Hooliganism at Reading

[SPARTA]

That is true of course. But the READING Chronicle doesn't cover other clubs or other towns and Cities.

Yes actually they do!

[No Fixed Abode]

That is true of course. But the READING Chronicle doesn't cover other clubs or other towns and Cities.

Yes actually they do!

Well, kind of. BUT Reading FC and Reading town are their main focus.

[RoyalBlue]

So once again a local journalist who has an exclusive is attacked by Reading fans. And for what? Oh yeah, merely doing his job and exposing what is a very real issue.

I didn't realise the job of a journalist was to fabricate a problem where there isn't one. Of course it's an exclusive because it is a work of fiction. It certainly isn't a very real issue and, amazingly, much of the evidence this sewer rat offers in support of his/her ludicrous claims actually confirms that it isn't a very real issue!

Given your repeated defence of 'journalists' who in my opinion don't even have enough talent to justify a paragraph in a school magazine (sorry kids I don't mean to belittle your talents), I can only conclude that you are one of your number. Either that or you need to start reading proper papers!

[No Fixed Abode]

So once again a local journalist who has an exclusive is attacked by Reading fans. And for what? Oh yeah, merely doing his job and exposing what is a very real issue.

I didn't realise the job of a journalist was to fabricate a problem where there isn't one. Of course it's an exclusive because it is a work of fiction. It certainly isn't a very real issue and, amazingly, much of the evidence this sewer rat offers in support of his/her ludicrous claims actually confirms that it isn't a very real issue!

Given your repeated defence of 'journalists' who in my opinion don't even have enough talent to justify a paragraph in a school magazine (sorry kids I don't mean to belittle your talents), I can only conclude that you are one of your number. Either that or you need to start reading proper papers!

But there IS a problem. It's just (in the main) away from the Stadiums.

[No Fixed Abode]

Full RC article found here (All of the pages):

http://ow.ly/d/20kW

This has to be the best bit surely:

October 26 , 2013 v Millwall. Score 1-1
During the match police were told Reading supporters had
racially abused a Millwall player. Reading FC sent two plain
clothes staff to sit in the area and, after speaking to other fans,
they established that no racial abuse had been used and there
had actually been chants about the player being fat.

Which is just as bad as racism. Calling someone a fat bastard is just as bad as calling someone a black bastard.

[sandman]

So once again a local journalist who has an exclusive is attacked by Reading fans. And for what? Oh yeah, merely doing his job and exposing what is a very real issue.

I didn't realise the job of a journalist was to fabricate a problem where there isn't one. Of course it's an exclusive because it is a work of fiction. It certainly isn't a very real issue and, amazingly, much of the evidence this sewer rat offers in support of his/her ludicrous claims actually confirms that it isn't a very real issue!

Given your repeated defence of 'journalists' who in my opinion don't even have enough talent to justify a paragraph in a school magazine (sorry kids I don't mean to belittle your talents), I can only conclude that you are one of your number. Either that or you need to start reading proper papers!

I'm afraid the only thing I can conclude is that you need to lighten up.

[Hendo]

That's really quite shocking from the Chronicle.

Embarrassed by how they have portrayed fans of the club. RFC/Sir John should sue the paper for using the picture on the front page as slander.

Can they use that picture legally in relation to the completely unfounded reports? Or because the caption says something about it being on a model, is it ok?

Also agreed with the poster who said a few pages back that their website is horrific.

The whole article is actually potentially libellous, not slander and should the Club see fit to take this further - which I hope and think they will - then they have a very very good case.

I cannot for the life of me understand what the Reading Chronicle/their Editor was thinking of.

Indeed, hopefully the club do take it further and if it is found to be libellous.

It just staggers me, that anyone thought this would be a good idea and wouldn't draw this level of criticism.

They may say the whole idea was just to get people talking about the paper and get their name out there, but surly good journalism actually does this as well?

[RoyalBlue]

So once again a local journalist who has an exclusive is attacked by Reading fans. And for what? Oh yeah, merely doing his job and exposing what is a very real issue.

I didn't realise the job of a journalist was to fabricate a problem where there isn't one. Of course it's an exclusive because it is a work of fiction. It certainly isn't a very real issue and, amazingly, much of the evidence this sewer rat offers in support of his/her ludicrous claims actually confirms that it isn't a very real issue!

Given your repeated defence of 'journalists' who in my opinion don't even have enough talent to justify a paragraph in a school magazine (sorry kids I don't mean to belittle your talents), I can only conclude that you are one of your number. Either that or you need to start reading proper papers!

But there IS a problem. It's just (in the main) away from the Stadiums.

There are problems with violence in every town/city. Most has bugger all to do with football and everything to do with the general malaise of our society. However, it suits the politicians who are responsible for creating that malaise to portray it as a football problem.

Even then, how many of Reading town centre's problems have they successfully managed to blame on Reading FC? The answer is very few indeed. O'Brien and Gutteridge are deceitful C#nts!

So once again a local journalist who has an exclusive is attacked by Reading fans. And for what? Oh yeah, merely doing his job and exposing what is a very real issue.

I didn't realise the job of a journalist was to fabricate a problem where there isn't one. Of course it's an exclusive because it is a work of fiction. It certainly isn't a very real issue and, amazingly, much of the evidence this sewer rat offers in support of his/her ludicrous claims actually confirms that it isn't a very real issue!

Given your repeated defence of 'journalists' who in my opinion don't even have enough talent to justify a paragraph in a school magazine (sorry kids I don't mean to belittle your talents), I can only conclude that you are one of your number. Either that or you need to start reading proper papers!

I'm afraid the only thing I can conclude is that you need to lighten up.

Why does that not surprise me coming from someone who appears to think that our local journalists are professionals demonstrating high levels of talent! You get what you pay for and the truth of the matter is that nowadays local rags can afford to pay precious little to their journalists. Little wonder then that some even struggle with the basics of English grammar and spelling!

[semtex1871]

Full RC article found here (All of the pages):

http://ow.ly/d/20kW

This has to be the best bit surely:

October 26 , 2013 v Millwall. Score 1-1
During the match police were told Reading supporters had
racially abused a Millwall player. Reading FC sent two plain
clothes staff to sit in the area and, after speaking to other fans,
they established that no racial abuse had been used and there
had actually been chants about the player being fat.

Which is just as bad as racism. Calling someone a fat bastard is just as bad as calling someone a black bastard.

I once accused someone of being fatist....he responded by saying to me no, you're fattest!!

[soggy biscuit]

Sir John hurt by article

Both the Club and I have received a number of complaints today regarding an article in the Reading Chronicle, and I personally share our supporters’ dismay.

In my opinion the nature of the article, and in particular the image manufactured for the front page, completely misrepresents the vast majority of our fans, and their experiences supporting the team both at Madejski Stadium and on the road.

The article itself is an unwarranted and sensationalised attack which undermines everything our club tries to represent. To paint a full picture, last season there was only one Reading fan arrested at Madejski Stadium, and only ten arrests out of nearly half a million home and away fans through the turnstiles, all for minor offences. Those Home Office figures speak for themselves.

I have spent more than a quarter of my life building up this football club on and off the pitch, so I personally take a series of gross misrepresentations in this edition as insults to our club’s good name. No club is perfect, but I and every member of staff work tirelessly to make Madejski Stadium a great place to bring your family and friends and I know Thames Valley Police also take great pride in our exemplary record.

When the Club was named Family Club of the Year by the Football League, it was one of the finest moments of my time here, and remains just as important to me as everything we have achieved on the pitch.

The newspaper also contains a comment relating to the Hillsborough tragedy that has deeply offended many of us in the football family.

With all that in mind, we have decided to suspend our relationship with this particular publication. We have a duty to protect the club’s reputation, and particularly to protect our supporters’ reputation. This is not a decision we take lightly because we value the freedom of the press and have enjoyed excellent relationships with our local media in the past, but we are sure our supporters will agree that we cannot allow the fans’ good name to be besmirched in this way.

So many people have spoken to me today about this article – both supporters and my colleagues here at the club – hurt and disappointed by what they had read. As custodians for Reading Football Club, the right course of action was clear to us all.

Sir John Madejski OBE, DL
Chairman

Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... 1f0QJq1.99

F*ck me! Even I have to give him credit for this response!

Lol @ Nick Gutteridge. What a massive helmet.

[SmellyAli]

Anyone who travels away regularly will know all about the TTC (Thames Trains Crew). Every club has a hooligan element and I'm ashamed to say that this bunch of scumbags are up there with the very worst. I can only assume nobody has mentioned them yet out of fear of reprisals.

Come on guys, we all love URZ! But let's not bury our heads in the sand. It's time to say no to the TTC and fight back against the fear that has quite clearly gripped you all.

URZ!!!!!!!1!!!! Till I die and beyond!

[BenReadingFC]

No fishing. Although they've missed out the fight between Reading fans at Millwall this season. Over a burger I believe.

You know nothing.

[trueroyal1871]

Anyone who travels away regularly will know all about the TTC (Thames Trains Crew). Every club has a hooligan element and I'm ashamed to say that this bunch of scumbags are up there with the very worst. I can only assume nobody has mentioned them yet out of fear of reprisals.

Come on guys, we all love URZ! But let's not bury our heads in the sand. It's time to say no to the TTC and fight back against the fear that has quite clearly gripped you all.

URZ!!!!!!!1!!!! Till I die and beyond!

[Stuka]

The picture in the article of lads taunting a police dog outside the station, they were Crystal Palace supporters.

[BenReadingFC]

The Chronicle even post this picture up, More oxf*rd bullshit journalism. The photo is taken outside the 3 Guineas after our home game with Crystal Palace in 2011. That is Palace fans getting the dog worked up. On the same day a Police dog maimed a Palace fan within the station. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jul/ ... n-attacked. Stop posting bullshit and trying to relate it to Reading supporters.

[BenReadingFC]

beat me to it

[Stuka]

No fair play Ben you explained it better

[BenReadingFC]

The guy in the pic in the chequered shirt reaching out towards the dog is also the idiot falling down the stairs in this video.
Top spotting
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xet0u6_reading-vs-crystal-palace-bloke-fal_sport

[madreadingfan]

http://supportersnotcustomers.com/2014/ ... ng-ultras/

Welcome to hell – a day with the Reading Ultras
Posted on March 20, 2014 by Ben Dudley Standard

In the last few years, I have been witness to some of the most intense football matches on the planet. To name just a few, I’ve attended Inter vs. Milan, Feyenoord vs. Ajax and Red Star Belgrade vs. Partizan Belgrade. I’ve been to matches involving Borussia Dortmund, St Pauli, Galatasaray, Leeds, Lazio, Eintracht Frankfurt, Millwall and more. I thought I had pretty much seen it all, until along came this article in the Reading Chronicle.

I knew straight away that no matter how dangerous it might be, I owed it to my readers to brave a day at the Madejski Stadium. Despite the desperate pleas of my loved ones who urged me not to put my life on the line and do something safer like going on holiday to the Crimea, I packed my bags and headed to Berkshire. What I saw there would change my life forever, as the fearful Reading Ultras created a nightmarish vision of Hell. Without further ado, here is the true story of my day in Reading:

(Please note: this article contains descriptions of events that some readers may find distressing – parental guidance is advised)

Reading vs. Yeovil Town.

I clutched the ticket in my hand cautiously as I headed to the stadium from the main railway station in Reading. All seemed quiet, but I knew that danger was lurking around every corner. I see a middle aged man in a Reading shirt walking out of Starbucks. Was that a cappuccino he was holding or a carefully disguised explosive device? I couldn’t be sure, and I certainly wasn’t going to get close enough to find out.

After walking for several minutes, the menacing stadium finally looms on the horizon. I pass a dangerous looking establishment called Frankie and Bennys – presumably named after away supporters called Frankie and Benny would had previously been murdered after being foolish enough to follow their team to this notorious venue. Inside were a number of rabid looking fans, almost all of them holding knives. They were using them to cut up a pepperoni pizza, but this was clearly just a trick to avoid the attention of the police that would be sure to be keeping a close eye on this flashpoint fixture.

Speaking of the police, they were everywhere. Not even the pistol toting riot squad in Belgrade could have prepared me for this, with at least THREE policemen on duty outside the stadium. I briefly imagined the horrors these men must have seen over the years, and wondered how their families could possibly live with the trauma of knowing their father, husband or son was putting themselves in the line of danger on a fortnightly basis. I think about interviewing one of them for the story, but I didn’t want to trigger any distressing flashbacks of the carnage caused by the Reading Ultras in the past.

I arrive at the entrance to the stadium marked on my ticket, waiting patiently to enter the arena of doom. Suddenly, there is a commotion at the front of the queue. What I saw stunned even me, a veteran of some of the most dangerous stadiums in Europe. One of the crazed Reading fans had attempted to enter the stadium with a full bottle of Coke without removing the lid first. I waited for the security team to arrive and abandon the game, but they never came. Incredibly, the steward simply removed the lid and allowed the dangerous hooligan to go into the stadium unchecked. I shuddered to think what could have happened if this villain had not been caught, and pondered whether I would ever see my family again.

Finally, it was my turn. I handed over my ticket to the steward and was told to “enjoy the game”. Quite how anyone could enjoy themselves under these fearful conditions was beyond me, but it was a different type of football culture here, one where the threat of death and destruction has become commonplace.

As I walked up the stairs to the main curva (or as the locals menacingly called it, the Family Stand), I gasped with astonishment at the noise that was being created. It is hard to put into words how frightening the atmosphere was, and I only do so in the hope that others do not put themselves in such danger as I had done. To my left was a tremendously loud sound of rustling as someone brandished a crisp packet with reckless abandon, while all around me was the ear-bursting noise of polite clapping. If that wasn’t bad enough, the chanting was positively obscene. “Come on Deading, come on Deading!” they chant, clearly urging their players to murder the opposition.

It was the worst thing I have ever witnessed in a football stadium, and I quickly reported it to the closest steward I could find. In what was clearly a sickening cover-up so as not to upset the powerful ultras, he told me that they had actually been chanting “Come on Reading” and weren’t actually wishing death on the Yeovil players at all – a likely story.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any louder, out came the players. The Yeovil goalkeeper runs towards a wall of intimidation, with someone next to me going as far as to shout that he was “a stupid idiot”. To see such hatred almost brought tears to my eyes, so much for the ‘beautiful game’, I thought.

As the game gets underway and the fans settle down, the conversations around me reveal the true nature of these monsters. One of them asks a friend in another row how their Auntie Doreen is, clearly using a codename to enquire about illegal drugs. Hal Robson-Kanu goes close to opening the scoring but his shot goes narrowly wide, much to the dismay of these uncontrollable maniacs. “Bugger” exclaims one of them, using the kind of vile language that I had sadly come to expect from this sickening crowd. I am all for football culture and creating an atmosphere, but these people were simply going too far.

I had been warned by the Reading Chronicle to look out for offensive hand gestures, and sure enough, I had not been misinformed. “Hi Dave!” someone shouts, waving his hand violently back and forth. I didn’t know what this ‘wave’ stood for, but I assumed it was something to do with a combination of the Nazi Party, the KKK and the person responsible for the career of Vernon Kay. I made a mental note to report on this gesture later, ensuring that the scumbag would not get away with his actions.

The game was almost secondary to the mayhem all around me, but somehow I was able to draw my eyes away from the rampant hooliganism to study the goings on. With 67 minutes on the clock, a Yeovil player seems certain to score. He is clean through on goal with only the keeper to beat, and I prepare for the pitch invasion and mass riot that was sure to follow the away side taking the lead. As my eyes scanned desperately for an exit, the striker blasted his shot wide. Had he lost his concentration, or had he been threatened before the match not to score on pain of death? It was difficult to know.

The miss is followed by sickening taunts of the away supporters who had been brave enough to subject themselves to this cauldron of hate. The Reading masses are openly laughing at the Yeovil supporters, without a single regard for their feelings. I know there was a football match to be won, but these were still human beings for goodness sake.

The game enters the final ten minutes with the score 0 – 0. It looked as if the only winner here was going to be carnage, mayhem and shame, but the most terrifying moment was still to come. With 84 minutes player, a cross into the box is met by Hal Robson-Kanu, who turns the ball into the net for the winning goal. Pandemonium ensues, with many of the Reading fans celebrating so vigorously that they STOOD UP, despite the various warnings around the stadium that persistent standing was not allowed. It was all too much for me to take, and I sunk to the floor in terror, rocking back and forth at the terrible scenes I had just been forced to endure.

Not content with standing up and clapping, music was blasted around the stadium to mark the goal, the fans waving their hands in the air to the tune of Tom Hark as though they were Zulu warriors preparing themselves for war. Over on the other side of the stadium were 300 deeply upset Yeovil fans, forced to watch as their conquerors lauded it over them.

I have never left a football match early, but I made an exception in this case. I had seen enough to last me a thousand lifetimes, and I wanted to get out of the area before the violence boiled over into a riot. I managed to keep my calm all the way until the car park, when I saw the most terrifying sight yet. Until this moment I had not believed in pure evil, but here it was in plain sight. One of the Reading fans had tossed an empty can of Pepsi into a rubbish bin, despite the clear warnings asking for it to be recycled.

Tears streamed down my face as I ran for the safety of the train station. Why had I come to this vile place? Thankfully I made it in time to catch my connection, gasping with relief as the train pulled away and to safety.

I had survived my experience with the dreaded Reading Ultras, but it will be a very long time before I ever go to another football match. Please excuse the lack of updates on this site over the next few weeks, I will be undergoing intensive therapy to try and recover from this experience, before giving a talk to the BBC News journalists heading to Iraq so I can prepare them for warzone reporting. After this day I could truly say I do not fear death, because I have served my time in Hell. I had survived, but at what cost?

[urz13]