Oxford - Reading

[Scutterbucketz]

Can anyone tell me the allure of hooliganism, other than repressed homosexuality?

Well first you get to all go shopping and buy the very finest, loveliest terracewear with your friends. It's best to go in groups so you can all get co'ordinated. You also get the phone numbers of likeminded chaps from other towns and cities, so you can prearrange a date and place where you can all get together and have an 'off'. Then the excitement and preparation kicks in. There's really nothing better than getting ready to have an off with a rival firm.
When you're having an 'off' it's best to take you brand new Stone Island jacket and Aquascutum shirt off so you don't ruin it when rolling around in a ball with other shirtless males, slapping and biting them as desired. If you want to use tools then this has to be agreed with the rival gang beforehand. "Tools or no tools?" you say. To which the replay is more often than not a hearty: "TOOLS!" because everyone loves a nice tool.

Thes really nothing homosexual about it.

[La Flama Blanca]

I can see us playing Oxford quite soon. They are quite a well supported club and have bigger plans. Let's just hope they get a 4th stand by that time so we can take a good load up there.

We will be back playing them within a year or two.

For me they are the biggest rivals - but that is from growing up in South Oxfordshire. As someone said on their forum, we encounter each other daily there!

However I do not see them playing us regularly in the league any time soon, more likely the odd season v Slough or Maidenhead.

They had a very brief run in the 1980s due to fraudster Robert Maxwell pumping in stolen money. As far as I am concerned their league cup and 3 top flight seasons fighting relegation are no more valid than Lazio's title under Mussolini or Juventus' when they paid the refs.

It is all a bit "Rushden & Diamonds" or "Gretna" to me and simply doens't compare at all to continuous history from 1871 and league football since the 1920s. Imagine if we were called Tilehurst United until 1960 and the North Stand was a wall...

Yes you will get the occasional second tier season over time for any side, eg Yeovil, Burton etc but when you have the likes of Blackburn, Bradford, Blackpool, Portsmouth Coventry etc down there I don't see how Oxford can expect sustainable football at a higher level. It is not a historical football city and doesn't have the urban population of the Reading region and it's university is one of only two where the students actually have to study rather than drink and watch football!

We will be back playing them within a year or two - well it has only take 16 so far!

I couldn't disagree with you more. They're on an upwards trejectory, it's a bigger city than Reading, they're riding high in League One. Traditionally they've always been a second tier team.
Don't get me wrong, as a Reading fan they are one of my least favourite teams but I think you're being bias/clouded with your opinion of how big a team they are.

Bigger city? Don't think so. Reading has a much bigger population and as far as I'm aware a much larger area too.

[John Smith]

I couldn't disagree with you more. They're on an upwards trejectory, it's a bigger city than Reading, they're riding high in League One. Traditionally they've always been a second tier team.
Don't get me wrong, as a Reading fan they are one of my least favourite teams but I think you're being bias/clouded with your opinion of how big a team they are.

Bigger city? Don't think so. Reading has a much bigger population and as far as I'm aware a much larger area too.

Ok well I'll stand corrected on official figures but my point being it is a city and a more attractive place to live if you were a player thinking of joining, for instance. That's from someone who has lived most of their life in Reading.

[MoorgateRoyal]

Can anyone tell me the allure of hooliganism, other than repressed homosexuality?

Well first you get to all go shopping and buy the very finest, loveliest terracewear with your friends. It's best to go in groups so you can all get co'ordinated. You also get the phone numbers of likeminded chaps from other towns and cities, so you can prearrange a date and place where you can all get together and have an 'off'. Then the excitement and preparation kicks in. There's really nothing better than getting ready to have an off with a rival firm.
When you're having an 'off' it's best to take you brand new Stone Island jacket and Aquascutum shirt off so you don't ruin it when rolling around in a ball with other shirtless males, slapping and biting them as desired. If you want to use tools then this has to be agreed with the rival gang beforehand. "Tools or no tools?" you say. To which the replay is more often than not a hearty: "TOOLS!" because everyone loves a nice tool.

Thes really nothing homosexual about it.

'Sometimes I get a boner but that's because of adrenaline, not because I am thinking of Danny Dyer and there's a man on top of me'

[Snowflake Royal]

I couldn't disagree with you more. They're on an upwards trejectory, it's a bigger city than Reading, they're riding high in League One. Traditionally they've always been a second tier team.
Don't get me wrong, as a Reading fan they are one of my least favourite teams but I think you're being bias/clouded with your opinion of how big a team they are.

Bigger city? Don't think so. Reading has a much bigger population and as far as I'm aware a much larger area too.

Ok well I'll stand corrected on official figures but my point being it is a city and a more attractive place to live if you were a player thinking of joining, for instance. That's from someone who has lived most of their life in Reading.

I'm quite enjoying this wind up, good work.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

The last time we played them (Cup game) It was fairly intimidating on arrival at the Kassam. Plenty of Oxford "Lads" grouped around outside looking for agro and during HT, lots of plastic pints being thrown over the temporary wall between the concourse bars then the Old Bill came wading into the Reading lot with batons flailing. Not a pleasant experience especially as my mates 65 year old dad took a whack just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time!

[Henley Royal 1]

Oxford is the derby always has always will .

[oldebiscuit]

I can see us playing Oxford quite soon. They are quite a well supported club and have bigger plans. Let's just hope they get a 4th stand by that time so we can take a good load up there.

We will be back playing them within a year or two.

For me they are the biggest rivals - but that is from growing up in South Oxfordshire. As someone said on their forum, we encounter each other daily there!

However I do not see them playing us regularly in the league any time soon, more likely the odd season v Slough or Maidenhead.

They had a very brief run in the 1980s due to fraudster Robert Maxwell pumping in stolen money. As far as I am concerned their league cup and 3 top flight seasons fighting relegation are no more valid than Lazio's title under Mussolini or Juventus' when they paid the refs.

It is all a bit "Rushden & Diamonds" or "Gretna" to me and simply doens't compare at all to continuous history from 1871 and league football since the 1920s. Imagine if we were called Tilehurst United until 1960 and the North Stand was a wall...

Yes you will get the occasional second tier season over time for any side, eg Yeovil, Burton etc but when you have the likes of Blackburn, Bradford, Blackpool, Portsmouth Coventry etc down there I don't see how Oxford can expect sustainable football at a higher level. It is not a historical football city and doesn't have the urban population of the Reading region and it's university is one of only two where the students actually have to study rather than drink and watch football!

We will be back playing them within a year or two - well it has only take 16 so far!

I couldn't disagree with you more. They're on an upwards trejectory, it's a bigger city than Reading, they're riding high in League One. Traditionally they've always been a second tier team.
Don't get me wrong, as a Reading fan they are one of my least favourite teams but I think you're being bias/clouded with your opinion of how big a team they are.

They're not going to go much higher, they are NOT a traditional 2nd tier team, they are traditionally NON LEAGUE and LOWER LEAGUE team having once had a good run in the 2nd tier and as already mentioned, a few surruptitious seasons of Top Flight.
It's a lot smaller than Reading as a place, but a City nonetheless, but then Ely is a City.
It's arguable on whether or not it's a nicer place to live because property is very expensive there, and if you have money then it is a very nice place to live, but unless your loaded, forget it. For ordinary folk there's just the Cowley end of town which includes their own Low Life settlements of the 'Leys Estates', and then life is the same as any other town in the UK.

[BR0B0T]

Can anyone tell me the allure of hooliganism, other than repressed homosexuality?

Well first you get to all go shopping and buy the very finest, loveliest terracewear with your friends. It's best to go in groups so you can all get co'ordinated. You also get the phone numbers of likeminded chaps from other towns and cities, so you can prearrange a date and place where you can all get together and have an 'off'. Then the excitement and preparation kicks in. There's really nothing better than getting ready to have an off with a rival firm.
When you're having an 'off' it's best to take you brand new Stone Island jacket and Aquascutum shirt off so you don't ruin it when rolling around in a ball with other shirtless males, slapping and biting them as desired. If you want to use tools then this has to be agreed with the rival gang beforehand. "Tools or no tools?" you say. To which the replay is more often than not a hearty: "TOOLS!" because everyone loves a nice tool.

Thes really nothing homosexual about it.

I like the Russian way of doing things. Where they organise two teams of equal numbers, do what they want to do away from anyone else. If that's what you enjoy doing and it doesn't bother any one else....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1_84K8h--Q

I prolly wouldn't do it †bh

[boycey]

I knew a guy who was in the police force and went undercover to infiltrate probably the most hardcore gang of hooligans in the country.

He started off OK, but the longer he did it, the more into it he became. He developed a taste for the life and eventually he became one of their top boys. When the job ended, he couldn't handle it and flipped out. He drove his wife away and trashed his house.

The last I knew of him, he had shaved his head and was hanging around with a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads, giving repeated Nazi salutes and shouting "SIEG HEIL" over and over again.

[bobby1413]

I knew a guy who was in the police force and went undercover to infiltrate probably the most hardcore gang of hooligans in the country.

He started off OK, but the longer he did it, the more into it he became. He developed a taste for the life and eventually he became one of their top boys. When the job ended, he couldn't handle it and flipped out. He drove his wife away and trashed his house.

The last I knew of him, he had shaved his head and was hanging around with a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads, giving repeated Nazi salutes and shouting "SIEG HEIL" over and over again.

He sounds like my mate

[bobby1413]

I've just thought, I hope no coppers have infiltrated the Reading firms. I'd better be more careful from now on

[Green]

Can anyone tell me the allure of hooliganism, other than repressed homosexuality?

Well first you get to all go shopping and buy the very finest, loveliest terracewear with your friends. It's best to go in groups so you can all get co'ordinated. You also get the phone numbers of likeminded chaps from other towns and cities, so you can prearrange a date and place where you can all get together and have an 'off'. Then the excitement and preparation kicks in. There's really nothing better than getting ready to have an off with a rival firm.
When you're having an 'off' it's best to take you brand new Stone Island jacket and Aquascutum shirt off so you don't ruin it when rolling around in a ball with other shirtless males, slapping and biting them as desired. If you want to use tools then this has to be agreed with the rival gang beforehand. "Tools or no tools?" you say. To which the replay is more often than not a hearty: "TOOLS!" because everyone loves a nice tool.

Thes really nothing homosexual about it.

I like the Russian way of doing things. Where they organise two teams of equal numbers, do what they want to do away from anyone else. If that's what you enjoy doing and it doesn't bother any one else....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1_84K8h--Q

I prolly wouldn't do it †bh

Just as well - noone else would stand a chance

[From Despair To Where?]

I knew a guy who was in the police force and went undercover to infiltrate probably the most hardcore gang of hooligans in the country.

He started off OK, but the longer he did it, the more into it he became. He developed a taste for the life and eventually he became one of their top boys. When the job ended, he couldn't handle it and flipped out. He drove his wife away and trashed his house.

The last I knew of him, he had shaved his head and was hanging around with a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads, giving repeated Nazi salutes and shouting "SIEG HEIL" over and over again.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

I knew a guy who was in the police force and went undercover to infiltrate probably the most hardcore gang of hooligans in the country.

He started off OK, but the longer he did it, the more into it he became. He developed a taste for the life and eventually he became one of their top boys. When the job ended, he couldn't handle it and flipped out. He drove his wife away and trashed his house.

The last I knew of him, he had shaved his head and was hanging around with a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads, giving repeated Nazi salutes and shouting "SIEG HEIL" over and over again.

Gumbo?! Get ya tools out!

[FiNeRaIn]

Oxford holds some good memories for me, back when football felt more special and there was still that buzz and hope surrounding it. I am not saying it was the best or most fierce derby for either team, but it was still a good old fashioned local rivalry played by two unfavorable teams in traditional grounds and it had something about it. Checking 390 on teletext was how i'd find the team if dial up was lagging, a very different era now.

I had just started supporting Reading in about 1997 when I moved to the area and the first derby I went to we lost 0-2 at home, their lad Murphy hit a screamer from outside the box after Beauchamp skinned his man and cut the ball back, I remember it well. Went to the return game at the Manor and we won 1-3, nice full away end, rowdy, loud and there were a lot of trouble before the game which added to the tension. I think Reading fans had smashed up a pub a few streets away. Was this the game where they had two awful goalkeeping performances and the " whose been eating Gm foods chant"? I also remember the 4-3 and it pissing down, Rougier scored the winner through the soaking wet pitch on his knees.

Went to the two league cup wins, the first was spicy and tense, the second drew less Oxford fans but the away end was still pretty full, wasn't quite the same second time around. Oxford fans were starting to realize the gap and didn't care as much, we also fielded a weaker team.

I really miss the old terracing, less media surrounding the games and the lack of exposure and ridiculous money made it more fun and unexpected. It also felt a much more tight knit community if I am honest. The players seemed more like normal, working class lads with much more affiliation for the fans than they do now. They seemed invested in the team and the fans themselves were very different. I remember seeing the same faces at most away games and becoming familiar with them for their nicknames or names printed on their shirt like ginger kev, ferret,etc, the big bald guy taking his shirt off at Swindon and Oxford to name a few. Always great banter in the pubs and on the terraces.

I was there up until about 4 years ago but I started to fall out of love with the game with money taking over and the realization that in order for us to ever really progress we'd need to spend a bucket load. Even then it'll never garner the respect from the footballing world, " plastic mercenaries" bla bla bla. High player turnover, ridiculous wages and transfer fee's, insane ticket prices, huge gap in affiliation between fans and players and everyone trying to suck as much money out the game as possible makes me glad I am not a teenager growing up in these times. I am sure some older fans than I felt it was probably even better in the earlier 90's. Some things have changed for the better don't get me wrong, I just miss the days where it felt more innocent and unexposed. I am sure people have a different take.

I still follow from abroad and look forward to going to a game when i'm back but I doubt it'll never feel as special as it did through my teenage years and early 20's with my dad, mates and the same old fans i'd see every week. The buzz around " what could be" for Reading was huge back then too. I think of the derbies with Oxford right in there with this.

[tmesis]

I can see us playing Oxford quite soon. They are quite a well supported club and have bigger plans. Let's just hope they get a 4th stand by that time so we can take a good load up there.

We will be back playing them within a year or two.

They had a very brief run in the 1980s due to fraudster Robert Maxwell pumping in stolen money. As far as I am concerned their league cup and 3 top flight seasons fighting relegation are no more valid than Lazio's title under Mussolini or Juventus' when they paid the refs.

I feel a bit unclean defending Oxford, but I doubt he pumped much (if any) money into Oxford to push them up the divisions. It was a different era back then. Plenty of smaller clubs took advantage of bigger clubs falling on hard times financially. Half of the division that year averaged under 6500. You had the likes of Shrewsbury Town being one of the stronger clubs in the division, and Wimbledon would make their mark the following year.

With the small squads each club had, it was more about building a team, and picking up bargains.

[bobby1413]

Oxford holds some good memories for me, back when football felt more special and there was still that buzz and hope surrounding it. I am not saying it was the best or most fierce derby for either team, but it was still a good old fashioned local rivalry played by two unfavorable teams in traditional grounds and it had something about it. Checking 390 on teletext was how i'd find the team if dial up was lagging, a very different era now.

I had just started supporting Reading in about 1997 when I moved to the area and the first derby I went to we lost 0-2 at home, their lad Murphy hit a screamer from outside the box after Beauchamp skinned his man and cut the ball back, I remember it well. Went to the return game at the Manor and we won 1-3, nice full away end, rowdy, loud and there were a lot of trouble before the game which added to the tension. I think Reading fans had smashed up a pub a few streets away. Was this the game where they had two awful goalkeeping performances and the " whose been eating Gm foods chant"? I also remember the 4-3 and it pissing down, Rougier scored the winner through the soaking wet pitch on his knees.

Went to the two league cup wins, the first was spicy and tense, the second drew less Oxford fans but the away end was still pretty full, wasn't quite the same second time around. Oxford fans were starting to realize the gap and didn't care as much, we also fielded a weaker team.

I really miss the old terracing, less media surrounding the games and the lack of exposure and ridiculous money made it more fun and unexpected. It also felt a much more tight knit community if I am honest. The players seemed more like normal, working class lads with much more affiliation for the fans than they do now. They seemed invested in the team and the fans themselves were very different. I remember seeing the same faces at most away games and becoming familiar with them for their nicknames or names printed on their shirt like ginger kev, ferret,etc, the big bald guy taking his shirt off at Swindon and Oxford to name a few. Always great banter in the pubs and on the terraces.

I was there up until about 4 years ago but I started to fall out of love with the game with money taking over and the realization that in order for us to ever really progress we'd need to spend a bucket load. Even then it'll never garner the respect from the footballing world, " plastic mercenaries" bla bla bla. High player turnover, ridiculous wages and transfer fee's, insane ticket prices, huge gap in affiliation between fans and players and everyone trying to suck as much money out the game as possible makes me glad I am not a teenager growing up in these times. I am sure some older fans than I felt it was probably even better in the earlier 90's. Some things have changed for the better don't get me wrong, I just miss the days where it felt more innocent and unexposed. I am sure people have a different take.

I still follow from abroad and look forward to going to a game when i'm back but I doubt it'll never feel as special as it did through my teenage years and early 20's with my dad, mates and the same old fans i'd see every week. The buzz around " what could be" for Reading was huge back then too. I think of the derbies with Oxford right in there with this.

Good post

[bobby1413]

I have more of a feeling of rivalry towards Swindon and Oxford than I do against Aldershot but I know that would change if we ended up playing them. It's just because in recent times I can't recall playing them.

Looking up I see we played them in 2001:

A small group of Reading and Aldershot fans tried to get a bit of atmosphere going behind the goal - but it all degenerated into a rather pathetic battle seperated by two huge fences. The throwing of bottles that followed was never serious, but made both the small groups look pretty pathetic. Climbing up fences and gesturing to opposition fans during a pre-season friendly is at best laughable. At the start of the second half the police arrived and backed up the two stewards that were wondering what to do - an arrest was made of an Aldershot fan. An arrest in a pre-season friendly!

I've always felt that way and don't buy the whole "they're not rivals" shizzle. They're not probably thought off on a day-to-day basis only as there is a bit of distance between us now. But no doubt if we went down/they went up it wouldn't take long for things to change.

[tidus_mi2]

To be fair, I live 5mins from Aldershot and it's a shit hole, wouldn't be surprised people would have nothing better to do than start a fight at a friendly.