Pre-Season Plans Revealed

03 June 2015
By Hob Nob Anyone?

Thanks to Reading's new Thai based owners, the club are planning a short tour of Thailand this summer ahead of the new Championship season. The Royals head out in early July and will face a team made up of players from the Thailand Premier League. The friendly match will take place at Bangkok's National Stadium and is scheduled for Wednesday 8 July with a 7pm kick-off. The game is also set to be shown on TV in Thailand as Reading look to make the most of their Thai links and earn some new supporters overseas. The Royals are also visiting Ko Samui and it is possible a second lower key game will be arranged.

English teams traveling to Thailand haven't exactly left a good impression recently and the club are selling the trip as both training for the new season and a chance to improve the reputation of Championship football. Reading manager Steve Clarke hopes the trip will be a good opportunity: "As well as being an integral part of our pre-season training, this trip will allow us to represent our owners in their homeland. We look forward to the opportunity of being good ambassadors for Reading FC and hopefully extending our popularity in Thailand."

When Reading return from their travels they also have three games lined up against English League opposition away from home. The club also hope to arrange an additional game at the Madejski Stadium on the 1st of August before the new season gets underway.

The current schedule sees Reading at newly promoted Bristol Rovers on Tuesday 21 July before traveling to Wycombe on Friday 24 July. Bristol Rovers were victorious in their play-off campaign to return to the football league after a one season leave. The game at Wycombe's Adams Park won't see Reading facing Wycombe Wanderers - they'll be playing Premier League Swansea City. Swansea should provide a tough test after they finished a very impressive eighth place in the Premier League last season. Crawley Town, freshly relegated from League One, will see Reading visit on Monday 27 July. All games are set to kick-off at 7:45pm.

Reading's Pre-Season Schedule

• Wed 8 July: Thailand Premier League XI (Away)
• Tue 21 July: Bristol Rovers (Away)
• Fri 24 July: Swansea City (Away - Wycombe)
• Mon 27 July: Crawley Town (Away)

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