Match Preview

When Sunday 25 May 2001, 3.00PM Kick-Off
Who and Where SECOND DIVISION PLAY OFF FINAL
WALSALL
(Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
Ticket Info

Tickets for the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff go on sale to season ticket holders only on Friday 18th May. Tickets can be purchased by personal callers only at the ticket office - and there are a maximum of six tickets available per season ticket holder.
The remaining tickets go on general sale on Saturday 19th May, and continue from Monday 21st May onwards - with a maximum of nine tickets per person. There are no ticket sales on Sunday 20th May. Reading's allocation of approximately 40,000 seats are expected to sell out fast as the Royals attempt to complete promotion to Division One. Walsall's allocation is far less than Reading's - in the region of 25,000. The capacity of the Millennium Stadium is 72,500.
Tickets are available by selection of price band only and not seat numbers. The price bands will be as follows:

Middle tier: £39.00
Upper tier (front) Middle tier (rear): £34.00
Lower tier (middle): £29.00
Lower tier (front and rear): £22.00
Upper tier (rear): £22.00
Family Area (Corner of Stadium): Adults £15.00, Juniors £11.00.

Obviously this match is ALL-TICKET and tickets will be sold out well in advance of the game, and all stands are reserved seating.
As of Tuesday 22 May, there are approximately 10,000 tickets remaining for Reading fans - call in at the ticket office now, or telephone to book your tickets.
Tickets queries should be directed at the Madejski Stadium ticket office on 0118 968 1000.
Click here for a seating plan of the stadium

Travel,
Food and Beer.

The location of the Millennium stadium couldn't be better - the stadium is located on the site of the old Cardiff Arms Park right in the middle of Cardiff City centre, which means you can choose from any city centre pubs and cafes that will have room to let us in!

By Train:
There will be three special train services running to get people between Cardiff Central station and Reading on the day of the match.
There are plenty of direct trains running to Cardiff. The best services from Reading station, based on the usual timetable, are the 10:30 and 11:30 trains which take an hour and forty minutes to arrive in Cardiff - leaving plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere. The only problem with the trains is that you'll need to book in advance, but the train companies are offering NO reduction on fares for early bookings! The cost for a return train ticket between Cardiff and Reading is 33 quid. Hardly cheap.

By Car:
The club and Cardiff council are advising not to drive to the game
- and instead to take one of the many coach services going to the ground.
If you are going to travel by car the ground is easy to find - just head West down the M4
into South Wales and do not leave it until you see the signs for Reading supporters. These signs will be colour coded so you can't miss them - and it'll avoid the traffic chaos that occurred at the Worthington Cup Final. It's bound to be busy on the motorway with so many people converging on the stadium at the same time - so make sure you leave early.
The police and local councils are advising that anyone driving from Reading to the ground by car should allow up to four hours for their journey.

Parking
There's parking signposted on the routes into the ground, but there will be no parking close to the ground. Fans arriving in car will be directed to one of the many park and ride car parks for Reading fans - needing to take a bus onwards to the ground and back afterwards. Coach parking is closer and free (see below). The park and ride costs £5 per car.

Supporters' Club Coaches:
The Supporters Club will be taking bookings for their coaches from 4.30pm onwards on Friday 18 May and Saturday 19 May morning at the Madejski Stadium. You must be a member of RFSC to make a coach booking, and membership has now closed for this season. The cost of return travel to Cardiff is £10. . Coaches leave the town centre at 9.45am or the Madejski Stadium at 10am.
All ten RFSC coaches are now fully booked.

Other Coaches:
In addition, Horseman Coaches will be running approximately 50 coaches to the game and charging £20 return between the Madejski Stadium and the Millennium Stadium. Bookings are being taken at the North Stand during Friday (18th) and Saturday (19th).
Due to expensive trains we've hired a mini-bus for the day - might be worth others doing a similar thing before all available mini-buses for hire become fully booked too! It worked out at about 8 quid each for us, and is of course more flexible than the coaches - plus qualifies for free parking near the ground.

All coaches will be parked within walking distance of the ground, given better driving routes to the stadium, and parked for free - so it's worth taking the coach rather than a car. If you are driving a coach/bus/mini-bus to the ground you can organise free parking by calling the Millennium Stadium on 029 2023 1458.

Staying overnight:
Apparantly most of the bed and breakfasts in Cardiff are already fully booked for the weekend - so you might find it hard planning a whole weekend of it in Cardiff.

Further Information:
For more information on the Millennium Stadium try the following website:
http://www.cardiff-stadium.co.uk/
For more information on Cardiff City Centre for football fans try the following:
http://www.cardiffmatchday.co.uk/

Team news

Both Graeme Murty and Darren Caskey have shaken off injuries during the week to declare themselves fit for the biggest match for six years - leaving Alan Pardew with plenty of options to choose from when naming his starting eleven. Jamie Cureton continues to play through injury while he waits for a operation during the summer and is expected to start ahead of super-sub Nicky Forster who turned the game around for us against Wigan last Wednesday night. If Forster does start then it seems likely Cureton could be on the bench for his chance to become super sub if needed. Caskey could well be on the bench with Harper looking for a start. In the centre of defence Pardew will probably stick with Viveash and Adrian Williams - but Barry Hunter competes for Williams place. The two full backs could be any two from Gurney, Robinson and Murty. Reading will be on the look out for Miguel Matias who'll be up front for Walsall after scoring two of the four goals that saw them beat Stoke City 4-2 to progress to the final. Ex-Reading player Tony Barras, who made six appearances for the Royals on loan and after signing for £20,000, will start in defence for Walsall. Ex-Sunderland and Everton player Brett Angell will probably start on the bench.

Reading - from: Whitehead, Gurney, Viveash, Williams, Robinson, Parkinson, Caskey, Harper, Igoe, Forster, Cureton, Butler, McIntyre, Rougier, Howie, Hunter, Murty.

Walsall - from: Walker, Brightwell, Aranalde, Tillson, Barras, Hall, Gadsby, Bennett, Keates, Matias, Leitao, Angell, Goodman, Byfield, Bukran, Emberson.

Form Guide

Reading's Last Six Games Of The Season
Most recent last
W: Bournemouth 1 Reading 2 (League)
W: Reading 4 Bury 1 (League)
W: Oxford United 0 Reading 2 (League)
D: Reading 2 Walsall 2 (League)
L: Colchester United 1 Reading 2 (League)
D: Reading 3 Bournemouth 3 (League)
Final League Position: 3rd


Reading's route through the play-offs
D: Wigan 0 Reading 0 (First Leg)
W: Reading 2 Wigan 1
(Second Leg)
Reading win 2-1 on aggregate

Walsall's Last Six Games Of The Season
Most recent last
W: Walsall 3 Brentford 2 (League)
D: Reading 2 Walsall 2 (League)
L: Peterborough 2 Walsall 0 (League)
W: Walsall 2 Bristol R 1 (League)
W: Port Vale 0 Walsall 2 (League)
W: Northampton 0 Walsall 3 (League)
Final League Position: 4th


Walsall's route through the play-offs
D: Stoke City 0 Walsall 0 (First Leg)
W:
Walsall 4 Stoke City 2 (Second Leg)
Walsall win 4-2 on aggregate

View Final Second Division Table

Previous Meetings 

Reading wins: 21
Draws: 20
Walsall wins: 26
Figures include League, FA Cup and League Cup only.

2000/2001 Season:
Walsall have taken four points off the Royals in our two encounters this season. The play-off final will be the perfect occassion for revenge! Walsall earned a 2-2 draw at the Madejski last month, and earlier this season the Royals went down 1-2 at Walsall despite a decent performance and a Jimmy McIntyre goal right at the end of the match.
21 April 2001: Reading 2 Walsall 2
4 November 2000: Walsall 2 Reading 1

Click on match results for match reports.

Match Odds

Odds available at William Hill, where you can get £25 back on your first bet:
Well worth betting on a Royals victory!
Reading are favourites to complete the job and win promotion in the play-off final.
Reading win 1-0: 7/1
Reading win 2-0: 8/1
Reading win 2-1: 15/2
Reading win 3-0: 20/1
Reading win 3-1: 20/1
Reading win 3-2: 25/1
Reading win 4-0: 80/1
Walsall win 1-0: 7/1
Wigan win 2-0: 11/1
Wigan win 2-1: 9/1
Wigan win 3-0: 28/1
Wigan win 3-1: 25/1
Draw 0-0: 17/2
Draw 1-1: 11/2
Draw 2-2: 12/1
Odds for scores after 90 minutes.

Predictions It really does promise to be the most amazing occassion as the season ends for Reading in front of over 70,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium - the majority of which will be Reading fans. Hopefully Reading's massive support in Cardiff will give them the edge over a Walsall side that finished below us in the league. The single game determines the whole future of the club and the pressure will be huge. With solid support from the travelling Reading fans - we can win this game - and we can get promoted to Division One. A victory for the Royals.
Opposition Site http://steveroy.com/walsall/
Decent unofficial site.

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