What's the most obscure Reading match you have been to?

[Cripple Creek]

I kid you not I once visited the North East of England in the 1970s and watched Reading reserves play Hartelpool reserves on a rainy Wednesday evening in Hartelpool. If anyone can beat that I take my hat off to them.

[Schards#2]

Haven't reserve leagues always been regionalised?

[cmonurz]

I don't know about obscure, but in '99 I had my appendix removed, and Reading were playing in the league cup, I think it was Orient at home, the day after I came out of hospital. I went to the game, against my better judgement, and sat uncomfortably in a fair bit of pain, behind the dugouts (the only time I have sat in the West Stand).

I spent the game moving delicately so as not to disturb my stitches, hardly celebrated the goal (I think Darius scored, can't remember the final score, 1-0 maybe?), and the crowd was barely 2,500 iirc, deathly silent. Not really obscure, just very different to my other matchday experiences!

[Norfolk Royal]

I kid you not I once visited the North East of England in the 1970s and watched Reading reserves play Hartelpool reserves on a rainy Wednesday evening in Hartelpool. If anyone can beat that I take my hat off to them.

I can't find Hartelpool anywhere on a map i'm afraid.

[LUX]

lol, I think Schards may have rumbled CC there.

I've done ( home) pre-season friendlies, I've watched the team train in the state of the art car park behind the Town End at EP, hoping they'd ask me to join in and play alongside Dave Moreline. That's sad, rather than obscure.

Most obscure would be home to York, Div 4, one nil win in about 1981 (?). Obscure because it was the lowest home crowd I ever saw (around 2k). I also think it was our lowest ever finish (well below halfway).

Stattos can confirm my memories, I hope.

[eleventh earl of mar]

A midweek mid-season friendly at Altrincham sometime in the early 80's.

[Franchise FC]

A midweek mid-season friendly at Altrincham sometime in the early 80's.

Whoa !!! There were only about half a dozen of us there. I must know you !!!!!

[Winchester Royal]

I don't know about obscure, but in '99 I had my appendix removed, and Reading were playing in the league cup, I think it was Orient at home, the day after I came out of hospital. I went to the game, against my better judgement, and sat uncomfortably in a fair bit of pain, behind the dugouts (the only time I have sat in the West Stand).

I spent the game moving delicately so as not to disturb my stitches, hardly celebrated the goal (I think Darius scored, can't remember the final score, 1-0 maybe?), and the crowd was barely 2,500 iirc, deathly silent. Not really obscure, just very different to my other matchday experiences!

I went to that, 2-1 against Colchester.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm pretty sure that 1-0 game against Orient wasn;t against Chesterfield and didn't finish 2-1, but I could be wrong !!

It was an FA Trophy game (cannot remember what that was all about...) and I got in free becasue I happened to run into someone in the car park who had a box and invited me to join them. I was still ripped off....

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

I went to a friendly at Aborfield, where we played any Army side. It was early in Pardew's reign. Remember meeting Maurice Evans.

Gambell hit the bar and Hammond came on as a sub and played up front!!

[dellwoodboy]

I think it was in July 2001 and we had an early season friendly at Torquay which we duly won comfortably by a score that I cannot remember.
I have to confess though that I do live in Devon but I still made the effort to go along and see a good performance by Reading

[gazzer, loyal royal]

i went to the cup replay against Swansea a couple of years a go in one of the last seasons at the vetch. was a monday night on sky and forster scored in extra time, what a cold wet night that was

[StevenKelliher]

I went to Bromley a few years ago which was rather nice. A certain Mr Federici scored the only goal. The Bromley chairmans daughter was stood next door to me, stuning wouldn't be to far from the truth.

[Royal With Cheese]

Bizarrely I've also seen us play a close season friendly at Hartlepool, this was in the early 90's though.

I do remember watching Maltby Miners Welfare V Reading Friendly in 1988 (or was it 1989?). Having tried to google this I've found that Dick Habbin ended up as manager of Maltby!

[yuomi]

pre-season friendly fr our u18s team vs farnborough.

most random friendly ever. paul parker played for farnbrough. this must have been 99-00.

next game after that was farnbrough vs. panionios. farnborough won both these games. a ginger waste of space called david mehew scored five goals in the two games.




i am not a farnborough fan.

[Jackson Corner]

I went to the first round of the Simod cup away to QPR. I was working in London at the time. On there plastic pitch we won 3-1 and there could not have been than 1500 fans there about 30 from Reading. Little did we know then it would lead to that great day at Wembley.

[Tutti Frutti]

In terms of competitive first team games, I was one of about 50 hardy royals at underhill for the 4-1 defeat in the Auto-windscreens about seven years ago. Barnet were in the conference (they had just started letting some conference teanms compete) and Darius got sent off for a Keane-on-Haaland style lunge.

[swansea jack]

Crewe 3 - 4 Reading, Feb 2006.

Worked 'Up t'North' all week with a Urz mate and stayed the Friday night to catch this game on the way back home. Mate bought tickets from the ticket office on the day and came back with two seats in row D. I took them back and asked for a higher row only to be told that there was only Row E available. Bit miffed but took them anyway and entered the ground only to find that the stand, behind the goal, only had 5 rows of seats.

Sang 'Come in a taxi', 'Is that all you bring away' & 'Shall we sing a song for you' along with about 50 others to all the Urz fans, probably some 2,500, in the stand alongside the pitch. Funny and a touch surreal

Great game, great atmosphere, great non-league ground and a superb chippy there too!

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Tranmere Away in 1990 on a Friday night was a bit ridiculous. Onyl about 50 Royals there, it was so foggy you couldn't see most of the game. 20 hour round trip by train as well.

Also went to Grimsby in the same season, on the train, on my own, cost about a weeks part time student wages to get there. We were 3 down in what seemed like 5 minutes. Totally pointless.

Not Reading, but I used to work with a Torquay fan who followed them in the 80s when they were always applying for re-election, etc. They had a midweek game at Peterborough but when he got there the away end was closed as they weren't expecting anyone from Torquay. So they opended up the end and the entire away support was him, his wife and kid in pushchair!

[Norfolk Royal]

Crewe 3 - 4 Reading, Feb 2006.

Worked 'Up t'North' all week with a Urz mate and stayed the Friday night to catch this game on the way back home. Mate bought tickets from the ticket office on the day and came back with two seats in row D. I took them back and asked for a higher row only to be told that there was only Row E available. Bit miffed but took them anyway and entered the ground only to find that the stand, behind the goal, only had 5 rows of seats.

Sang 'Come in a taxi', 'Is that all you bring away' & 'Shall we sing a song for you' along with about 50 others to all the Urz fans, probably some 2,500, in the stand alongside the pitch. Funny and a touch surreal

Great game, great atmosphere, great non-league ground and a superb chippy there too!

I may be missing something there, but since when has Gresty Road been a non-league ground?