Over the past two seasons Reading Football Club and its fans have witnessed the biggest transformation in its 128 year history. Rusting Tin & Shiny Plastic - materials that symbolise the old and new worlds of professional football - tells the story of two emotional years in the life of the as it changed its home ground.
Zac Josey has spent two years creating emotional and enlightening images of the last season and the demolition of Elm Park, the building and first season at the Madejski Stadium. Roger Titford, chairman of the supporters club and football writer, complements the pictures with a passionate account of the great leap.
Rusting Tin & Shiny Plastic will be a sown softback of about 240 pages and containing over 200 superb photos. It will be a top quality production created by two loyal, independant minded fans.
The most dramatic change
In the years after the Taylor report many football clubs have changed grounds. But none have seen such a dramatic change as Reading.
Opened in 1896, Elm Park was the oldest League ground in the South. Snug on the slopes of the Thames Valley, it had not noticeably changed in over 40 years. It characterised lower division football while the game around it had undergone a complete revolution.
Then Reading acquired a state of the art Premiership standard ground, the Madejski Stadium, on the edge of town. No other club has enhanced the status of its surroundings so suddenly, nor had to bear such an untimely relegation whilst doing so.
Rusting Tin & Shiny Plastic documents in word and image the changes of place and the feelings of the fan. It's the true momento of Elm Park and a treasure for all Reading supporters. It is also a fascinating insight to the followers of the culture of English football far and wide.
