Games you remember because they were so good.

[Thaumagurist*]

Fri 18 Apr 03 LEAGUE DIV 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST (H) W: 1-0

Friday night game if I remember right, game virtually assured us a play off spot against a good notts forest time that were also pushing for the play offs. Cracking game of football both, chances at both ends, great atmosphere....

And Andy Hughes scored...

[SeniorRoyal]

Night games at Elm Park always seemed memorable.As a kid E.P seemed huge during the day,but at night you felt you could touch the far stands.R.T.G,s or what!

[Dirk Gently]

A spell in the Pardew days when we decided to batter teams 3, 4 and 5 nil. It must have been autumn'ish 01/02? I remember Igoe and Caskey scoring a few blinders.

The 5-0 win over Oldham was great, it was during the petrol shortage. One of the goals was a long range effort from Igoe, when he received the ball from a throw in!!!

Memorable chant to the Oldham fans : "What a waste of petrol"

[JimmytheJim]

Reading 4- 3 Oxford

The best come back (la la la Rougier) & the worst rain seen at the Mad Stad

Brilliant game, probably the most memorable that I've watched at the Mad Stad. Boro, first game in the Premier League, was excellent entertainment - from 'oh god this season is going to be horrible horrible horrible' to 'oh god what the hell just happened this season is going to be brilliant'.

[Platypuss]

Reading 3 Liverpool 1

Outstanding performance and never to be forgotten, we beat 1 of the top 4!!

But if we'd lost that one and instead beaten either Fulham or Bolton we would have stayed up!

True but if we had lost it and still lost to Fulham and Bolton, The last day of the season would of been irrelevant

Barring a freak scoreline, as it turned out it was irrelevant.

[9165]

Been here before, but here goes.........
Reading 7 - 0 Barnsley Xmas 79
Doncaster 7 - 5 Reading Nov 82
Reading 1 - 1 Man Utd Sept 06
Reading 0 -0 Southampton Nov 78 League Cup - sounds dull but a great evening game under the Elm Park lights
Doncaster 0 -1 Reading 1 Sept 85
Forest 03 as previosuly mentioned

I`ll have to look at my old programmes to remind me of some more !

[Dirk Gently]

.....
I`ll have to look at my old programmes to remind me of some more !

Doesn't that defeat the whole point of the thread?

[9165]

.....
I`ll have to look at my old programmes to remind me of some more !

Doesn't that defeat the whole point of the thread?

When you get to my age you have to give yourself reminders !

[Jackson Corner]

A 4-2 win at Chesterfield on the last day of the season 2-0 down at half time and staring relegation in the face.

Agreed, not many on here that would have been there.

I always regard that one as THE turning point for RFC.

Sort of proud in a way to say I was there...! Do you also remember at half time the most pikey looking Chesterfield fan (and I imagine that there is some competition) in our end being dragged out by the cops and losing his shoe only to have it returned over the fence by us hitting him on the head as he was dragged around the side of the pitch in front of the away end!!

I remember staying overnight in Derby afterwards and going on the lash to celebrate avoiding a relegation that no one thought was likely or going to happen until a far fetched combination of other half time scores meant we were staring the basement in the face.

My memory is a little hazy but didn't Bev score two pens?

I still think the two major turning points were Madejski arriving and McGhee's appointment. On the pitch the modern Reading sera started in the second half of 92/93 when the team just seemed to click.
and Lee Payne...where is he now??!!

Yes I do remember that bloke it was hilarious when the shoe landed on his head. It was a strange afternoon as I think we were 6th from bottom going in to the game but on a bad run, we were terrible first half and I remember working out the half time scores that we were all of a sudden going down unless we won. I wonder if the players new this as second half we were a different team, Bev did score two pens and I think Trev got the other 2? It was a huge relief at the end, I have often wonderd if the players new how close they were to going down that afternoon?

[Gordons Cumming]

I remember Reading beating Wigan 4-0 and some of the football was sublime. I still think Reading were at their footballing best under McGhee.

[Thaumagurist*]

But if we'd lost that one and instead beaten either Fulham or Bolton we would have stayed up!

True but if we had lost it and still lost to Fulham and Bolton, The last day of the season would of been irrelevant

Barring a freak scoreline, as it turned out it was irrelevant.

But if Portsmouth had scored, it would have been RELEVANT.

[Gordons Cumming]

When you are only 10 they all look huge,but you are right Mr Cumming.From goalkeeper to centre forward vertically challenged.Didn't Les Chappell score a hatrick.He was my first hero,to be replaced by the main man,Robin Friday,in the mid 70,s.

Obviously Cumming was my favourite, but, as many,Friday does stands out.

[RoyalChicagoFC]

2-0 Villa home.

Up 'n' at 'em two hours before daybreak on the coldest day of the winter, two buses to the pub for a 6:45 AM KO.

Since it was the day's early game, the bar was beginning to fill up with the Utd/Chelase/Toon/'Pool gloryseekers as Sidwell finished off his brace late on.

Also my 40th and the day that BHO announced his candidacy. Doesn't get any better, although 3-1 over Tottenham at home under similar circumstances comes close.

I really enjoyed the Spurs game - I think it was our first win against a BIG side that season and we did it in such style. I think our form had faltered just before it (run of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Portsmouth? )

A big thank you to Nicky Shorey and Paul Robinson.

Heh yep.

In order, it had gone Chelsea, Arsenal, 'Pool in the sudsy cup, Pompey, and 'Pool in the league before the Tottenham game on 12/5, papererz. After Keane opened the scoring from the spot, I lamented to the hapless 'Nobber who was there with me, "Where are the goals going to come from?!?"

Record attendance at the Mad and Sunday morning here, with the bar starting to fill up toward the end with Arsenal and 'Pool fans in for the day's featured match from the Em that followed. Those who don't follow all of this from distances measured in thousands of miles can only guess at the particular sense of pride that such occasions elicit.

[Victor Meldrew]

Interesting that Wolves feature quite a bit.
From the 2-2 at Elm Park to stop our run becoming 14
Beating them in the League Cup 1-0??
The McGhee/Adie games
The away win this season which many think was our best performance so far
And the fact that it could be us fighting it out for the rest of this season.

The one game against them that means most to me is the first league game at their place after promotion under McGhee when Steve Bull and didn't a very young Robbie Keane play for them (16 I reckon) or am I imagining that? Although we lost 1-0 I thought we were brilliant that day (Quinny how did you miss?) and proved to me that we would cope playing at that level and my,how well we did cope and more.

[TFF]

and the Boxing Day away match. The day I absolutely KNEW we were going up.

[bobbybottler]

The one game against them that means most to me is the first league game at their place after promotion under McGhee when Steve Bull and didn't a very young Robbie Keane play for them (16 I reckon) or am I imagining that? Although we lost 1-0 I thought we were brilliant that day (Quinny how did you miss?) and proved to me that we would cope playing at that level and my,how well we did cope and more.

VM - I can recall us going behind to an early goal and then absolutely battering them for the remainder of the match.

Later that season (might have been the Charlton game - another classic BTW) me and some chinas were drinking in a pub near Paddington and bumped into some Wolves fans who unprompted said we were the best team that they'd played for many seasons and that their nightmare scenario (as it was only one automatic promotion place that season) was to finish second and then get us in the play-off final......

[rabidbee]

Reading 3 Liverpool 1

Outstanding performance and never to be forgotten, we beat 1 of the top 4!!

But if we'd lost that one and instead beaten either Fulham or Bolton we would have stayed up!

Hush now.

[seahawk10]

One I haven't seen mentioned that I thoroughly enjoyed was the 3-3 draw with Blackburn in May 2007. Everytime they scored, we equalised. They go up 1-0, we make it 1-1. They go up 2-1, we make it 2-2. They go up 3-2 and Gunnarson equalises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzVLdFlCvsY

Then we nearly win it when Ingi's goal was disallowed that would have made it 4-3.

Just a fantastic display of how we never quit, never gave up that first year in the Prem. If that goal had counted it would have sent Reading on a European tour!

[Whore Jackie]

One I haven't seen mentioned that I thoroughly enjoyed was the 3-3 draw with Blackburn in May 2007. Everytime they scored, we equalised. They go up 1-0, we make it 1-1. They go up 2-1, we make it 2-2. They go up 3-2 and Gunnarson equalises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzVLdFlCvsY

Then we nearly win it when Ingi's goal was disallowed that would have made it 4-3.

Just a fantastic display of how we never quit, never gave up that first year in the Prem. If that goal had counted it would have sent Reading on a European tour!

Great shout. Superb atmosphere, funny inflatables, excellent ‘away’ pub over the road. And the match was a cracker too.

[Franchise FC]

Reading 2 Sheff Wed 3 (FA Cup in the days when teams put out their best eleven)

F.A. Cup Third round 1966.
Possibly the last time a 20000 plus crowd at Elm Park? A last minute winner for first division Wednesday, and I recall a brilliant action pic of Pat Terry challenging England keeper Ron Springett featuring in all the Sunday papers.

Apart from the Southampton League Cup tie in 1978