Free away travel

[Stranded]

It's just been announced that the owner will pay for free coach travel to the 15 furthest away games this season.

Coach travel isn't everyone's cup of tea but an amazingly good offer from the owner. Very impressed.

[Nameless]

That's a great gesture.
Still there will be some who question the owner's commitment / interest / wealth.
Is there a limit on numbers that can travel ?

[Hendo]

That is outstanding.

I think this will encourage a lot more people to go. I, for one, will be considering going to some of these games now.

[Hendo]

Full article

Fifteen of our furthest away journeys this season will be paid for by our owner, Mr Yongge Dai, this season.

The manager and the players always say how vital the support of our fans is and the impact it can have on performances and results…home and away. Our owner agrees.

You helped to make the Madejski a great place to play and watch football towards the end of last season. We all want more of the same at home this season.

And on our travels, our owner has stepped in to lend some support of his own. Travelling the length and breadth of the country in support of your side can be expensive. So, this season, we are offering free coach travel to fans to 15 of our 23 away league games, including all of our most distant destinations.

In total, round trips to Barnsley, Birmingham, Blackburn, Derby County, Huddersfield, Hull City, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Preston, Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and Wigan would see Royals fans cover more than 5,500 miles on the road.

STAR run very cost-effective coach travel to every one of our away games each season, but a seat on the coach for these fifteen fixtures this season would normally cost fans in excess of £350. Every penny will now be covered by Mr Dai.

Chief Executive Nigel Howe said, “This is another excellent example of the investment Mr Dai continues to make in helping this club evolve and achieve more success with the help of its loyal supporters.

“He recognises the commitment our fans make every season to support the team, home and away, rain or shine, win, lose or draw, and he personally came to me to ask how he can help reward that commitment. Working closely with STAR, I’m delighted this initiative will mean more away fans supporting the players on their travels this season.”

Your mileage made more affordable

Oakwell | 381.2 miles
St Andrew’s | 235.6 miles
Ewood Park | 449.2 miles
Pride Park | 289.6 miles
John Smith’s Stadium | 409.0 miles
KCOM Stadium | 457.0 miles
Elland Road | 418.0 miles
Riverside Stadium | 532.6 miles
The City Ground | 282.0 miles
Deepdale | 446.8 miles
Hillsborough | 366.4 miles
bet365 Stadium | 316.0 miles
Liberty Stadium | 299.6 miles
The Hawthorns | 242.8 miles
DW Stadium | 418 miles

Total: 5,543.8 miles

All fans who book a free seat on these coaches will need to have purchased a match ticket. And for travel insurance purposes and to follow safeguarding procedures and measures, every fan who takes up this offer will need to join STAR member at a cost of £10 for adults, £5 for under-18s and 65 & over.

However, even if you are not yet a member of the Supporters Trust (STAR), signing up for a tenner or less and then registering for just one of these fixtures will immediately save you money - for example, a seat on the coach to Hull City last season would have cost supporters £30, or a trip to the Hawthorns would have set fans back £15. The membership fee is recouped by one single away day on the coach!

And were you to want to travel to all fifteen games, across the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, into Wales and back, Lancashire and Yorkshire, you will be able to do so at a saving of precisely £353 (if an existing STAR member) and £343 (should you need to spend £10 on the STAR membership fee for 2019-20).

The first of these fifteen fixtures will be our trip to Hull City (A) on Saturday 10th August, kick-off 3pm - so there is no time to waste in signing up for STAR membership and booking a seat to the KCOM Stadium. Coaches will leave Madejski Stadium at 7.45am that morning and pick up fans from West Street at 8am. Anyone who has already purchased a coach seat via STAR for this match, will be fully reimbursed.

And tickets for our trip to Hull go on sale at 9am on Thursday 1st August; visit ticketing.readingfc.co.uk, call 0118 968 1313 or visit our Ticket Office in person to secure your seat at the KCOM.

Your support can only help us improve our away record in 2019-20. And free travel will make away days all the more enjoyable regardless of the result.

“We are delighted that the club’s owner, Mr Dai, has very generously offered to cover coach travel costs for these fifteen games,” said STAR’s Paula Martin. “We go to Hull City in our first away game of the season and we have never won at the KCOM Stadium, so it’s time we gave all our support to the team trying to break that record and make some history.

Benefits of joining STAR
Joining or renewing your membership of STAR can be done via our Supporters Trust’s online store at www.star-reading.org/join-star or in person at the STAR Base at Madejski Stadium on matchdays or at other specified times.

And for the first time this season, travel will be bookable online; last season STAR ran a successful online booking pilot scheme for a limited number of their members - so it will be available to all members from the start of the 2019-20 campaign, usually up to 14 days in advance of travel. Of course, fans will continue to be able to book coach places in person with cash at STAR Base.

STAR will be taking bookings and open to accept memberships when Madejski Stadium hosts its first league game of the season, against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday 3rd August and the STAR Base will also be open between 7.30pm-9pm on Tuesday 6th August.

Besides free travel to 15 away games in 2019-20, being a STAR member also gives you free entry to Fans Forums throughout the season, a 10% off discount voucher for the Fanstore, a credit of 20 Royalty Points added to your account and of course representation at a range of meetings with senior management at the club.

STAR members will also receive a free gift - either a traditional badge or a modern branded wristband (while stocks last). And this season STAR are even offering to pay for a 2020-21 Season Ticket for one lucky winner in a free members’ draw. To enter, all you have to do is join STAR by the end of November and you’ll be in with a shout of free football for the following season.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Announcement now on the RFC Web Site.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/july/owner-offers-free-away-travel-to-fifteen-fixtures/

[Hound]

great gesture again

big ups to the owners for this

[Silver Fox]

Mr Dai is a top bloke, this is a fantastic gesture.

Excited to see who manages to have an issue with it and what that issue is!

[Stranded]

Mr Dai is a top bloke, this is a fantastic gesture.

Excited to see who manages to have an issue with it and what that issue is!

Won't be long until someone who has already booked train travel to Hull has a whinge.

[STAR Liaison]

Great news – Reading FC and STAR are offering supporters the chance to go to Hull and back on 10th August for FREE. And not just Hull but 14 of the more distant away fixtures

It’s our first League away game of the season and owner Mr Yongge Dai has very generously offered to cover the coach travel costs – it would be £30 per person – so that we can have plenty of support at the KC Stadium. It’s a ground we’ve never yet won on so time to break that record.

STAR applauds this fantastic gesture and will be organising the coach bookings. In order to take advantage of this offer, supporters will need to be STAR members (you can join for £10 / £5 concessions for the whole season) and need to buy a match ticket. Let’s make it a great day out and a big support for the team. Coaches will leave Madejski Stadium at 7.45am that morning and pick up fans from West Street at 8am.

And if you don’t fancy Hull there are 14 other Championship venues you can travel to for FREE instead!

QUALIFYING FOR FREE TRAVEL
- You must be a 2019-20 member of STAR and show your member card when booking. Member cards are not transferable
- Membership cards will be checked before boarding the coach
- You must have bought / buy a match ticket for the fixture
- You must have an RFC Customer number (we don’t want to be carrying opposition fans for free!)

HOW AND WHEN CAN YOU BOOK?
- You can book at STAR Base during our normal hours of operation or online via our website.
- We will normally start taking bookings four weeks in advance of the fixture. For capacity reasons online bookings will normally cease two weeks before the fixture.
- STAR has a standing order for five coaches with Horsemans – enough for 250 supporters – and if we have sufficient early demand we can hire more. We will need to use our discretion at times – it would be wrong for all sorts of reasons to book a coach to Middlesbrough for just two people who decided to go at the last minute – it would be cheaper for them to fly!
- Please note that for 8 nearest away grounds this season, and for cup-ties, STAR will still be charging coach fares to travel

[Elm Park Kid]

Great move by the owners.

Personally, I would have been tempted to leave out clubs that charge more than £30 for a ticket. By offering free travel we are in effect increasing ticket sales for them.

That's not a moan, just a suggestion.

[STAR Liaison]

Great move by the owners.

Personally, I would have been tempted to leave out clubs that charge more than £30 for a ticket. By offering free travel we are in effect increasing ticket sales for them.

That's not a moan, just a suggestion.

Reasonable point - but the main thing is to get support for our team in their stadium. We only took about 120 people to L££ds last season and yet loads of them came down here on £20 match tickets.

In terms of prices and getting supporters of whoever to matches RFC is a force for the good.

[Stranded]

Great move by the owners.

Personally, I would have been tempted to leave out clubs that charge more than £30 for a ticket. By offering free travel we are in effect increasing ticket sales for them.

That's not a moan, just a suggestion.

Reasonable point - but the main thing is to get support for our team in their stadium. We only took about 120 people to L££ds last season and yet loads of them came down here on £20 match tickets.

In terms of prices and getting supporters of whoever to matches RFC is a force for the good.

Will certainly boost numbers - but the actual growth will depend on when the games are and ticket prices. Leeds will be a bigger turn out due to being a Saturday (at the moment) this season. Will be interesting to see the numbers this will see us take to Barnsley when it's on a Tuesday night and on TV. Fingers crossed it sees really decent numbers travelling to all games.

[Barney]

A truly fantastic gesture by the owner.

Hats off sir. Nothing else to say.

[Elm Park Kid]

Great move by the owners.

Personally, I would have been tempted to leave out clubs that charge more than £30 for a ticket. By offering free travel we are in effect increasing ticket sales for them.

That's not a moan, just a suggestion.

Reasonable point - but the main thing is to get support for our team in their stadium. We only took about 120 people to L££ds last season and yet loads of them came down here on £20 match tickets.

In terms of prices and getting supporters of whoever to matches RFC is a force for the good.

Will certainly boost numbers - but the actual growth will depend on when the games are and ticket prices. Leeds will be a bigger turn out due to being a Saturday (at the moment) this season. Will be interesting to see the numbers this will see us take to Barnsley when it's on a Tuesday night and on TV. Fingers crossed it sees really decent numbers travelling to all games.

I live in the Leeds area and it's the one game I refuse to go to. I'm not paying £37.

[Rea Ding]

I hope it gets the press it deserves!
Proud to be a Reading fan

[Jackson Corner]

That is brilliant you have to give it to the owners some things like the ticket pricing the initiative to attract young fans and families and now this. Just a shame they get it so wrong on the pitch

[Cape Town Royal]

A truly fantastic gesture by the owner.

Hats off sir. Nothing else to say.

+1

Brilliant gesture by the owner/club!

[Sutekh]

Utterly brilliant. Superb gesture to make about two thirds (and all the long ones) of the away trip coach travel free to the away support. Let’s hope we (and the team) can make it very expensive for Mr Dai

Just for the record those clubs NOT covered by this wonderful offer would appear to be; Cardiff, Bristol C, Brentford, Fulham, QPR, Charlton, Luton and Millwall.

Got to be good for STAR coffers as well?

Out of interest any other premier/league clubs ever offered something like this?

[windermereROYAL]

Hull 30 quid, great start you robbing northern barstewards.

[Hendo]

Also worth noting that this will include our last away game of the season @ Blackburn Rovers