Ghost of wembley put to rest?

Millsy · by **Millsy** » 22 Apr 2007 12:36

This question has been asked several times before: When we beat Bolton 3-2 at Elm Park (Quinn in goal!), when we won promotion to the Premiership etc

We got some sort of revenge against Bolton when we beat them at Elm Park, we got over the "missing out on the Prem" thing when we made it. But for me this wrapped it all up: to be in the Prem at teh same time as Bolton, play them in their ground and beat them.

Of course those of us with the ability to move on from things wouldn't need such events to occur but for the likes of me it was necessary. I could never forget the northern b*stards shouting down at us unnecessarily taunting and mocking us relentlessly as we walked away from that day in 1995. So it was particularly sweet for us to catch up after all these years and massively dent their hopes of European football on their own turf in the Prem.

For me, as someone with an elephant's memory, the ghosts been finally put to rest.

Maguire · by **Maguire** » 22 Apr 2007 12:38

It was banished for me when we got promotion. I genuinely thought that with the whole finishing 2nd in '95 and not going up, that I was effectively sentenced to a lifetime of watching a lower league football club. Not so.

RG30 · by **RG30** » 22 Apr 2007 12:38

Maguire It was banished for me when we got promotion. I genuinely thought that with the whole finishing 2nd in '95 and not going up, that I was effectively sentenced to a lifetime of watching a lower league football club. Not so.

Seconded

T.R.O.L.I. · by **T.R.O.L.I.** » 22 Apr 2007 12:40

RG30
Maguire It was banished for me when we got promotion. I genuinely thought that with the whole finishing 2nd in '95 and not going up, that I was effectively sentenced to a lifetime of watching a lower league football club. Not so.

Seconded

Thirded - although this season's results have added a cherry (yesterday's results) on top of the icing (December's home win)

readingbedding · by **readingbedding** » 22 Apr 2007 12:40

The worst day ever.

Like the worst sick joke you can imagine.

Unlike you though, we bumped into sympathetic Bolton fans that day, but I'm happy that we did the double over them and gave them a bit of pain this season.

Behindu · by **Behindu** » 22 Apr 2007 12:43

Interesting parallel - the Wembley game probably hinged on the fact that McAteer was not sent off in the closing stages of the first half, we had too many injured players who didn;t last the pace and Boltons subs played a big part in the comeback.

Spot the similarities ?

loyal-royal · by **loyal-royal** » 22 Apr 2007 12:43

readingbedding The worst day ever.

Like the worst sick joke you can imagine.

Unlike you though, we bumped into sympathetic Bolton fans that day, but I'm happy that we did the double over them and gave them a bit of pain this season.

specially if they dont make europe and we do.

readingbedding · by **readingbedding** » 22 Apr 2007 12:45

Maguire It was banished for me when we got promotion. I genuinely thought that with the whole finishing 2nd in '95 and not going up, that I was effectively sentenced to a lifetime of watching a lower league football club. Not so.

That's exactly what I felt, I knew the team would disintergrate and move on to better clubs.
I knew that and I felt, like you that we were never going to get there for a long, long time.

Saying that, it did take 11 years.

Archie's penalty · by **Archie's penalty** » 22 Apr 2007 12:46

I loved the friendly mocking rivalry between the two teams during the match. Us 'Super Reading Fc....' - them 'two-nil and you f*cked it up...'.

The chant whcih lasted the longest after the game was 'one-nil and you f*cked it up'

quality and I think a lovely bit of poetic justice...

doylefan · by **doylefan** » 22 Apr 2007 12:56

Archie's penalty I loved the friendly mocking rivalry between the two teams during the match. Us 'Super Reading Fc....' - them 'two-nil and you f*cked it up...'.

The chant whcih lasted the longest after the game was 'one-nil and you f*cked it up'

quality and I think a lovely bit of poetic justice...

def poetic justice - fantastic end to the game!!!

floyd__streete · by **floyd__streete** » 22 Apr 2007 14:07

2-0 and you f*cked it up, yes yes very droll.

I still want to know though, Bolton fans - where were you at Wem-ber-ley?

. Certainly sweet to do the double over them in our first top flight season after they pinched our place off us in '95.

Big Ern · by **Big Ern** » 22 Apr 2007 14:23

Maguire I was effectively sentenced to a lifetime of watching a lower league football club. Not so.

You can always go back to supporting Leeds United - Glory Hunter

biscuitsrus · by **biscuitsrus** » 22 Apr 2007 14:27

RFC Team 05/06+06/07=Ghostbusters

Although it still hurts when I think about it too much!

M0J0 · by **M0J0** » 22 Apr 2007 19:07

My parents taught me "to err is human-----to forgive is divine"

Well i don't think so,
----------------------------
O.K. Yesterday went some way in the right direction BUT
i will never forgive them for beating us at
Wembley ,for saving Archies side footed attempt at a penalty,
(paatelainen)(almost jaskelainen)for putting
a cricketer on to score and destroy all our dreams (DeFeitas)

and most of all i will never forgive McGhee.

From Despair To Where? · by **From Despair To Where?** » 22 Apr 2007 19:14

I got over the 95 playoff pretty quickly, to be honest. I had my last final exam the day after the playoff and i turned up 45 minutes late because my train got diverted to, of all places, Bolton. Worse still, my girlfriend was from Bolton and all her family were season ticket holders at Burnden Park so I had to be pretty magnaminous in defeat.

I hate Bolton though but not because of 95 but because they are dirty route one, cynical, cheating cloggers and the antithesis of everything we try to be. The classic playground bully team who like to throw their weight around but can't take it when someone dishes it back and beats them at their own game. to be fair to Ricky Sbragia though, he was pretty honest in his post match comments yesterday.

Rax · by **Rax** » 22 Apr 2007 19:32

Nope - Ghosts of '95 will never be laid to rest in my book - the biggest injustice football has ever seen.

AthleticoSpizz · by **AthleticoSpizz** » 22 Apr 2007 19:35

Rax Nope - Ghosts of '95 will never be laid to rest in my book - the biggest injustice football has ever seen.

you had to be there

Mr Optimist · by **Mr Optimist** » 22 Apr 2007 20:11

I think it will be quits only if we get a UEFA place instead of them.

A UEFA place that we have publicly said we would rather not have at this stage of the club's development.

All this after Big Sam saying that Arsenal had better watch their backs as they were looking for their Champions League place. Not getting in to Europe would be a disaster for Bolton financially as I am sure Anelka was probably signed on the promise of European football to support his lasrge wage packet.

Bowman's Quiver · by **Bowman's Quiver** » 22 Apr 2007 20:27

readingbedding The worst day ever.

Like the worst sick joke you can imagine.

Unlike you though, we bumped into sympathetic Bolton fans that day, but I'm happy that we did the double over them and gave them a bit of pain this season.

Like you I don't remember any unsympathetic Bolton fans that day but, then again, I was in a world of my own when I walked away from Wembley after the game.

That was a shocking experience that I think took at least two seasons to begin to get over. In football terms nothing has hurt since like "that" game and I still think there's an element in me even to this day that feels immune to the pain of defeat thanks to the play-off final of '95.

But I still can't find it in me to dislike Bolton as a club then or now really.

Mr Angry · by **Mr Angry** » 23 Apr 2007 00:33

It was laid to rest for me a few years later when i read of some lad who had been knocked down by a car, and was in a coma; his parents played the BBC Lancashire commentary of the game to him day after day (he was a Bolton fan) and it helped him come out of the coma.

Put it into perspective.

With hindsight, losing that play-off final was the best thing that could happen to Reading - had we gone up, we would have ended up paying ridiculous salaries to keep the team together, and with a 14,000 max capacity at Elm Park would have not been able to get the revenues in. Shaka, Scott Taylor, Simon Osborn et al would have probably left anyway, so we would have struggled to survive in the League, then stuggled to survive full stop.

The gates we were getting toward the end of that season showed Mr Mad that there was the potential support to fill a new, large stadium, and that was the lasting legacy of that campaign; I suggest that, in Years to come, moving to The Mad Stad will be shown to have been a major component of why we reached the heights we have done (and will continue to do into the future), together (obviously) with Mr Mad coming to the club, the training facilities at Hogwood, and the appointments of Nick Hammond as DofF, Pardew and then Coppell as Managers.

Ghost of wembley put to rest?

Ghost of wembley put to rest?

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