For February 13th I'm going back 11 years to 2010 and Reading's FA Cup 5th Round tie against West Bromwich Albion at the "Mad Stad" (or Madejski Stadium as it is more correctly known).
Some football clubs don't seem to be unduly bothered about filling empty seats. Reading certainly were one of those when this match was played. I first visited Reading's new stadium in 1999 but fancied another visit for an interesting FA Cup tie and it was the chance for a new league ground for Martin. When we arrived we were dismayed to discover that there were no tickets available on the day to non-members. No amount of explanation at the ticket office that we were neutrals helped despite the fact that we hardly looked like hooligans. The answer? Well since members were allowed to buy up to 4 tickets each on the day, we simply asked a member to get us 2 extra tickets and we were in. So much for whatever Reading were trying to achieve with their ridiculous policy and, once inside, I was amazed at the sheer number of empty seats. I never want to hear tell of how Reading may be hard up for cash. They deserve their fate!
Martin and I were quietly rooting for the Baggies as a result of our inconvenience and were dismayed to see Reading score one of the fastest FA Cup goals of all time after only 7 seconds! We were therefore delighted when West Brom secured an equalizer with 3 minutes to go to make the score 2-2. This meant a replay back in the Black Country which the "Royals" (whatever happened to their infinitely superior "Biscuitmen" nickname?) duly went and won 3-2 to secure a place in the Quarter Finals for the first time since 1927. Reading's side included Chelsea loanee Ryan Bertrand and, for all Icelandic football fans reading this, Brynjar Gunnarsson. Roberto di Matteo was still cutting his teeth in management at West Brom before going on to win the European Cup as boss of Chelsea. The attendance was 18,008 (less than 75% of stadium capacity).
CRB Match No. 1733
Comments
Post a Comment