Elm Park Years

[eleventh earl of mar]

The Southampton game was in the 78/79 season, Keegan didn't join Southampton till 1980.

[Royality creeps In]

Went to the replay at the Dell as well.
We decided to go in the seats as we thought it would be safer ( first time in a seat at a football ground)

However the seats were wooden benches in front of the terraces along side the pitch and we were surrounded by Saints fans. We were really envious of the hordes of Reading fans in the cages to our right behind the goal. ....Yes cages

Got that one badly wrong, Those of you that have been to the Dell understand.

The likes of OMA and Snowflake who watch our games from their bedrooms would never understand what we had to go through. When football was the real deal, you had to plan an away day as if you were invading a Foreign territory

Again those that travelled away in the 70’s / 80,s know exactly where I’m coming from.

[LUX]

The Southampton game was in the 78/79 season, Keegan didn't join Southampton till 1980.

Er, so I was right, he did not play.

( )

[Fox Talbot]

Think we had 25000 at home to Saints in the League cup in the early 80’s?

From memory Kevin Keegan was supposed to be playing for them, hence the crowd. But he did not play . I was there natch

Edit: it was nil nil and we lost the replay 2-0, big away crowd too.

It was nothing to do with Kevin Keegan, we were doing well and going for promotion that season, and the cup game caught the imagination of the public.
There was loads of violence that day/evening, and I remember some Reading fans taking the day off work in order to give Southampton fans a warm welcome, which they did and it carried on in Prospect Park afterwards with probably some of the most savage violence I have ever witnessed at a football game. The Police in those days were clueless.

At the replay the Reading fans were chucking around a copper's helmet so the Old Bill piled in en masse looking for one of their fallen colleagues - but it was all a spoof - so I believe.

We were bloody unlucky not to win the tie at Elm Park - their keeper had a blinder - Terry Gennoe - must have been the game of his life - never heard of him again. We were a very fine side - had already put on Div One Wolves in an earlier round. Trouble at that one too.

[eleventh earl of mar]

The Southampton game was in the 78/79 season, Keegan didn't join Southampton till 1980.

Er, so I was right, he did not play.

( )

Yes indeed, just answering your own question:
"Think we had 25000 at home to Saints in the League cup in the early 80’s?"

[Sutekh]

We were bloody unlucky not to win the tie at Elm Park - their keeper had a blinder - Terry Gennoe - must have been the game of his life - never heard of him again. We were a very fine side - had already put on Div One Wolves in an earlier round. Trouble at that one too.

As I recall Terry Gennoe went on to become a stalwart at Blackburn after a couple of seasons as, effective,y, an understudy at Southampton.

[Norfolk Royal]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the artificial leg incident at the Saints home game. Pics in the EvPo and everything.

There was more trouble at he Wolves game before that as I recall with a mob of Reading/Chelsea zooming across the Town End to attack the Wolves fans up in the corner. Don't condone it obviously.

[South Coast Royal]

Think we had 25000 at home to Saints in the League cup in the early 80’s?

From memory Kevin Keegan was supposed to be playing for them, hence the crowd. But he did not play . I was there natch

Edit: it was nil nil and we lost the replay 2-0, big away crowd too.

It was nothing to do with Kevin Keegan, we were doing well and going for promotion that season, and the cup game caught the imagination of the public.
There was loads of violence that day/evening, and I remember some Reading fans taking the day off work in order to give Southampton fans a warm welcome, which they did and it carried on in Prospect Park afterwards with probably some of the most savage violence I have ever witnessed at a football game. The Police in those days were clueless.

Any potential disappointment at not seeing a Keegan would have been offset by he fact that IIRC Alan Ball was playing. A genuine World Cup winner.....

The same Alan Ball wearing white boots?
Surely anything but black boots would never catch on?

[East Grinstead Royal]

Anyone remember Swindon away in the FA Cup in 1974? Terrible day, we lost 4-0. Lots of Reading fans near the hallway line at the start, anyone who started a song or chant was pointed out by plain clothes police at the front and got taken away by uniform. Eventually we ended up behind the goal where it was less congested. I seem to remember a Reading fan running onto the pitch to remonstrate with one of our defenders after the 4th goal went in. On the way back to the station someone lobbed a brick just past my head through a shop window which was the cue for everyone to leg it at top speed.

[DW Pinner]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the artificial leg incident at the Saints home game. Pics in the EvPo and everything.

There was more trouble at he Wolves game before that as I recall with a mob of Reading/Chelsea zooming across the Town End to attack the Wolves fans up in the corner. Don't condone it obviously.

yes funnily enough I was only thinking about that when I posted yesterday - happened in the Town End if I recall - what year was that?

[Nameless]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the artificial leg incident at the Saints home game. Pics in the EvPo and everything.

There was more trouble at he Wolves game before that as I recall with a mob of Reading/Chelsea zooming across the Town End to attack the Wolves fans up in the corner. Don't condone it obviously.

yes funnily enough I was only thinking about that when I posted yesterday - happened in the Town End if I recall - what year was that?

It happened in front of the Southbank.
Saints fan being hauled along the track by 2 coppers presumably prior to being nicked or arrested (although why they were taking Saints fans that way I gave no idea). A WPC ran after them and picked something up which turned out to be an artificial leg.

[Sutekh]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the artificial leg incident at the Saints home game. Pics in the EvPo and everything.

There was more trouble at he Wolves game before that as I recall with a mob of Reading/Chelsea zooming across the Town End to attack the Wolves fans up in the corner. Don't condone it obviously.

yes funnily enough I was only thinking about that when I posted yesterday - happened in the Town End if I recall - what year was that?

It happened in front of the Southbank.
Saints fan being hauled along the track by 2 coppers presumably prior to being nicked or arrested (although why they were taking Saints fans that way I gave no idea). A WPC ran after them and picked something up which turned out to be an artificial leg.

Reading 0-0 Southampton : 8th November 1978 (presumably a 7.30 kick off too).

Southampton went on to lose 3-2 to Forest in the final.

Just for the record, playing for Southampton that season were the likes of Ivan Golac, Alan Ball, Terry Curran, Chris Nichols and unlikely to have been any of this saving players for the league games mullarky you get now.

[STAR Liaison]

I've seen somewhere on this thread one poster wishing he had the programme for his first game v Gillingham which I've guessed was 1 Jan 1986.

Another poster was after the prog for Barrow at home on 22 Jan 1972.

From our enormous store of home progs I've managed to locate both - so for a £2 donation each to STAR funds they can be had. If still interested, please contact media@star-reading.org .

Also as it happens I've got a copy of much discussed Reading - Southampton 1978 at hand.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Went to the replay at the Dell as well.
We decided to go in the seats as we thought it would be safer ( first time in a seat at a football ground)

However the seats were wooden benches in front of the terraces along side the pitch and we were surrounded by Saints fans. We were really envious of the hordes of Reading fans in the cages to our right behind the goal. ....Yes cages

Got that one badly wrong, Those of you that have been to the Dell understand.

The likes of OMA and Snowflake who watch our games from their bedrooms would never understand what we had to go through. When football was the real deal, you had to plan an away day as if you were invading a Foreign territory

Again those that travelled away in the 70’s / 80,s know exactly where I’m coming from.

At least you probably saw the game from there, I was stood on the Archers Road terrace and could hardly see a thing...there was a lot of trouble after that game at the Dell too, kicked off in the park up the road by the Hants cricket ground...we were parked there.

[Jerry St Clair]

It happened in front of the Southbank.
Saints fan being hauled along the track by 2 coppers presumably prior to being nicked or arrested (although why they were taking Saints fans that way I gave no idea).

At an FA Cup game against Hendon in the late 80s, I remember a few Hendon (or were they Tottenham?) fans being led out by police from the Town End through the gate at the back of the South Bank and onwards through the baying mob*. Guessed the coppers were bored and just did it for the LOLZ.

*Actually, a pretty disinterested, sparsely populated right-side.

[Stranded]

Last competitive game under floodlights at Elm Park took place 22 years ago today:

https://hobnob.royals.org/matdoc/240298.html

[Jerry St Clair]

Last competitive game under floodlights at Elm Park took place 22 years ago today:

https://hobnob.royals.org/matdoc/240298.html

And the last win at Elm Park? Think we lost nearly every league game after Christmas?

<Checks>

Our record from 7 Feb was:

P18 - W2 - L16



The other win was Stoke at home on 4 April. What a magnificently appropriate, pisspoor way for Reading FC to say farewell to the old place.

[grey_squirrel]

In terms of attendances at EP, whilst an incredible 24,046 (the official recorded attendance) squeezed in for the Southampton cup game in 1978 - I was there and remember just seeing a sea of heads - just how they got 33,042 in there for the record gate against Brentford in 1927 in a largely 'the same' Elm Park is unfathomable.

For safety/security reasons, post the Bradford fire (or was it Heysel?), for several games the capacity at EP was reduced to 8,000 - a fifth of the record attendance! I think this was during the Mike Lewis era, so official gates and receipts thereof would have been taken with a pinch of salt in any event!

[Ark Royal]

In terms of attendances at EP, whilst an incredible 24,046 (the official recorded attendance) squeezed in for the Southampton cup game in 1978 - I was there and remember just seeing a sea of heads - just how they got 33,042 in there for the record gate against Brentford in 1927 in a largely 'the same' Elm Park is unfathomable.

For safety/security reasons, post the Bradford fire (or was it Heysel?), for several games the capacity at EP was reduced to 8,000 - a fifth of the record attendance! I think this was during the Mike Lewis era, so official gates and receipts thereof would have been taken with a pinch of salt in any event!

Official attendance for the FA Cup 4th round tie against Arsenal on 5th Feb 72 was 25,756. That was the largest Elm Park crowd I have ever been in and it narrowly beat the 25,659 for the 3rd round replay against Man City on 31st Jan 68. We all know how that one turned out...

[Ark Royal]

I've seen somewhere on this thread one poster wishing he had the programme for his first game v Gillingham which I've guessed was 1 Jan 1986.

Another poster was after the prog for Barrow at home on 22 Jan 1972.

From our enormous store of home progs I've managed to locate both - so for a £2 donation each to STAR funds they can be had. If still interested, please contact media@star-reading.org .

Also as it happens I've got a copy of much discussed Reading - Southampton 1978 at hand.

- Immediately prior to that Gillingham game our league record was P 24 W 20 D 2 L 2 and we were a Liverpool-esque NINETEEN points ahead of second place Walsall.

- The Barrow game had a barely believable attendance of 11,689 as the club were handing out vouchers at the turnstiles that guaranteed the holder a ticket for the Arsenal cup tie two weeks later.