Why supporting Reading is better than supporting Arsenal

[Angry Shed Sex]

I listened to either Radio 5 live or TalkSport a couple of weeks ago.

A liverpool supporting southerner called in to complain about Liverpudlians supporting Liverpool wanting to make the decisions that affect their club and somehow thinking they were superior to anyone who supported Liverpool from outside the area (or even abroad)

He completely disagreed with them. His whole tack is they have to be a global brand to be successful otherwise they'll just end up like Everton.

I see a dark day where, just like in the USA, clubs become "franchises" and are moved wherever the owners like. It's not palatable at the moment - but the more foreign owners come, the more disconnected a club is from its natural fan base and roots are and, more importantly, the more money there is in the game the more likely this is to happen.

I just hope I'm not around to see it.

[Angry Shed Sex]

I'm now very depressed.

[genome]

It's only football m8.

[Forbury Lion]

I see a dark day where, just like in the USA, clubs become "franchises" and are moved wherever the owners like. It's not palatable at the moment

Perhaps the solution will be for clubs to have two teams, a local domestic side filled with local players who want to play here in England and have a global side of superstars who play all over the World.

[Maguire]

I genuinely think supporting a big team (even if you go all the time) is a completely different kind of experience to supporting your Readings or your Bradfords. Your entire perception of what football is and what it entails is different, and it's a real perspective clash the odd time two such teams play each other.

Imagine going to a game and not knowing a single other person there? You don't stand in the concourse and think "oh there's my mate from school's dad", "there's Paul Black" or even just "there's proper Uncle Brendy". Must be weird.

2nd ALOL of the day from mags on here, 4th if you include all online platforms

see you tonight m8

[From Despair To Where?]

Someone mentioned here that we had taken a team that in Sanchez and Ozil had two players worth more than we had ever spent on transfers in our entire history.

To be honest, I made that up on the spur of the moment as a counter to what i saw as a negative post, although thinking about it, it's probably true. If not, there can't be more than £5m in it. Maybe strap's database can clear it up.

[JIM]

With NEWCASTLE heading for a clear out, how much can they spend under FFP, Limits please.? And how much us ?

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Someone mentioned here that we had taken a team that in Sanchez and Ozil had two players worth more than we had ever spent on transfers in our entire history.

To be honest, I made that up on the spur of the moment as a counter to what i saw as a negative post, although thinking about it, it's probably true. If not, there can't be more than £5m in it. Maybe strap's database can clear it up.

I've often calculated, when playing one of the top 4 or 5 clubs, that their substitutes cost more than our stadium.

[Ian Royal]

It simply comes down to highs in football areconly given true meaning by lows. If finishing 7th in the the top flight or failing to win a trophy for 10 years is your idea of disaster you simply lack any sufficient perspective for the good times to have true meaning.

When winning something is what you feel your club should achieve every year, you have no foundation in the reality of genuine football. You only ever see the super rich and super talented players.

If you're constantly at the top you also only build connections to half a dozen other teams and are left totally ignorant of the vast majority of other teams. Whereas if you support a real team like Reading you build connections to half the leagues and have at least a vague idea about the achievements of other clubs. Enough not to just say 'well you've never even been to Wembley before'. To a team that's on its second trip in 5 years.

Genuinely supporting a football team should require a huge emotional investment in what happens to your club.

[genome]

Someone mentioned here that we had taken a team that in Sanchez and Ozil had two players worth more than we had ever spent on transfers in our entire history.

To be honest, I made that up on the spur of the moment as a counter to what i saw as a negative post, although thinking about it, it's probably true. If not, there can't be more than £5m in it. Maybe strap's database can clear it up.

Yeah. Might be tricky to get an exact figure due to our tendency to keep transfer fees undisclosed, but I can't imagine we will have spent more than £40-50m on transfers since Madejski took over, and for the 100+ years before then expenditure will be negligible.

[melonhead]

It simply comes down to highs in football areconly given true meaning by lows. If finishing 7th in the the top flight or failing to win a trophy for 10 years is your idea of disaster you simply lack any sufficient perspective for the good times to have true meaning.

When winning something is what you feel your club should achieve every year, you have no foundation in the reality of genuine football. You only ever see the super rich and super talented players.

If you're constantly at the top you also only build connections to half a dozen other teams and are left totally ignorant of the vast majority of other teams. Whereas if you support a real team like Reading you build connections to half the leagues and have at least a vague idea about the achievements of other clubs. Enough not to just say 'well you've never even been to Wembley before'. To a team that's on its second trip in 5 years.

Genuinely supporting a football team should require a huge emotional investment in what happens to your club.

if supporting Reading was a film, it would win Oscars for the emotional rollercoaster they take you on.
people pay good money for that sort of emotional involvement.
they certainly make you feel.

[St. Brynjar]

For me it's promotion. I'd be surprised if anything in football comes close. Forest at home in 11/12 is probably the best I've felt as a football fan, even more than 05/06.

[From Despair To Where?]

To be honest, I made that up on the spur of the moment as a counter to what i saw as a negative post, although thinking about it, it's probably true. If not, there can't be more than £5m in it. Maybe strap's database can clear it up.

Yeah. Might be tricky to get an exact figure due to our tendency to keep transfer fees undisclosed, but I can't imagine we will have spent more than £40-50m on transfers since Madejski took over, and for the 100+ years before then expenditure will be negligible.

I found this which lists all our transfers since 1992

http://www.transferleague.co.uk/reading/english-football-teams/reading-transfers

It reckons £37.5m but I think there's maybe another £5m on top of that for the undisclosed fees so lets play safe and call it a round £45m.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of 5 players pre Madejski who cost more than £100,000, Moran, Maskell, Curle, Whitehurst and Senior so i reckon our all time transfer spend is somewhere around £45-50m which remarkably, is £15-20m less than I originally guessed.


Actually, a second look at that link, they appear to have missed Bikey.

[SCIAG]

To be honest, I made that up on the spur of the moment as a counter to what i saw as a negative post, although thinking about it, it's probably true. If not, there can't be more than £5m in it. Maybe strap's database can clear it up.

Yeah. Might be tricky to get an exact figure due to our tendency to keep transfer fees undisclosed, but I can't imagine we will have spent more than £40-50m on transfers since Madejski took over, and for the 100+ years before then expenditure will be negligible.

I found this which lists all our transfers since 1992

http://www.transferleague.co.uk/reading/english-football-teams/reading-transfers

It reckons £37.5m but I think there's maybe another £5m on top of that for the undisclosed fees so lets play safe and call it a round £45m.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of 5 players pre Madejski who cost more than £100,000, Moran, Maskell, Curle, Whitehurst and Senior so i reckon our all time transfer spend is somewhere around £45-50m which remarkably, is £15-20m less than I originally guessed.


Actually, a second look at that link, they appear to have missed Bikey.

They've also duplicated our signings in 02/03 the next year, so they occupy a parallel universe where Lloyd Owusu never played for us. On the other hand, neither did Dave Kitson or Ivar Ingimarsson.

[Royalclapper]

'Fever Pitch' generation fans.

They asked for a travel refund cuz they got walloped 8-2 at Old Trafford - cry baby pcunts.

[genome]

Yeah. Might be tricky to get an exact figure due to our tendency to keep transfer fees undisclosed, but I can't imagine we will have spent more than £40-50m on transfers since Madejski took over, and for the 100+ years before then expenditure will be negligible.

I found this which lists all our transfers since 1992

http://www.transferleague.co.uk/reading/english-football-teams/reading-transfers

It reckons £37.5m but I think there's maybe another £5m on top of that for the undisclosed fees so lets play safe and call it a round £45m.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of 5 players pre Madejski who cost more than £100,000, Moran, Maskell, Curle, Whitehurst and Senior so i reckon our all time transfer spend is somewhere around £45-50m which remarkably, is £15-20m less than I originally guessed.


Actually, a second look at that link, they appear to have missed Bikey.

They've also duplicated our signings in 02/03 the next year, so they occupy a parallel universe where Lloyd Owusu never played for us. On the other hand, neither did Dave Kitson or Ivar Ingimarsson.

Who the hell is Mario Noto?

[Forbury Lion]

Who the hell is Mario Noto?

Royal Lady asked me the same question once when he appeared in the Millwall (away) programe

[Silver Fox]

'Fever Pitch' generation fans.

They asked for a travel refund cuz they got walloped 8-2 at Old Trafford - cry baby pcunts.

I'm pretty sure there's always demands for the club to refund train fares or provide free coaches for the next game whenever we get hammered away

[Ascotexgunner]

Become a horrible club. Ground is full of football tourists with large bags of tat from the shop. Fans are "customers" who treat their season ticket as a fashion accessory. Their "fans" also seem to look down their noses at clubs like us and then say their club have no money and can't compete with united and city, when sp+nking 42m on urghzil and 36m on Sanchez. They then w*nk themselves off when they get 4th and a place in the CL, which they hysterically and arrogantly went out of thinking Monaco were a push over.
Give me Reading any day, it maybe painful but when those nights come round like a Friday night in a league decider in Soton, its just so sweet because its rare.

Their such bad f@cking losers as well. Its always the refs fault. They actually name the refs that "hate" them.