Fragments of Elm Park

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by STAR Liaison » 18 Nov 2020 17:11

boycey
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Millsy Oh what I'd give for just one more afternoon on the Southbank :(



I know. Especially on a wet Saturday afternoon, muddy, greasy top, rain hissing down on to the pitch, drips coming through the roof, crazy crazy people standing on the Tilehurst End regardless, away fans suffering the chant of ' you're getting wet, you're getting wet, we're not.'






Repeat!

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Tony Le Mesmer » 18 Nov 2020 17:13

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Millsy Oh what I'd give for just one more afternoon on the Southbank :(



I know. Especially on a wet Saturday afternoon, muddy, greasy top, rain hissing down on to the pitch, drips coming through the roof, crazy crazy people standing on the Tilehurst End regardless, away fans suffering the chant of ' you're getting wet, you're getting wet, we're not.'

Wettest games at Elm Park.

- Bury in the LC -1996? abandoned
- Port Vale 1970 - much worse than Bury
- Luton 1970

Madejski

- Leicester 2003 - abandoned at HT with 5,000 clutching fresh hot dogs!


This one springs to mind. 3.00 in. Southbank roar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ9FumwhsVw

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Mid Sussex Royal » 18 Nov 2020 17:13

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Millsy Oh what I'd give for just one more afternoon on the Southbank :(



I know. Especially on a wet Saturday afternoon, muddy, greasy top, rain hissing down on to the pitch, drips coming through the roof, crazy crazy people standing on the Tilehurst End regardless, away fans suffering the chant of ' you're getting wet, you're getting wet, we're not.'

Wettest games at Elm Park.

- Bury in the LC -1996? abandoned
- Port Vale 1970 - much worse than Bury
- Luton 1970

Madejski

- Leicester 2003 - abandoned at HT with 5,000 clutching fresh hot dogs!


Swindon (1976-77) was a wet one - remember it was like a river at the bottom of the south bank...won 4-1 though

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Winchester Royal » 18 Nov 2020 20:45

Enduring images.

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by morganb » 05 Mar 2021 16:43

Posted on Twitter earlier:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Jamie_Hodder ... 3523236867

Walked past Elm Park today, went and had a nose around the estate, and there is no sign that we used to play there.(Some other grounds had a roundabout or something with a sign on it saying it’s the former centre circle..)did I miss something or is there nothing there?

To which Real Reading Podcast said they'd try to find out

https://mobile.twitter.com/RealReadingPod


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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Mid Sussex Royal » 05 Mar 2021 17:06

morganb Posted on Twitter earlier:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Jamie_Hodder ... 3523236867

Walked past Elm Park today, went and had a nose around the estate, and there is no sign that we used to play there.(Some other grounds had a roundabout or something with a sign on it saying it’s the former centre circle..)did I miss something or is there nothing there?

To which Real Reading Podcast said they'd try to find out

https://mobile.twitter.com/RealReadingPod


Aren't some of the roads named after former players?

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by RoyalBlue » 05 Mar 2021 17:19

Mid Sussex Royal
morganb Posted on Twitter earlier:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Jamie_Hodder ... 3523236867

Walked past Elm Park today, went and had a nose around the estate, and there is no sign that we used to play there.(Some other grounds had a roundabout or something with a sign on it saying it’s the former centre circle..)did I miss something or is there nothing there?

To which Real Reading Podcast said they'd try to find out

https://mobile.twitter.com/RealReadingPod


Aren't some of the roads named after former players?


I doubt our diminutive record breaking goalkeeper got a Close named after him!

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by AthleticoSpizz » 05 Mar 2021 20:55

RoyalBlue I doubt our diminutive record breaking goalkeeper got a Close named after him!
:lol: very good.

There aint no Carnaby Street either

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by leon » 05 Mar 2021 21:23

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The Cube Yes, it was 2003 when the "five fragments" got mentioned. I'm sure of four of them.


Tilehurst End - there was a bit of brick wall left standing because the other side was something like a sub-station.

South Bank towards the Tilehurst End - there was painted white wall left because it backed on to the Tilehurst Road houses.

There was another bit of wall somewhere at the Town End - so that would be the away toilets as mentioned in the OP, probably backing on to the houses on Suffolk Road.

Blue gatepost attached to the last house on Norfolk Road at the Town End - and I thought that was the best one.

Also, there was a metal pole (phone line?) attached to the same house that had some blue paint on it and certainly survived longer than the gatepost.

I can't remember if the last two were combined, though - if they were, there is one other.

The fifth might be the plaque on Quinn Court behind the Tilehurst End, or there was some stuff in the Spread Eagle, although I think the fifth really was part of the ground itself.


If it is a school project, all they need to do is visit and use their eyes.


Thanks chaps for all your replies . I think you’ve nailed it.

The kids are eight!! They won’t have a clue what EP looked like.


Yeah fcuk you, you miserable bastard The Cube.

Honestly what are you like you old curmudgeon?


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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Westwood52 » 06 Mar 2021 00:10

Come on it was a bit of a dump though wasn’t it.I remember doing a corporate there in the nineties.Meal in the Rendezvous then somehow you had to get the clients round to the boxes on the other side of the ground.Then that cavern like hospitality bar afterwards.
Anybody remember the lock in on the South Bank after a game.Could have been a mini Hillsborough,if we hadn’t all been so polite and sensible.

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Forbury Lion » 08 Mar 2021 10:52

I remember the gantry above the Southbank where I assume the radio commentators all sat, accessible via a very tall ladder - There was one incident where a female was delivering teas and struggled to climb the ladder. She wasn't wearing a skirt but still managed to draw the attention of the Southbank and a wolf whistle or two

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by morganb » 09 Mar 2021 10:45

Latest from Twitter (a public appeal for info):

https://mobile.twitter.com/RealReadingP ... 8840200195

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Nameless » 09 Mar 2021 12:49

Friend of mine bought a house in Wantage Rd about 20 years ago. The garden was an absolute jungle. When they cleared it they found a decent leather football in the brambles. He swears it marks the final resting place of a Gilksey cross.


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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Sutekh » 10 Mar 2021 13:32

Forbury Lion I remember the gantry above the Southbank where I assume the radio commentators all sat, accessible via a very tall ladder - There was one incident where a female was delivering teas and struggled to climb the ladder. She wasn't wearing a skirt but still managed to draw the attention of the Southbank and a wolf whistle or two


Think the TV commentators sometimes got to sit up there with the camera on the rare occasion the club were on a highlights programme (or even rarer live tv coverage). Aside from half of the game used to inaugurate the floodlights in the mid 50s I don’t believe Elm Park hosted coverage of a live match until Sky did the Birmingham FA Cup game at the beginning of the 90s.

As I recall, radio broadcasters and media journos got a place in the North Stand just by the players tunnel though I don’t think live radio commentary on Reading games become a regular thing until the early 90s.

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Re: Fragments of Elm Park

by Jerry St Clair » 10 Mar 2021 17:28

Sutekh
As I recall, radio broadcasters and media journos got a place in the North Stand just by the players tunnel though I don’t think live radio commentary on Reading games become a regular thing until the early 90s.


Back in about 92/93 we had an FA Cup replay against Man City, Sky had been due to televise another game at, I think, Bristol Rovers, but were also providing extended highlights of our game. The Rovers game got postponed, so they switched live coverage to our game. We always stood at the back of the Bank under the clock and about 25 mins before kick off there was a commotion behind us. A flustered looking Andy Gray and Martin Tyler appeared having hotfooted it down the M4 from Twerton Park. They both had to climb the ladder up to the gantry in front of an already packed Southbank. At half time, Gray had the deep privilege of using the Southbank bogs...........

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