Lucky to be a Reading supporter

[SeniorRoyal]

Being a boring Friday afternoon,i decided to look up the League tables for 1969/70 season.This was the first season i started going to Elm Park,when we were in the old third division.

Of all the teams in the bottom two divisions,only six are now in a higher division,and only Fulham have made it into the top division.Ourselves,Donny, Plymouth, Barnsley, and Swansea making the Championship.Ten teams are now outside the top four divisions.

Just shows that there is not a lot to look forward to for a lot of supporters of the lower league teams,and how lucky we are to be challenging for the Premiership.When i went to watch my first game in 1970 i never dreamt of such heights.Qualifying for the Watney Cup was our ambition then!

Sorry to be such an anorak but it is quiet at work.

I

[Elm Park Old Boy]

I have an even more rose-tinted view - my first season was the one after that, when we went down to the Fourth Division, and were there for the next five (I think) seasons. So I was weaned on our most mediocre times. My eight year old sone (who is sad that we're only in the top two of the Championship doesn't know he's born!

Few clubs can show such progress on all front, especially in the last decade. We should indeed think ourselves lucky (let's face it - I might have gone to Aldershot that day in January 1971.......)

[Thaumagurist*]

That's an interesting fact....

The table that season...

Final 1969/1970 English Division 3 (old) Table

P HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA Points G Avg
1Leyton Orient 46 16 5 2 43 15 9 7 7 24 21 62 .8611
2 Luton......... 46 13 8 2 46 15 10 6 7 31 28 60 .7906
3 Bristol R..... 46 15 5 3 51 26 5 11 7 29 33 56 .3559
4 Fulham....... 46 12 9 2 43 26 8 6 9 38 29 55 .4727
5 Brighton...... 46 16 4 3 37 16 7 5 11 20 27 55 .3255
6 Mansfield.... 46 14 4 5 46 22 7 7 9 24 27 53 .4285
7 Barnsley..... 46 14 6 3 43 24 5 9 9 25 35 53 .1525
8 Reading...... 46 16 3 4 52 29 5 8 10 35 48 53 .1298
9 Rochdale..... 46 11 6 6 39 24 7 4 12 30 36 46 .15
10 Bradford..... 46 11 6 6 37 22 6 6 11 20 28 46 .14
11 Doncaster... 46 13 4 6 31 19 4 8 11 21 35 46 .9629
12 Walsall..... 46 11 4 8 33 31 6 8 9 21 36 46 .8059
13 Torquay..... 46 9 9 5 36 22 5 8 10 26 37 45 .0508
14 Rotherham.. 46 10 8 5 36 19 5 6 12 26 35 44 .1481
15 Shrewsbury.. 46 10 12 1 35 17 3 6 14 27 46 44 .9841
16 Tranmere... 46 10 8 5 38 29 4 8 11 18 43 44 .7777
17 Plymouth.... 46 10 7 6 32 23 6 4 13 24 41 43 .875
18 Halifax...... 46 10 9 4 31 25 4 6 13 16 38 43 .7460
19 Bury.......... 46 13 4 6 47 29 2 7 14 28 51 41 .9375
20 Gillingham... 46 7 6 10 28 33 6 7 10 24 31 39 .8125
21 Bournemouth 46 8 9 6 28 27 4 6 13 20 44 39 .6760
22 Southport.... 46 11 5 7 31 22 3 5 15 17 44 38 .7272
23 Barrow........ 46 7 9 7 28 27 1 5 17 18 54 30 .5679
24 Stockport..... 46 4 7 12 17 30 2 4 17 10 41 23 .3802

NB: In English Division 3 (old) 1969/1970 goal average applied instead of goal difference

[howser]

Yeah I can agree with that, I went first time in 1963 and we were at best an average third division side who spent a few years bouncing up and down between there and the fourth one, and now look at us we are a very respectable Championship side, good players, good support and very well thought of in the football and football media world. apart from the mirrors Oliver Holt that is, and we have done it without the need of a chairman who absolutely throws money at the club to succeed, many of us on here give the chairman hell for not spending, but all in all he has done a pretty fair job over the last 15 years or so. It has all been achieved on hard work and toil, so yes I think I am lucky to support a side that has trod the boards and earnt its present position in the football world by right.

[coyrls]

Just shows that there is not a lot to look forward to for a lot of supporters of the lower league teams,and how lucky we are to be challenging for the Premiership.When i went to watch my first game in 1970 i never dreamt of such heights.Qualifying for the Watney Cup was our ambition then!

True but we did get to see them win 8-0, qualify for the Watney Cup and play Manchester United at Elm Park (George Best, Bobby Charlton etc.), so it wasn't all doom and gloom!

[Barney]

I started going to Elm Park regularly in the 1970/71 season.
So I started my 'watching RFC days' with 5 seasons in the old 4th division.

I remember when we went up in 1976 how Reading were celebrating the
FIRST promotion for FIFTY years.
So pretty much no-one below the age of SIXTY had seen the club ever get
promoted. Can you imagine that these days !!!

And since enjoying that 1976 promotion, I've been lucky enough to
celebrate another 6 promotions (1979, 1984, 1986, 1994, 2002, 2006).

Do I consider myself lucky to be a Reading supporter ?
Too damn right I do. Had a few heartaches, but that just makes the
promotions and great times even better.

[eleventh earl of mar]

Being a boring Friday afternoon,i decided to look up the League tables for 1969/70 season.This was the first season i started going to Elm Park,when we were in the old third division.

Of all the teams in the bottom two divisions,only six are now in a higher division,and only Fulham have made it into the top division.Ourselves,Donny, Plymouth, Barnsley, and Swansea making the Championship.Ten teams are now outside the top four divisions.

Just shows that there is not a lot to look forward to for a lot of supporters of the lower league teams,and how lucky we are to be challenging for the Premiership.When i went to watch my first game in 1970 i never dreamt of such heights.Qualifying for the Watney Cup was our ambition then!

Sorry to be such an anorak but it is quiet at work.

I

Unfair to say that only Fulham made it into the top division. I am sure Reading also made it to that division albeit not to stay.

[SeniorRoyal]

I,m saying that only Fulham are currently (now) in the premiership!

[Gordons Cumming]

Being a boring Friday afternoon,i decided to look up the League tables for 1969/70 season.This was the first season i started going to Elm Park,when we were in the old third division.

Of all the teams in the bottom two divisions,only six are now in a higher division,and only Fulham have made it into the top division.Ourselves,Donny, Plymouth, Barnsley, and Swansea making the Championship.Ten teams are now outside the top four divisions.

Just shows that there is not a lot to look forward to for a lot of supporters of the lower league teams,and how lucky we are to be challenging for the Premiership.When i went to watch my first game in 1970 i never dreamt of such heights.Qualifying for the Watney Cup was our ambition then!

Sorry to be such an anorak but it is quiet at work.

I

Apart from being bored at work, that could have been me saying that.(though my first game was in 1969)

We did qualify for the Watney Cup that season with that 8-0 win over Southport.

[Thaumagurist*]

I started going to Elm Park regularly in the 1970/71 season.
So I started my 'watching RFC days' with 5 seasons in the old 4th division.

I remember when we went up in 1976 how Reading were celebrating the
FIRST promotion for FIFTY years.
So pretty much no-one below the age of SIXTY had seen the club ever get
promoted. Can you imagine that these days !!!

And since enjoying that 1976 promotion, I've been lucky enough to
celebrate another 6 promotions (1979, 1984, 1986, 1994, 2002, 2006).

Do I consider myself lucky to be a Reading supporter ?
Too damn right I do. Had a few heartaches, but that just makes the
promotions and great times even better.

Why are you writing like that, breaking up your sentences into shorter lines?

[Ark Royal]

69/70 was a wonderful season that still stays fresh in the memory and Tommy Jenkins became my first footballing idol in the hoops. Shame we did not keep hold of him. Jack Mansell got the team to play some wonderful push-and-run football and there were some great performances: Tranmere 5-1, Barnsley 6-2, Barrow 6-3, Orient 3-2 and of course Southport 8-0. Shipped a few as well! Then, as we are currently, the leading goalscorers in the country.

I can remember feeling so proud when we went top after beating Halifax 4-1 and then Malcom Macdonald went and spoiled it all on a very, very wet Wednesday night...

[ayjaydee]

69/70 was a wonderful season that still stays fresh in the memory and Tommy Jenkins became my first footballing idol in the hoops. Shame we did not keep hold of him. Jack Mansell got the team to play some wonderful push-and-run football and there were some great performances: Tranmere 5-1, Barnsley 6-2, Barrow 6-3, Orient 3-2 and of course Southport 8-0. Shipped a few as well! Then, as we are currently, the leading goalscorers in the country.

I can remember feeling so proud when we went top after beating Halifax 4-1 and then Malcom Macdonald went and spoiled it all on a very, very wet Wednesday night...

69/70 was my first season as well. Pity that Mansell's promise to take us out of the Third Division came true the following season!
My earliest proper memory is watching a game v Orient who had a bearded Barry Fairbrother playing up front to the chant of "No 9's a junkie".

Tommy Jenkins was also my first real hero although I quite liked the moustachioed Les Chappell.

[Thaumagurist*]

Shipped a few as well! Then, as we are currently, the leading goalscorers in the country.

I can see from the table I posted that what you say is true:

87 goals scored and 77 goals conceded.

That's rather a lot of goals either way.

[Rusty royal]

We could have gone the way of a few clubs in that league! Where are they now??

Mansfield
Southport
Halifax
Barrow

[Alan Partridge]

We could have gone the way of a few clubs in that league! Where are they now??

Mansfield - Conference
Southport - Conference North
Halifax - Went bust, reformed this season in the one below BSN I think
Barrow - Conference

[RIP ELM Park]

Yep it's been fun only 3 teams have had it better post war and if you ever need to prove it:

http://soccer-stats.football365.com/hist/postwar/attable.html

[The 17 Bus]

Also had a look at the tables for that season as stated, I have highlighted the clubs that i think are in a town big enough to have a higher placed team within the football structure. Some of these towns like peterborough, ahve grown massively since that year. Ignored London teams as all could be in a good enough catchment for higher up. So I would say we have done well, obviously, however in reality we underachieved for one hell of a long time, in fact I would suggest most of the time a certain Mr Waller was chairman.



Season 1969-70



League Division 3
P W D L F A W D L F A Pts
1. LEYTON ORIENT 46 16 5 2 43 15 9 7 7 24 21 62
2. LUTON TOWN 46 13 8 2 46 15 10 6 7 31 28 60
3. Bristol Rovers 46 15 5 3 51 26 5 11 7 29 33 56
4. Fulham 46 12 9 2 43 26 8 6 9 38 29 55
5. Brighton & Hove Albion 46 16 4 3 37 16 7 5 11 20 27 55
6. Mansfield Town 46 14 4 5 46 22 7 7 9 24 27 53
7. Barnsley 46 14 6 3 43 24 5 9 9 25 35 53
8. Reading 46 16 3 4 52 29 5 8 10 35 48 53
9. Rochdale 46 11 6 6 39 24 7 4 12 30 36 46
10. Bradford City 46 11 6 6 37 22 6 6 11 20 28 46
11. Doncaster Rovers 46 13 4 6 31 19 4 8 11 21 35 46
12. Walsall 46 11 4 8 33 31 6 8 9 21 36 46
13. Torquay United 46 9 9 5 36 22 5 8 10 26 37 45
14. Rotherham United 46 10 8 5 36 19 5 6 12 26 35 44
15. Shrewsbury Town 46 10 12 1 35 17 3 6 14 27 46 44
16. Tranmere Rovers 46 10 8 5 38 29 4 8 11 18 43 44
17. Plymouth Argyle 46 10 7 6 32 23 6 4 13 24 41 43
18. Halifax Town 46 10 9 4 31 25 4 6 13 16 38 43
19. Bury 46 13 4 6 47 29 2 7 14 28 51 41
20. Gillingham 46 7 6 10 28 33 6 7 10 24 31 39
21. BOURNEMOUTH 46 8 9 6 28 27 4 6 13 20 44 39
22. SOUTHPORT 46 11 5 7 31 22 3 5 15 17 44 38
23. BARROW 46 7 9 7 28 27 1 5 17 18 54 30
24. STOCKPORT COUNTY 46 4 7 12 17 30 2 4 17 10 41 23
Top Of Page
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League Division 4
P W D L F A W D L F A Pts
1. CHESTERFIELD 46 19 1 3 55 12 8 9 6 22 20 64
2. WREXHAM 46 17 6 0 56 16 9 3 11 28 33 61
3. SWANSEA CITY 46 14 8 1 43 14 7 10 6 23 31 60
4. PORT VALE 46 13 9 1 39 10 7 10 6 22 23 59
5. Brentford 46 14 8 1 36 11 6 8 9 22 28 56
6. Aldershot 46 16 5 2 52 22 4 8 11 26 43 53
7. Notts County 46 14 4 5 44 21 8 4 11 29 41 52
8. Lincoln City 46 11 8 4 38 20 6 8 9 28 32 50
9. Peterborough United 46 13 8 2 51 21 4 6 13 26 48 48
10. Colchester United 46 14 5 4 38 22 3 9 11 26 41 48
11. Chester City 46 14 3 6 39 23 7 3 13 19 43 48
12. Scunthorpe United 46 11 6 6 34 23 7 4 12 33 42 46
13. York City 46 14 7 2 38 16 2 7 14 17 46 46
14. Northampton 46 11 7 5 41 19 5 5 13 23 36 44
15. Crewe Alexandra 46 12 6 5 37 18 4 6 13 14 33 44
16. Grimsby Town 46 9 9 5 33 24 5 6 12 21 34 43
17. Southend United 46 12 8 3 40 28 3 2 18 19 57 40
18. Exeter City 46 13 5 5 48 20 1 6 16 9 39 39
19. Oldham Athletic 46 11 4 8 45 28 2 9 12 15 37 39
20. Workington 46 9 9 5 31 21 3 5 15 15 43 38
21. Newport County 46 12 3 8 39 24 1 8 14 14 50 37
22. Darlington 46 8 7 8 31 27 5 3 15 22 46 36
23. Hartlepool United 46 7 7 9 31 30 3 3 17 11 52 30
24. BRADFORD PARK AVENUE 46 6 5 12 23 32 0 6 17 18 64 23

[1960]

At some time or other, probably the 70s, Reading launched The First Division Society. I think the idea was to raise money and ideas to get us into the top division. Most people, me amongt them, laughed like drains. You've got to be joking, we thought.

And here we are and we've done it once and are hoping to do it again. And nobody's laughing. In fact we are now in our longest period above the third tier. In 26-31 we managed five seasons (including the FA Cup semis), then we had to wait till the 80s to manage four, then two years above the third. Now we have been above the third for seven consecutive seasons. We can hardly be relegated this year, so it will be eight next season. If that is in the Prem then we are guaranteed nine years. Never have Reading enjoyed so much consistent success. In total we have spent 18 years out of about 127 (world wars) out of the bottom two divisions. Not impressive, but seven of them have been the last seven.

Can we now be viewed as a solid second tier team with occasional promotions rather than the marooned third/fourth tier team we usd to be? The youngsters don't know they are born. They have not had to put up with decades of disappointment, so I feel lucky that I can compare now with then.

[Whistle]

69/70 was the season that got me hooked - much more enjoyable than last season in the Prem in my view! 5 clubs in that table went on to play in the top div.

If you want a contrast - go on the Oxford U website there's a huge thread entitled something like 'I know we thought things can't get any worse but ...'

[coyrls]

I can remember feeling so proud when we went top after beating Halifax 4-1 and then Malcom Macdonald went and spoiled it all on a very, very wet Wednesday night...

"Hack him down........... hack him down...............doh!"