Has the penny dropped?

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Ian Royal
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by Ian Royal » 12 Aug 2006 12:35

rabidbee
mortimer royal The people that only start supporting the club now are the people that will stop when/if things start going badly, what this club needs is loyal supporters who will support this club for the long term through thick and thin not just when we are doing well.


There may never be a better time for us to pick up new fans. I think you are harsh on those that may discover Reading this season - not all of them will drift away at the first signs of failure. I've often heard folk on here state that they started following Reading after the Simod Cup, the Wembley play-off or the MadStad opening day. All highs in our recent history that have been interspersed with prolongued periods of mediocrity - whilst our fan base and attendances have steadily grown.


My first game was the Man City league cup match in '93 (or '92?). As most of my family are northern, the media coverage of the 1-1 draw at Maine Road was the first time I'd really heard about Reading. So, my first two seasons saw us get promoted and then reach a play-off final. But yeah, I've stuck around since. To be honest, I would have fallen in love regardless - it was the atmosphere of being in a football crowd, getting drenched, under floodlights, that was what got me hooked, not any success (and, consequently, failure didn't drive me away).[/quote]

Totally agree. My first was Wembly. Having gone through the excitement of travelling to the national stadium, coming so close to winning, the sheer joy of being in the lead followed by the hollow feeling of going behind and eventually losing. That feeling couldn't drown out the excitement I felt at having seen my first live footbal match. I never had a chance after getting off the train on the way there.

I'd followed Readings scores on Grandstand for about half that season, I'd folllowed the whole McGhee thing in the papers and on the news. 11 years on and there is no chance of me ever stopping supporting the Royals. I've done from Exeter as a poor Student, I'm now doing it from Cambridge as a poor ex-student.

For every two fans that drift away after the success goes at least 1 will stay on as a hardcore Royal. They may not go to every game but that doesn't lessen their support.

I'm not gonna quite believe we're their til about 1pm on Saturday the 19th. But It's going to be fantastic win lose or draw. Should we get pasted every game in the premiership, lets make sure they remember us as the best most positive fans ever. Even if we do go down, lets go down singing and shouting, and happy that we'll bounce back bigger and better.


URRRRRRRRRZZZZZZ!

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by Gav » 12 Aug 2006 13:21

Saw a kid in Camberley yesterday in an RFC shirt... Said 'UUUuurrzz' at him, and he looked at me like I was from Mars.

That is all.

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by tink » 12 Aug 2006 13:22

i agree that we will pick up a lot of genuine fans along the way, which can only be a good thing for the club. but if we do go down i cant imagine we'll sell 18,000 season tickets again.

the true fans will stick around come rain or shine tho. my first game was a 1-1 draw with cardiff in the pouring rain in '94 i think. the first season i really started going regularly was when we got relegated in '98. but there was something there that kept me coming back.

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From Despair To Where?
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by From Despair To Where? » 12 Aug 2006 14:09

I remember next to nothing about what happend on the pitch in my first match. What I do remember is the banter, the atmosphere, the smells and everything associated with being part of the crowd. That's what got me hooked, that feeling of being part of the game and that's what kept me going in the really bad times. It will be no different this season. The football may be the thing that first brings them, but it's what fellow fans do that gets them hooked.

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by retired aggro » 12 Aug 2006 14:11

yet again getting above yourseleves

small club on a one season jolly in the prem, get over it


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by Ian Royal » 12 Aug 2006 14:11

From Despair To Where? I remember next to nothing about what happend on the pitch in my first match. What I do remember is the banter, the atmosphere, the smells and everything associated with being part of the crowd. That's what got me hooked, that feeling of being part of the game and that's what kept me going in the really bad times. It will be no different this season. The football may be the thing that first brings them, but it's what fellow fans do that gets them hooked.



To be fair you are ancient though arn't you? :wink:

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From Despair To Where?
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by From Despair To Where? » 12 Aug 2006 14:14

Not really, I couldn't see over the South Bank wall.

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by Ian Royal » 12 Aug 2006 14:16

From Despair To Where? Not really, I couldn't see over the South Bank wall.



LOL

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by Millsy » 12 Aug 2006 14:36

It'll just take time, that's all.

URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ


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by .:BigDaveInTheDungeon:. » 12 Aug 2006 15:35

you know the way i look at it you don't need to wear a football shirt to be a supporter, i haven't brought a shirt for years and it doesn't make me any less of a supporter.
its a rip off anyway, your better off spending your money on a season ticket so you can acctually watch them rather than wasting it on a shirt which is more often than not really shoddy anyway.
that goes for any team and not just Reading.

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Re: Has the penny dropped?

by topfuller » 12 Aug 2006 20:54

Jackson Corner Was in town today and I could not help but notice how many of this seasons shirts from other Premier clubs were about I counted 7 Arsenal 5 Chelsea 5 Man Utd a couple of Liverpool and ONE kid in a Royals shirt. But when you go to Sports world in the Oracle they are stacked to the roof with these shirts a tenner less than our hideous efforts. In the past this didn't bug me as we were a Championship team but not now these teams are in the same league as us. Why aren't the shops selling Reading shirts? Why are these kids still following the big teams not there local team?


Try as I may I cant stop my three boys from supporting Man U / Liverpool and the Arse.. dispite them all being born in Reading, having season tickets, Reading shirts, etc etc but they still want to wear other teams as well. I think they just like bigging it up to their mates. Having said that when I take them to football training, its just a sea of Reading shirts...

I give up !

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by Farnborough Royal » 12 Aug 2006 22:14

My 1st game was the 6-0 against Bristol Rovers. Not looked back since

uRzzz!!

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by andyhalls » 12 Aug 2006 22:26

My first game was an exciting 0-0 draw with Bradford City at Elm Park!

Glad I didn't judge my future support of the Royals on that day!


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by Muskrat » 12 Aug 2006 22:34

retired aggro yet again getting above yourseleves

small club on a one season jolly in the prem, get over it


Don't start bringing logic into the equation. This is about passion for your (well mine anyway) local club. I first supported Reading when they were a fourth division team, and not a very good one at that.

Darn right I'm going to enjoy our time in the Premiership, and with good husbandry from Messers Madejski and Coppell I reckon we can survive.

That gives me pride immeasureable against any standards that "big clubs" may have. But then their supporters will never know the value of hard earned progress, they expect success as a matter of course and, like a spoilt child, know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

...steps down unapologetically from the moral high ground...

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by leon » 13 Aug 2006 00:43

retired aggro yet again getting above yourseleves

small club on a one season jolly in the prem, get over it


yes but you're a gay kiddie fiddler

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by bracknell loyal royal! » 13 Aug 2006 00:47

That Wolves game, against FSB where we got 2 last minute goals to win 2-1. My first game, love it.

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by zac naloen » 13 Aug 2006 09:59

My first game was against wigan (or some team beginning with W) at Elm Park. i think we won it but i haven't a clue, it was around about that possible promotion season meanin i was 7. So you can't really blame me :P

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by .:BigDaveInTheDungeon:. » 13 Aug 2006 10:04

my first game was a 3-0 lose to norwich, then we lost 3-0 in my next game, it was thrid time lucky when i saw my first win at my third game when we beat wolves 3-0 and stayed up.

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by Alan Titchmarsh » 14 Aug 2006 08:39

Seens loads in Bracknell area, now more than any other club shirt, it would seem though the Reading is the worst place to see Reading fans and proving that Reading's following is still drawn from mainly the outlying nearby towns rather than the place itself.... therefore we are the ManU of the South :lol:

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by RFCSinceBury1971 » 14 Aug 2006 09:14

Every club has its hardcore supporters. They are the ones that will turn up to most games whatever postition we are in. As a long term supporter I have seen our support go up and down. Since our move to the Mad Stad our support has grown like our success. It goes without saying that if we were to have a couple of bad seasons our support would dwindle a bit. The new generation of supporters that we have attracted to our club seem to expect success. Not all of them but a fair number.
Looking back 2-3 seasons ago we had the Pardew out and the Coppell out chants. The ones that moan the most tend to be these type of supporters.

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