Reserves to play home games at aldershot

[Mr Loyal Royal]

Royals reserves will play there home games at Aldershots Recreation Ground as of this season.

[SpaceCruiser]

Any reason for that?

[RG30]

The pitch being a major reason I presume.

[Mr Loyal Royal]

Any reason for that?

Not sure, only reason i can think of is to reduce damage to pitch.

[Row Z Royal]

And it's probably cheaper to hire the Rec than employ as many stewards as are required for the Mad. Chuck in the leccy for the lights etc and playing the reserves at a smaller ground makes more sense.

[RG30]

So where are Chelsea reserves going then?

[Huntley & Palmer]

So where are Chelsea reserves going then?

Their brand new training ground I would say.

[AJ~]

Chelsea Reserves will be playing at Griffin Park next season.

[Hoop Blah]

This is a shame.

I can understand wanting to avoid playing at the Madejski because of the wear on the pitch but it would've been nice to have the Reserves a little closer to home than Aldershot.

I'm sure the club have looked at securing the best facilities they can, but I'd prefer them to back more local teams like Thatcham, Dicot and Newbury by supporting their facilities than having to treck over to Aldershot for the reserve team action.

[TFF]

I predict some pretty sparse crowds.

[Stranded]

This is a shame.

I can understand wanting to avoid playing at the Madejski because of the wear on the pitch but it would've been nice to have the Reserves a little closer to home than Aldershot.

I'm sure the club have looked at securing the best facilities they can, but I'd prefer them to back more local teams like Thatcham, Dicot and Newbury by supporting their facilities than having to treck over to Aldershot for the reserve team action.

As you say though Aldershot is nearest stadium that will be of League standard and is also the bigger than any other local side. I doubt we'll see 5,000 for a reserve game there next season but you'd want a ground that you can use to cater for the possibility.

[Barry the bird boggler]

This is a shame.

I can understand wanting to avoid playing at the Madejski because of the wear on the pitch but it would've been nice to have the Reserves a little closer to home than Aldershot.

I'm sure the club have looked at securing the best facilities they can, but I'd prefer them to back more local teams like Thatcham, Dicot and Newbury by supporting their facilities than having to treck over to Aldershot for the reserve team action.

I'd agree with that, trouble would be finding a pitch of a good enough standard to not risk injuries and I would guess that with that in mind Aldershot and Woking are probably the nearest.

THe full fixture list is

Tue 28th Aug - Birmingham A
Tue 4th Sep - West Ham H
Wed 19th Sep - Fulham H
Mon 1st Oct – Derby A
Mon 8th Oct - Aston Villa H
Mon 22nd Oct - Arsenal A
Wed 7th Nov - Chelsea H
Mon 26th Nov - Tottenham A
Wed 5th Dec – Portsmouth A
Wed 9th Jan - Birmingham H
Tue 22nd Jan - Fulham A
Wed 13th Feb - Derby H
Wed 20th Feb - Arsenal H
Mon 25th Feb - Aston Villa A
Mon 3rd Mar - Chelsea A
Wed 12th Mar - Tottenham H
Tues 18th Mar - West Ham A
Wed 2nd Apr - Portsmouth H

And all our home games will kick off at 7pm.

[Whore Jackie]

It's also a big U-turn from the club in terms of getting the next generation of supporters, who've been priced out with Premier League prices and sellouts, interested in Reading FC. Have Chupa Chups withdrawn their sponsorship too?

[Stranded]

It's also a big U-turn from the club in terms of getting the next generation of supporters, who've been priced out with Premier League prices and sellouts, interested in Reading FC. Have Chupa Chups withdrawn their sponsorship too?

Are there no children in Aldershot then?

Could be argued that they are trying to catch new fans in the catchment area.

[Whore Jackie]

It's also a big U-turn from the club in terms of getting the next generation of supporters, who've been priced out with Premier League prices and sellouts, interested in Reading FC. Have Chupa Chups withdrawn their sponsorship too?

Are there no children in Aldershot then?

Could be argued that they are trying to catch new fans in the catchment area.

Possibly, but you'd have the young folk of Aldershot would want to follow their own league club.

On that basis, I'd have thought Newbury or Basingstoke (or indeed Bracknell) would be better target markets, if there were suitable facilities.

[Stranded]

It's also a big U-turn from the club in terms of getting the next generation of supporters, who've been priced out with Premier League prices and sellouts, interested in Reading FC. Have Chupa Chups withdrawn their sponsorship too?

Are there no children in Aldershot then?

Could be argued that they are trying to catch new fans in the catchment area.

Possibly, but you'd have the young folk of Aldershot would want to follow their own league club.

On that basis, I'd have thought Newbury or Basingstoke (or indeed Bracknell) would be better target markets, if there were suitable facilities.

Perhaps, maybe the plan is to move the reserves around assuming we stay in the Prem. So after Aldeshot, they go to Woking, then possibly Basingstoke, Maidenhead?

[Hoop Blah]

I see the point about needing a bigger ground than the likes of Newbury or Thatcham but I can't see thousands of Reading fans making the trip to Aldershot to watch a reserve game.

It'd but much better for the fans for the games to be more local even if that means a few 'sell outs' for the reserves.

Faraday Road (Newbury) is probably out of the question these days since the demise of AFC Newbury but I've thought for a long time that RFC should help the likes of Thatcham, Reading Town, Basingstoke even, by helping to improve their facilities to benefit both the local club and RFC.

I'm sure the economics of it mean that Aldershot is the most viable option, but it is just another example of the club moving further away from it's fan base and position in the local community, and nearer to the big business organisation that I see as alien to my RFC.

[Royal Soupanoodle]

This is still more local than Chelsea fans had.

I wonder how the players feel. It must have been great for the youngsters to play at the Mad Stad!

[Farnborough Royal]

This is still more local than Chelsea fans had.

But Chelsea got crowds of 5,000+ for games against Arsenal, Spurs etc. as they are well supported in Aldershot and the surrounding areas.

I remember the reserves played at Farnborough for a season not long ago, and in return Farnborough got to play two games at the Madejski, do you think Aldershot will do the same?

[Hoop Blah]

This is still more local than Chelsea fans had.

I wonder how the players feel. It must have been great for the youngsters to play at the Mad Stad!

I couldn't care less about Chelsea or their fans to be honest.

You're right about our young players though. For some of them it would be quite a treat to play at the Madejski, although if thats a highlight for them I'd suggest they've not got the mentality to make the step up to league football.

We'll still get the annual FA Youth Cup games at the Madejski though, so fingers crossed for a long run of home games in the cup.