Arch It's fourteen easy miles from the centre of Bolton to Old Trafford, and less than thirty to Stanley Park. Every direction you drive out of Bolton you very quickly come to another football league town - Blackburn, Bury, Wigan, etc. - some of them less than ten miles away. There's no way Reading's situation is comparable.
We will just have to disagree then me ol' mucka. The situation is entirely comparable IMO, bigger, more successful clubs within easy reach of the provincial location of the local club which has a profound affect on the attendances of said local club. London clubs have always had an easterly gravitational pull on the football-supporting populace of little old Reading and only now is that trend beginning to buck. Speaking from experience within my own family, I know of members of two generations who are RFC season ticket holders who actually "supported" London clubs, in this case my great uncle supports Arsenal and my uncle West Ham. I know of many other people in this town who support London clubs over and above Reading.