Reading FC 1985/86

[PNEpete]

Hi all I hope you don't mind me coming over onto your forum as a fan of another team (Preston North End), but I was wondering/hoping if some of your older fan's (well middle aged, really) could give me any help in regard's to Ian Branfoot's 1985/86 Division 3 title winning team ? I remember your 13 match winning run at the start of the season (so impressive !!) & was hopeful that you could give me some information as to your formation & tactic's. I know you had Martin Hicks & Steve Wood as your two big centre-halves & Steve Richardson at left back, Michael Gilkes at right wing & the goal machine Trevor Senior up front, but was wondering was your formation a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 ? Thanks for any help & I wish you & your club all the very best for the season ps .. I love playing the Football Manager pc game & was hoping to use your very successful formation/tactic's in it. Thanks again

[From Despair To Where?]

Nominally 4-4-2 but the main tactic was to be as fit as a bunch of squadies and hoof the ball up to Trevor Senior, bypassing midfield in the process for 90 minutes. We won loads of games late on purely by being fit as fcuk and relentlessly bludgeoning the other team with long balls. We made Wimbledon look like Brazil.

We actually had some decent midfielders, Stuart Beavon (father of the Stuart Beavon that played for you), Gilksie, Andy Rogers, Kevin Bremner (more a number 10), Mark White, Jerry Williams. All better players than our tactics allowed.

Defence was Richardson, Wood, Hicks and Colin Baillie with Gary Peters (another PNE connection) as cover.

Dean Horrix was a bit of a legend for us. Classy player, easily the most gifted footballer in the side Sadly died in a car crash in 1990.

We weren't prolific goalscorers, I think we scored maybe 64-65 goals that season and despite winning 29 and only losing 10 our goal difference was about +15. A team of grinders. Didn't win a single game by more than 2 goals all season.

[PNEpete]

Hey Thank You From Despair To Where (& nice to meet you mate) for your extremely helpful reply. You've given me a much better idea of how your team played. I was sorry to read of the passing of Dean Horrix. I can tell that you & many other Reading fan's thought a great deal about him & remember him fondly. Yeah, Gary Peters. Eeeee .. I have such a lot of time for him pal. He got North End firing again in late 1994 & won us the old division 4 title in 1995/96. That was a wonderful season for us FDTW, where we just went for it right from minute 1 of every game home & away. I remember Stuart Beavon jnr well too for us. He was a hardworking forward, a channel runner, much like David Reeves used to be for us too. He didn't score many for us, but our team was fairly poor & didn't create many chances in the time he was with us, but I liked him a lot. Thanks a lot again for your help FDTW, I really appreciate your input. Take Care

[Ark Royal]

Yes, pace out wide with Jerry Williams and Andy Rogers (and Gilkesy when he was in the team) serviced by a midfield that was told to hit diagonals and then get balls in the box for Senior, Horrix and Bremner. Senior was deadly in the box; outside the area he was a giraffe on skates, whose first touch was about his seventh. Keeper Gary Westwood said that Senior's secret was that he hit the ball so early. We battered teams late on, e.g. Plymouth at home when we were were 0-3 down with 25 minutes to go, but scored three in nine minutes to win 4-3. We were not pretty, but thanks to the 13, we had the title virtually sewn up by 1st January before the home game against Gillingham, which we lost. The record at that point was P24 W20 D2 L2 and we were NINETEEN points clear. Second half of the season was a more prosaic P22 W9 D5 L8. Branfoot got some insurance by signing Terry Hurlock from Brentford for what was then a club record £82,000. At that level, a better player than people gave him credit for, but truly a terrifying midfield destroyer.

[PNEpete]

Hello there Ark Royal & as with From Despair To Where, Thank You very much for giving me your time & trouble in explaining to me more about your team's 1985/86 formation & tactic's. You write really well mate, with great statistic detail & with some good humour too. I liked your description of Trevor Senior as a' giraffe with skates on outside the box' & his 'seven' first touch Thanks for telling me about how you dominated/won a lot of games late on (last 20 mins). Yeah, FDTW said much the same & that turnaround v Plymouth showed that & definetly also showed your team's determination & team spirit too. Hmmm .. I've just had a look at the league table from 85/86 & have seen that you got 94 points, which is fantastic. I knew Reading had started the season with a 'Perfect 13', but was quite suprised to read that you'd only won 9 from the last 22, with almost as many defeats (8).Also, what is well odd is that you won 13 away games, lost only 6, but had a minus goal difference. Eeeee .. Terry Hurlock, my word, I bet that name still strikes fear in many a retired player !! I didn't realise that he was at one time a Reading player. I recall his time at Millwall & when he played for Fulham. He was in their team when they played Preston up here in 1995. We had David Beckham playing for us at the time & I reckon it did him the world of good in discovering the Terry Hurlock's of this world Thanks again for your brilliant help Ark Royal & have a great weekend

[Royality creeps In]

Sort of new Gary Peters through his ex wife.
Bumped into him when he was with John Beck at a night club in Preston some years later, Springs or something similar?
Had a chat to him as he lived near us a few years before and did a bit of reminiscing.
Have no idea where he is now mind you.
Even went to a game at the old Deepdale with a PNE season ticket holder, a "friendly" vs Burnley.

Hey Thank You From Despair To Where (& nice to meet you mate) for your extremely helpful reply. You've given me a much better idea of how your team played. I was sorry to read of the passing of Dean Horrix. I can tell that you & many other Reading fan's thought a great deal about him & remember him fondly. Yeah, Gary Peters. Eeeee .. I have such a lot of time for him pal. He got North End firing again in late 1994 & won us the old division 4 title in 1995/96. That was a wonderful season for us FDTW, where we just went for it right from minute 1 of every game home & away. I remember Stuart Beavon jnr well too for us. He was a hardworking forward, a channel runner, much like David Reeves used to be for us too. He didn't score many for us, but our team was fairly poor & didn't create many chances in the time he was with us, but I liked him a lot. Thanks a lot again for your help FDTW, I really appreciate your input. Take Care

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Gilksey was more of a squad player that season. I think Rodgers and Williams were our regular wide men.

Just before new year our record was played 24, won 20, drawn 2, lost 2 - points 62 and our form tailed off significantly after that.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Still remembers Gary Peters scoring in an epic win at Brentford during the 13 win start; Senior scoring the winner in the last minute.

[From Despair To Where?]

Yes, pace out wide with Jerry Williams and Andy Rogers (and Gilkesy when he was in the team) serviced by a midfield that was told to hit diagonals and then get balls in the box for Senior, Horrix and Bremner. Senior was deadly in the box; outside the area he was a giraffe on skates, whose first touch was about his seventh. Keeper Gary Westwood said that Senior's secret was that he hit the ball so early. We battered teams late on, e.g. Plymouth at home when we were were 0-3 down with 25 minutes to go, but scored three in nine minutes to win 4-3. We were not pretty, but thanks to the 13, we had the title virtually sewn up by 1st January before the home game against Gillingham, which we lost. The record at that point was P24 W20 D2 L2 and we were NINETEEN points clear. Second half of the season was a more prosaic P22 W9 D5 L8. Branfoot got some insurance by signing Terry Hurlock from Brentford for what was then a club record £82,000. At that level, a better player than people gave him credit for, but truly a terrifying midfield destroyer.

Senior was an instinctive striker. Sling the ball into the box and he'd find some way of getting part of his body into it and he wasn't afraid of getting a boot in the face in the process. Give time and space and he was clueless. We sold him to Watford and he returned via Middlesbrough. They'd taught him to play football but he never quite so prolific. Absolutely brilliant lower league striker though, even in a poor season would guarantee you 15-20 goals.

I didn't mention Hurlock as we signed him mid season and had sold him to Millwall within a year. Made his debut in a 6-0 hammering at Walsall and certainly left his mark on a few opposing midfielders.

[tmesis]

Senior was an instinctive striker. Sling the ball into the box and he'd find some way of getting part of his body into it and he wasn't afraid of getting a boot in the face in the process. Give time and space and he was clueless. We sold him to Watford and he returned via Middlesbrough. They'd taught him to play football but he never quite so prolific. Absolutely brilliant lower league striker though, even in a poor season would guarantee you 15-20 goals.

Senior probably lost at least 5 goals a season when the backpass rule changed. He was an expert at lurking off a defender's shoulder and intercepting an underhit backpass or two.

He was a quite brilliant goal poacher. People dismiss such play as "goal-hanging" and say it's easy, but if it was easy, all strikers would do it. Being in the right place at the right time is a real knack. He was also pretty lethal in the air, although again from fairly close in.

It was a surprise that no league club came in for him after he left Reading. He was still only 30 at the time.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Senior was an instinctive striker. Sling the ball into the box and he'd find some way of getting part of his body into it and he wasn't afraid of getting a boot in the face in the process. Give time and space and he was clueless. We sold him to Watford and he returned via Middlesbrough. They'd taught him to play football but he never quite so prolific. Absolutely brilliant lower league striker though, even in a poor season would guarantee you 15-20 goals.

Senior probably lost at least 5 goals a season when the backpass rule changed. He was an expert at lurking off a defender's shoulder and intercepting an underhit backpass or two.

He was a quite brilliant goal poacher. People dismiss such play as "goal-hanging" and say it's easy, but if it was easy, all strikers would do it. Being in the right place at the right time is a real knack. He was also pretty lethal in the air, although again from fairly close in.

It was a surprise that no league club came in for him after he left Reading. He was still only 30 at the time.

I recall a story doing the rounds at the time that we included a whole host of clauses in the deal that took him to Watford for £375,000 ( a significant sum at the time), including money for England caps and sell on clauses. ..

Anyway, given his lack of success, Reading were suitably chasened by the experience and didn't insist on any such nonsense for the next big sale.... A certain Keith Curle.... future England international and most expensive defender in football when sold onto man city....

What could have been...

[Ark Royal]

Hello there Ark Royal & as with From Despair To Where, Thank You very much for giving me your time & trouble in explaining to me more about your team's 1985/86 formation & tactic's. You write really well mate, with great statistic detail & with some good humour too. I liked your description of Trevor Senior as a' giraffe with skates on outside the box' & his 'seven' first touch Thanks for telling me about how you dominated/won a lot of games late on (last 20 mins). Yeah, FDTW said much the same & that turnaround v Plymouth showed that & definetly also showed your team's determination & team spirit too. Hmmm .. I've just had a look at the league table from 85/86 & have seen that you got 94 points, which is fantastic. I knew Reading had started the season with a 'Perfect 13', but was quite suprised to read that you'd only won 9 from the last 22, with almost as many defeats (8).Also, what is well odd is that you won 13 away games, lost only 6, but had a minus goal difference. Eeeee .. Terry Hurlock, my word, I bet that name still strikes fear in many a retired player !! I didn't realise that he was at one time a Reading player. I recall his time at Millwall & when he played for Fulham. He was in their team when they played Preston up here in 1995. We had David Beckham playing for us at the time & I reckon it did him the world of good in discovering the Terry Hurlock's of this world Thanks again for your brilliant help Ark Royal & have a great weekend

No worries PNEP and good luck to the Lilywhites this season. If you need any more insight into 85/86, let me know. It was a memorable season that is still fresh in the memory. After being stuck at the third level for 55 years - with a few years in the fourth chucked in - my ambition as a Reading fan was just to see them play at the second level. An amazing feeling when we finally made it back there. We did ok in 86/87 (13th), but did not invest and the almost inevitable relegation followed in 87/88.

[Henley Royal 1]

Hi unbelievable season we would we be 20 points clear after Christmas and be played off the park away from home losing heavily at Gillingham ,Walsall 6 nil Bristol City albeit with the title wrapped up .Senior was great in the air the wingers Jerry Williams and Andy Rogers produced an endless stream of crosses Stuart Beavon must have hated playing in that side I loved the fact we were winning but the style of football was shocking .

[tmesis]

Hi unbelievable season we would we be 20 points clear after Christmas and be played off the park away from home losing heavily at Gillingham ,Walsall 6 nil Bristol City albeit with the title wrapped up .Senior was great in the air the wingers Jerry Williams and Andy Rogers produced an endless stream of crosses Stuart Beavon must have hated playing in that side I loved the fact we were winning but the style of football was shocking .

Squads were much smaller then. It only took a few injuries for a team to be badly disrupted.

Even the top clubs sides would rely on a core of about 17 or 18 players for the whole season, with nothing beyond youth prospects after that. It was one reason why "the double" was such a difficult thing to achieve back then. Any team going deep in the cups would face fatigue, as rotating a team for a cup tie was impossible (as well as unthinkable).

[Sport Economist]

http://thetwounfortunates.com/great-football-league-teams-40-reading-1985-6/

[Franchise FC]

http://thetwounfortunates.com/great-football-league-teams-40-reading-1985-6/

That was the season of the 4-3 home win against Plymouth
3-0 down against the team that were second in the table at the time, and with only c20 minutes left.
For me that was the highlight of the season, not necessarily the 13 wins

[Sutekh]

http://thetwounfortunates.com/great-football-league-teams-40-reading-1985-6/

That was the season of the 4-3 home win against Plymouth
3-0 down against the team that were second in the table at the time, and with only c20 minutes left.
For me that was the highlight of the season, not necessarily the 13 wins

3-0 down just after half time, thought Reading scored their first in about the 67th minute then managed the remaining 3 goals in the last 10 minutes - and Plymouth had a player sent off just after the fourth went in.

Real shame Reading more or less gave up after xmas (had in excess of 60 points I think by 1st Jan) and just became a largely average team. 0-6 at Walsall

Love to have that season all over again though.

[If you still hate Futcher]

For the Walsall 6-0 most of the squad were ill but we had to play the game.

Those sort of losses were unusual for that team, we mostly used to soak up pressure (especially away from home) and sneak a goal or 2 up the other end.

[grey_squirrel]

That was the season of the 4-3 home win against Plymouth
3-0 down against the team that were second in the table at the time, and with only c20 minutes left.
For me that was the highlight of the season, not necessarily the 13 wins

IIRC didn't Plymouth also hit the crossbar from some range after they scored their 3rd and before we got our 1st?

[Mr Optimist]

My favourite memory of the season was the Newport County away game. As a 16 year old and being one of my earliest away games I remember all the cars with blue and white scarves flying out their windows going down the M4 and standing on that curved partly covered terrace behind the goal at Somerton Park.

I remember the feeling of relief as Super Kev's header looped in to the net in front of us and the ball seeming to take an age to hit the back of the net, followed up by mental scenes of celebration on the terraces and from other parts of the ground too. I think we made up about 4,000 of the 6,500 crowd that day.

So gutted when Kevin Bremner left for Brighton. I heard a rumour that he had been refused an extra £50 a week in wages and got the hump so moved to Brighton who were a division below us at the time, then promptly helped them to promotion back to division 2.

The Bolton home games on the run also sticks in my mind. Due to licensing restrictions (post Bradford fire?) Elm Park's capacity was restricted to 8,000 so miraculously the crowd was announced as 8,000 although I would guess there were 8,000 in the South Bank alone that day, you couldn't even move.

I think there was a great togetherness with that team, which isn't always the way with successful teams? Although Brighton seemed to think they invented this phenomenon last season!