25 years ago today

Tony Le Mesmer
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25 years ago today

by Tony Le Mesmer » 29 May 2020 11:33

This one is too big, needs its own thread.

29/05/1995

First Division Play Off Final

Reading 3-4 Bolton Wanderers AET.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERONNx9GL4A

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Notts Royal » 29 May 2020 12:03

It was too much to take for an 8 year old!

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Mid Sussex Royal » 29 May 2020 15:06

Notts Royal It was too much to take for an 8 year old!


I think for anyone who was there it l must rank as their worst day watching Reading...far worse than the other three finals:

Walsall - unfortunate circumstances with the own goal but we went up next season anyway
Swansea - expected us to lose to a much better side
Hudds - missed opportunity and upsetting at the end but we didn't deserve anything from the game

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Ark Royal » 29 May 2020 15:29

Will never, EVER get over that defeat. Still haunts me. I would suggest that every Royal knew that side would break up and our chance was gone. But then...

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Westwood52 » 29 May 2020 15:50

Deffo my worst Reading defeat.Wonder what would have happened if the penalty had gone in ?Would Bolton have thrown in the towel.When the 4th went in;I upped and left,only to sit in the car park as the cars were parked nose to tail.I therefore missed Quinny’s goal.Driving out of the ground,I went the opposite way out of the entrance as everyone else,and ended up driving through Perivale High Street which had a full blown street market on.
TBF England losing to West Germany 1970 hurt me more.Maybe it was the first time I realised how cruel football could be.School the next day was like a morgue.A classmate had a German exchange student with him.


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Re: 25 years ago today

by South Coast Royal » 29 May 2020 15:57

Still after all these years difficult to take.
Watching it again, we did play some great flowing football and I didn't remember the other chances that we had until just now.

Little did we know how injured and patched up our squad was-if we had known we might have been even more proud.
A great day out and shell-shocked at the finish.
The one time that we have performed really well in a play-off final-some of the other play-offs, in particular v Huddersfield, are easily forgotten but not this one.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Sutekh » 29 May 2020 17:00

Mid Sussex Royal
Notts Royal It was too much to take for an 8 year old!


I think for anyone who was there it l must rank as their worst day watching Reading...far worse than the other three finals:

Walsall - unfortunate circumstances with the own goal but we went up next season anyway
Swansea - expected us to lose to a much better side
Hudds - missed opportunity and upsetting at the end but we didn't deserve anything from the game


And neither did Huddersfield.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Zip » 29 May 2020 17:02

Took me months to shake this defeat off. Never has a loss hurt quite like that one. What made it worse was that we had so many players out of contract and lost key players like Hislop and Osborn that summer.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by AthleticoSpizz » 29 May 2020 17:29

Worse still, was holidaying on the Algarve shortly afterwards surrounded by Bolton shirters.

Had already resigned myself to defeat after the penalty save, but walking out of the stadium with the Bolton fans walking directly at us mimicking us with their ‘Uri fukkin Gellar eyes‘ (that they had cut out of The Sun or something that morning) was the ultimate walk of shame.
Then of course there were the traffic jams and being stuck alongside a Bolton supporters coach for (what seemed like) ever :|

....and Jason pcunting McAteer :twisted:


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Re: 25 years ago today

by South Coast Royal » 29 May 2020 17:32

Zip Took me months to shake this defeat off. Never has a loss hurt quite like that one. What made it worse was that we had so many players out of contract and lost key players like Hislop and Osborn that summer.


In all the years of watching I think the loss of Super Si to QPR was the most disappointing of all transfers.
The shame was that neither he nor FSB went on to do that well elsewhere as both were brilliant for us.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Zip » 29 May 2020 17:42

South Coast Royal
Zip Took me months to shake this defeat off. Never has a loss hurt quite like that one. What made it worse was that we had so many players out of contract and lost key players like Hislop and Osborn that summer.


In all the years of watching I think the loss of Super Si to QPR was the most disappointing of all transfers.
The shame was that neither he nor FSB went on to do that well elsewhere as both were brilliant for us.


Yep Osborn was fantastic for us but it was only the one season we had him.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by South Coast Royal » 29 May 2020 18:00

Zip
South Coast Royal
Zip Took me months to shake this defeat off. Never has a loss hurt quite like that one. What made it worse was that we had so many players out of contract and lost key players like Hislop and Osborn that summer.


In all the years of watching I think the loss of Super Si to QPR was the most disappointing of all transfers.
The shame was that neither he nor FSB went on to do that well elsewhere as both were brilliant for us.


Yep Osborn was fantastic for us but it was only the one season we had him.


It was but he is my favourite ever player for us.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Fox Talbot » 29 May 2020 19:58

Westwood52 Deffo my worst Reading defeat.Wonder what would have happened if the penalty had gone in ?Would Bolton have thrown in the towel.When the 4th went in;I upped and left,only to sit in the car park as the cars were parked nose to tail.I therefore missed Quinny’s goal.Driving out of the ground,I went the opposite way out of the entrance as everyone else,and ended up driving through Perivale High Street which had a full blown street market on.
TBF England losing to West Germany 1970 hurt me more.Maybe it was the first time I realised how cruel football could be.School the next day was like a morgue.A classmate had a German exchange student with him.


Very much this ^^^ as a pair.

Never ever take a photo of the score board at half-time or spend the rest of half time discussing how you're gonna get a season ticket for the Prem!

Only ever watched it back to the point it went 2-2 - stupid goal to give away. Argh. Thanks for reminding me :evil:


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Re: 25 years ago today

by Crowbar6753 » 29 May 2020 20:56

The highs and lows of football encompassed by both sets of fans in just one game. I remember the atmosphere from the Reading fans was amazing, and we played our hearts out for 60 mins and then ran out of steam.
Bolton just about deserved it in the end, and we had to drive back to Devon, a pretty quite drive back.

This was the season where we came second in the league and only one team went up i do believe, and the only ever time this has happened. I guess we just weren't destined to go up thyat year.

The one thing that always crossed my mind was that Elm Park never got to witness Premiership football, could you imagine the old girl bursting at the seams and rocking for one last swangsong!!!

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Re: 25 years ago today

by AthleticoSpizz » 29 May 2020 21:17

Oh yes, oh yes...it would’ve been like Reading v Coventry ‘88 every game

Were those rumours floating around at the time really true? about us playing ‘home games’ up in W London (Loftus Road wasn’t it?) LOL....but we were still unaccustomed to that ‘big time’ big new league weren’t we?....gullible?...lol, not at all...we weren’t having any of it were we Archie :)

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Branfoot Out » 29 May 2020 21:33

Worst ever football day! Would have been amazing at Elm Park in the Prem. Taylor report gave you 3 years grace allowing standing areas from the time you got promotion to Division 1 (Champ now) so no problem with standing at EP had we gone up. Would have been absolutely rocking if we had made it. That team deserved it - real shame..

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Stranded » 29 May 2020 22:33

AthleticoSpizz Oh yes, oh yes...it would’ve been like Reading v Coventry ‘88 every game

Were those rumours floating around at the time really true? about us playing ‘home games’ up in W London (Loftus Road wasn’t it?) LOL....but we were still unaccustomed to that ‘big time’ big new league weren’t we?....gullible?...lol, not at all...we weren’t having any of it were we Archie :)


Loftus was mooted but it certainly seemed to be accepted at the time that Elm Park could not host PL football.

It was horrible at the time but strangely given the likelihood of a nomadic existence, it may have been beneficial to us in the long run.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by AthleticoSpizz » 29 May 2020 22:37

Which was kind’ve my cheeky point.

It hurt at the time, but (and I really felt for our outstanding players and outstanding player managers) it was for the long-term best.

But yes, I was absolutely gutted too.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Fox Talbot » 29 May 2020 23:07

AthleticoSpizz Oh yes, oh yes...it would’ve been like Reading v Coventry ‘88 every game

Were those rumours floating around at the time really true? about us playing ‘home games’ up in W London (Loftus Road wasn’t it?) LOL....but we were still unaccustomed to that ‘big time’ big new league weren’t we?....gullible?...lol, not at all...we weren’t having any of it were we Archie :)


I can’t see the logic from a safety certificate and regs point of view. I think it was SJM looking to cash in on the hospo. He never really got Elm Park.

However I think the club were worried about safety. There was crushing outside the turnstiles before the Bolton league game and recent memories of a court case about compo for police injured in the BCFC riot of 84.

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Re: 25 years ago today

by Notts Royal » 29 May 2020 23:10

Also, that loss hit us harder in the years after than the other 3 finals. As already mentioned, the seasons after Walsall & Swansea we went on to get promoted. Huddersfield really was a bit of a 1 off season that didn’t have years of building prior.

But the Bolton one killed the Momentum of the seasons before. It took until autumn 1999 I believe before Pardew started to turn us around, and we then had that period of relentless forward momentum for a good 5 years after.

I see the kids on Twitter harping on about the Huddersfield game but it was an awful game and I didn’t leave it feeling gutted really, just a resignation that it was another play off final defeat. We were a much better side in 1995 and had a squad much closer to the fans than in 2017. We really should’ve beaten Walsall as we were considerably better than them, but Swansea were a step up from us in that final

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