

Look to the future, though - the proportion of revenue that comes through the gates is falling all the time. TV contracts become ever-more valuable to clubs, and especially overseas rights.

And it may be that collective selling dies soon - lots of analysts think it will. At that point, a club's TV revenue will depend upon the value of them selling their own matches on PPV or similar. At that point those Swedes, Koreans or Yanks are extremely significant.

[RoyalBlue]

Don't remember us making much noise when we were 4-0 down last year, jsut like we didn't make much noise on monday.
I also don't remember any clapping for their 3rd goal where I was sat.
Pompeys fans are better than ours in terms of vocal support, the majority accept that. Lets not have a petty squabble over something small.

Do they make more noise? Yes. Is it atmosphere? Not to me. Same ol songs, just more people singing. As you would when you are all behind the goal together - another 'hot topic'.

Portsmouth get reasonable support in terms of numbers and that's the issue thats up for debate in this thread not 'who sings louder'.

Sorry AP, not trying to prolong this sub thread, but same old songs is what communities are all about, Bubbles, Blue Moon, You'll Never Walk Alone all community songs, all instantly recognisable and not "stealable" (I think I've invented a new word!!) by the opposition unless it's derisory wording. It's what we lack, Reading hasn't found its voice yet.

It's not so much an 'anthem' we lack because out of 92 clubs, probably 15 or so have an 'anthem'.

It's about having your vocal fans all together all behind the goal with stewards who aren't frustrated traffic wardens who failed the IQ test patrolling them. Allow people to have fun and enjoy thier day at football the way it was. Another thing that Reading lack is decent pub within walking distance of the ground.

If all that was in place here, our noise level would easily par Fratton Park for example.

Put Pompey fans in a new stadium, in the middle of nowhere, with little drinking facilitiy then scatter all their fans around their new 'home' and see how much noise they make.

I doubt we will have too long to wait to see and I reckon you will be spot on!

Biggest irony will be if they then start harping on about how shyte their vocal support is and how come Reading can do so much better in their new stadium!!