Oxford - Reading

[boycey]

http://yellowsforum.co.uk/thread/25720/reading

interesting little read

FWIW, would love a tussle with the Oxford chaps again
dust off the old SI jumper and get amongst them

[Crowbar6753]

Watched my first game back in 1979, those were the days and the rivalry's between the three in the Thames Valley Triangle were pretty intense!! Personally i always preferred the Oxford games to the Swindon games , there was always way more trouble at the Oxford games. Still think Aldershot is our biggest rivalry but this match rarely happens and i think they still class us as their biggest rivals lol. Both Brizzle teams were fun occasions back then as well

[Royality creeps In]

Maidenhead play Aldersh*t on 7th October. (Think its a free weekend for us)
Return at the wreck 7th April

[Jackson Corner]

I don't remember Oxford taking the Southbank? I know Swindon did at least once got a smack in the mouth to prove it! Millwall and Pompey were givens we didn't offer any oposition just let them take over!

[LUX]

I don't remember Oxford taking the Southbank?

April 1977. Carnage as they left towards the end and attacked the home fans leaving the Town end.

To be complete Northampton and Sheff Wed ( on a week night) did too.

Pompey worse Elm Park trouble by a mile.

[Snowflake Royal]

It's all a bit pathetic this 'taking the whatever bank terrace stand' bollocks though isn't it.

[royalp-we]

Ah, memories.

I'll forever remember scaling the manor ground steel fencing between the 'cuckoo' away stand and the pitch as a wee 11yr old.

We beat them that day and walked out feeling on top of the world. oxf*rd will always be our biggest rivals to me.

[The Cap]

Main rivals - Aldersh*te every day of the week. If we ever end up playing them in the FA Cup all police leave in Berks and Hants will be cancelled. As for Oxfud, the game at the Manor, on a Tuesday night, was rather lively (taxi for Terry). Think you'll find that was the night when a lot of 'the lads' went over from Tilehurst Station. As for Elm Park - Pompey, Sheff Wed and Villa stick out to me, particularly Villa.

[Hoop Blah]

Not forgetting Stoke in the early 90's either.

[Hound]

I can't really see Oxford as rivals tbh. I get that the south Oxfordshire villages border Reading but Oxford itself is just a pain in the backside to get to. Feels like miles away. Easier to get to West London and feel there is more of a rivalry, admittedly not a strong one, with Brentford, Fulham and Brighton

Though guess that fits in nicely with their plastic cockney line. And will possibly change if we get to play Oxford again anytime soon

[MoorgateRoyal]

Can anyone tell me the allure of hooliganism, other than repressed homosexuality?

[Hound]

Well it's basically absolute cretins who have nothing else in their life to be proud of - hence trying to create some pathetic sense of purpose in the name of a football club.

[The Royal Forester]

Why has no one mentioned Wycombe Wanderers? They must be closer to us than most of the teams mentioned on this thread. I must admit, though, that I do not really think of them as "The Enemy" as I do about Oxf***, Swine den, Alder*hot, perhaps it is because by the time they came into the League, I was well past my teenage years.

[bobby m's syrup]

Oxford is a Jekyll and Hyde sort of place. World class uni and wonderful buildings on one side, sink estates and run down post industrial wastelands on the other. Not even worth the few bob to string wires along the branch line from Didcot.

The team has no real history, apart from a brief flurry in the top tier during the 80s.
The Manor Ground was a postage stamp sized slum and the current set up more fit for Non League football. Granted, they recently returned from their true home in the Conference and haven't done badly so far, but that's it.

Quite why the misplaced sense of superiority is beyond me Still, if comparison with us fills the lives of their moronic fans, we can look on it as a crumb or two of comfort for those at a lower table.

Rivalry with tiddlers like Oxford may have been OK in Elm Park days. Nowadays, they are really not on the radar

[tmesis]

Not forgetting Stoke in the early 90's either.

Stoke didn't really "take" the Southbank though. The crowd was terrible, and the game finished and the fans just left to go home as about 20 Stoke fans got onto the pitch. A few then climbed over the fence into a deserted terrace.

[La Flama Blanca]

Maidenhead play Aldersh*t on 7th October. (Think its a free weekend for us)
Return at the wreck 7th April

Yes. Looking forward to it Think a few old heads may turn up for this one.

[strap]

It's all a bit pathetic this 'taking the whatever bank terrace stand' bollocks though isn't it.

You had to be there Snowflake, you had to be there! Thankfully i get my jolts now from a morning double espresso!

[John Smith]

I can see us playing Oxford quite soon. They are quite a well supported club and have bigger plans. Let's just hope they get a 4th stand by that time so we can take a good load up there.

Does anyone own one of those beautiful "Massacre At The Manor" t-shirts from circa '97?

[Z175]

I can see us playing Oxford quite soon. They are quite a well supported club and have bigger plans. Let's just hope they get a 4th stand by that time so we can take a good load up there.

We will be back playing them within a year or two.

For me they are the biggest rivals - but that is from growing up in South Oxfordshire. As someone said on their forum, we encounter each other daily there!

However I do not see them playing us regularly in the league any time soon, more likely the odd season v Slough or Maidenhead.

They had a very brief run in the 1980s due to fraudster Robert Maxwell pumping in stolen money. As far as I am concerned their league cup and 3 top flight seasons fighting relegation are no more valid than Lazio's title under Mussolini or Juventus' when they paid the refs.

It is all a bit "Rushden & Diamonds" or "Gretna" to me and simply doens't compare at all to continuous history from 1871 and league football since the 1920s. Imagine if we were called Tilehurst United until 1960 and the North Stand was a wall...

Yes you will get the occasional second tier season over time for any side, eg Yeovil, Burton etc but when you have the likes of Blackburn, Bradford, Blackpool, Portsmouth Coventry etc down there I don't see how Oxford can expect sustainable football at a higher level. It is not a historical football city and doesn't have the urban population of the Reading region and it's university is one of only two where the students actually have to study rather than drink and watch football!

We will be back playing them within a year or two - well it has only take 16 so far!

[John Smith]

I can see us playing Oxford quite soon. They are quite a well supported club and have bigger plans. Let's just hope they get a 4th stand by that time so we can take a good load up there.

We will be back playing them within a year or two.

For me they are the biggest rivals - but that is from growing up in South Oxfordshire. As someone said on their forum, we encounter each other daily there!

However I do not see them playing us regularly in the league any time soon, more likely the odd season v Slough or Maidenhead.

They had a very brief run in the 1980s due to fraudster Robert Maxwell pumping in stolen money. As far as I am concerned their league cup and 3 top flight seasons fighting relegation are no more valid than Lazio's title under Mussolini or Juventus' when they paid the refs.

It is all a bit "Rushden & Diamonds" or "Gretna" to me and simply doens't compare at all to continuous history from 1871 and league football since the 1920s. Imagine if we were called Tilehurst United until 1960 and the North Stand was a wall...

Yes you will get the occasional second tier season over time for any side, eg Yeovil, Burton etc but when you have the likes of Blackburn, Bradford, Blackpool, Portsmouth Coventry etc down there I don't see how Oxford can expect sustainable football at a higher level. It is not a historical football city and doesn't have the urban population of the Reading region and it's university is one of only two where the students actually have to study rather than drink and watch football!

We will be back playing them within a year or two - well it has only take 16 so far!

I couldn't disagree with you more. They're on an upwards trejectory, it's a bigger city than Reading, they're riding high in League One. Traditionally they've always been a second tier team.
Don't get me wrong, as a Reading fan they are one of my least favourite teams but I think you're being bias/clouded with your opinion of how big a team they are.