Play Off Dates Confirmed & Tickets

[T.R.O.L.I.]

With our history in the playoffs I can't really blame them especially as money is short, I myself wouldn't be going if it wasn't for my very generous Fiance paying for me.

Half of me really doesn't wanna go still, I don't think I can bare walking home after yet another playoff defeat!

Slightly harsh, no? We've only lost 2 out of our 4 playoff home games.

[who are ya?]

If it sold out with days spare, people would question where all these plastic fukkers appeared from, now everyone's questioning where they're hiding. I just do not know anymore!!!

[Wimb]

A little bit surprised but not really. As mentioned people have just paid for new season tickets, they might be waiting to see what happens and save cash for Wembley, it's a game that was only confirmed date wise 6 days ago and other people might have had prior plans etc etc.

If we get to the Premier League the fans will come back and we'll sell out every week no problem. Would I rather these people turned up whatever division we were in? sure but the same happens to every single club not just Reading. 'Big Club' and double European Cup winners Nottingham Forest had 3,000 under capacity last night.....

[Row Z Royal]

With our history in the playoffs I can't really blame them especially as money is short, I myself wouldn't be going if it wasn't for my very generous Fiance paying for me.

Half of me really doesn't wanna go still, I don't think I can bare walking home after yet another playoff defeat!

Slightly harsh, no? We've only lost 2 out of our 4 playoff home games.

Winning yet another play-off game doesn't have the same ring to it though.

[Schards#2]

I think Reading's maximum support from fans there to support Reading is around 21,000. Beyond that we are in to away fans and neutrals/uberplastics who just want to see a decent game and I guess Cardiff isn't floating their boat.

Even if we were promoted, we'd struggle to sell out more than half the games unless we gave away teams the whole of the south stand. It's no disgrace, the fan base just doesn't exist. Must be a bit dispiriting for the players to see empty seats though.

And, as Floyd says, LOL @ any suggestions of a stadium expansion, twas ever thus.

[RG30]

less people to serve in the stadium

Other than Dirk having a fit (I can hear his screams of anguish from here) - this can only be a good thing (although Ratty tends to nullify this problem at half time).

I stand corrected *fewer* people to serve in the stadium

[T.R.O.L.I.]

less people to serve in the stadium

Other than Dirk having a fit (I can hear his screams of anguish from here) - this can only be a good thing (although Ratty tends to nullify this problem at half time).

I stand corrected *fewer* people to serve in the stadium

[weybridgewanderer]

one of the symptoms of make the play offs too often?

People not interested anymore?

[Wimb]

Charlton averaged over 26,000 in 2004/05 this season 15,582, shows the difference the quality of football can have on fans.

Casual fans are happy go to see Premier League football. If the ticketing was priced right and the economy was at its 2006ish levels then there's no reason to think we couldn't sell out or get close to 30,000 especially if you gave the full 4,000 in the South Stand to away fans.

The expansion plans were justified at the time IMO.

[3 veesinarow]

Honestly, really honestly,...who gives a fcuk?

As pointed out elsewhere, Forest were 3000 short of capacity last night and Cardiff/Swansea will not sell out either. If you're going, great, well done, get behind your team. Concentrate on the pitch pur-lease, not what's happening in the stands. If you're not going, well, so what?

Empty seats = where's the support? Full seats = too many daytrippers/part-timers/plastics/kids/women etc.

All this talk of "cringemaking" support is actually what really IS cringemaking.

Seriously, shut the fcuk up.

[philM]

Have I got this right? People can't buy tickets for tonight unless they already have a membership card?

For the away leg Cardiff seem to be letting people register online and then buy a ticket, ie no requirement for prior membership.

There is quite a buzz about the game today around Reading, it's being heavily pimped by BBC Berks etc.

I reckon if we had let people buy without the prior membership card we would have sold a lot more over the last couple of days.

Is our only reason for doing this to avoid Cardiff in the home end? Leaving around £100,000 worth of tickets unsold seems a high price to pay for making the stewards' jobs easier, and is a waste of all the free advertising we have been getting.

[Bandini]

Perhaps it hasn't been promoted enough. Do people even know Reading are in the play-offs? Maybe RFC's marketing team are a little complacent and have failed to reach out into the community sufficiently.

It's surprising given the number of letters I understand that General B has been sending to the marketing manager, imploring that she reach around the community to stimulate support.

[Row Z Royal]

Have I got this right? People can't buy tickets for tonight unless they already have a membership card?

For the away leg Cardiff seem to be letting people register online and then buy a ticket, ie no requirement for prior membership.

Stab in the dark, but perhaps there was a concern that CCFC would sell their end out and a full general sale could lead to away fans in the virtually empty (judging by the mood on here today) home stands.

For the away game, I would imagine that there aren't going to be many CCFC fans in the Reading section!

[Rex]

Lol at bitching about 30 tickets not sold yet I actually think its great when the nuts and bolts league games do not sell out.

Do we have a sales per minute ratio to achieve.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

All gone now!

Brilliant, most impressive performance from Reading fans this season.....only thing to top it would be to sell out our Wembley allocation

What's your beef again?


Not everyone lives at home and gets their football spending back by the Bank of M&D.

Well said.

[RobRoyal]

Honestly, really honestly,...who gives a fcuk?

As pointed out elsewhere, Forest were 3000 short of capacity last night and Cardiff/Swansea will not sell out either. If you're going, great, well done, get behind your team. Concentrate on the pitch pur-lease, not what's happening in the stands. If you're not going, well, so what?

Empty seats = where's the support? Full seats = too many daytrippers/part-timers/plastics/kids/women etc.

All this talk of "cringemaking" support is actually what really IS cringemaking.

Seriously, shut the fcuk up.

I'd like to see a full stadium, but I pretty much agree with the above.

[philM]

Have I got this right? People can't buy tickets for tonight unless they already have a membership card?

For the away leg Cardiff seem to be letting people register online and then buy a ticket, ie no requirement for prior membership.

Stab in the dark, but perhaps there was a concern that CCFC would sell their end out and a full general sale could lead to away fans in the virtually empty (judging by the mood on here today) home stands.

For the away game, I would imagine that there aren't going to be many CCFC fans in the Reading section!

My point was more that we don't give the "neutrals/uberplastics who just want to see a decent game" (quoting Schards above^^) any mechanism to get tickets, unless they know and can ask a member card holder to sort them out.

I don't really care, I'd happily watch this game by myself in the East stand, and I'd still yell and cheer but I think the reason we won't make the numbers tonight is because we don't have a method for those new people to get tickets easily.

Anyway, fcuck all this - COME ON URRRZZZZZZZZZ

[The Prisoner]

The 21,000 includes the 2,000 Cardiff fans (it's mentioned on the live build up chat thing on the os, but that was as of 9am, so it will be more now)

Points I made on the other thread:

You needed a members card to buy: club is in a no win situation here, because if they'd have let people buy without one "loyal" fans might have missed out and we'd have had another man city. As it stands we get empty seats, but (largely) loyal fans.

Tickets are available tonight from the booking office: expect a Cardiff fan next to you!!! (doesn't say if you need a members card or not for those)

I'd rather have limited Cardiff fans and empty seats than a full house and 4-5000 Cardiff fans inside (or whatever the south stand holds)

There were 3000 empty seats at forest last night (albeit in a bigger ground)

[fester_royal]

With our history in the playoffs I can't really blame them especially as money is short, I myself wouldn't be going if it wasn't for my very generous Fiance paying for me.

Half of me really doesn't wanna go still, I don't think I can bare walking home after yet another playoff defeat!

Slightly harsh, no? We've only lost 2 out of our 4 playoff home games.

But our history in playoffs as a whole isn't exactly what the majority would class as successful is it?

[southbank1871]

With our history in the playoffs I can't really blame them especially as money is short, I myself wouldn't be going if it wasn't for my very generous Fiance paying for me.

Half of me really doesn't wanna go still, I don't think I can bare walking home after yet another playoff defeat!

I don't buy that. That's what football's all about shirley? How much more did promotion mean to us last time because of all the years of disappointment that came before.

I think Schards is correct, we just don't have an active fan base of much more than 20,000. If it was on a Saturday afternoon or evening we would have probably sold out, possibly people can't be arsed to rush back from work and get to the game.