Reading .... 7-0...who was there?

Just been having a yarn with an old Reading/Chelsea acquaintance and this game cropped up in the conversation. He hammered me about it although he wasn't there.... I didn't mind Elm Park as it goes; was a decent ground, much better than their current home imo

 

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Was there for the 3-2 year after... hammered it down and they put us in the side bit to our left. Thing is; there was segregation at the back st the snap oyl and bogs so it was an interesting scenario at times !

 

Allan Clarke gave up playing after this to concentrate on managing the team. Sad way to end an illustrious career. We were lucky to have him as player manager

 

Opinions eh. Elm Park back in 1995 when we won 3 nill was my first ever away game (better as a kid to go away first somewhere with a smaller following was the thinking) and it's the worst away end I have ever been in and that includes the old Morecambe and Colchester grounds. No ground should have toilets which looked like a greenhouse with moss growing through the walls.

 

Personally; I found the away ends at Millwall, Norwich, Chelsea much worse! The first two mentioned were proper crap but out of the two I reckon Norwich offered a more restrictive view..... on about the good old terraces days here lol....Chelsea just seemed miles away from the pitch

 

I was there. Went on a special train frum tarn. Chelsea’s game on the same day had been postponed so some of their hooligan element were in attendance. As we waited on the platform at Reading West station after the game we were subjected to a hail of bricks being lobbed from down below which was out of view.

 

Yep, I was there. A real career highlight.

 

Wasn't this the game that instigated Allan Clarke to take all the football team down Wooley colliery after the defeat,to give them a kick up the backside.
I may be wrong .

 

That was the season before in the 4th Division when we lost 1-0. When the missiles started being thrown at the high level railway halt a Woman PC who was with us said "Dont worry they cant possibly reach us from..." at that moment something hit the metal sign above her head causing a mass evacuation of fans from the platform and down onto the tracks. "Get off there, the train is coming" she then said, thankfully she was wrong again but it was all hands to the pump throwing the contents of the area back in the general direction.
A few years ago, the British Newspaper Archives uploaded a batch of Reading issues from the 1970s so I did a search to see if the incident was mentioned. After all, if the train had have arrived at that exact moment the loss of lives would have been immense. I found that one of the throwers was sentenced to 6 months prison and in his defence he said he had been attacked in Barnsley earlier in the season and was looking for revenge.

 

Yes I was there, as well as watching the drubbing I then got back to my van & found a parking ticket under the wipers & a flat tyre , probably my most memorable match ever for all the wrong reasons , nightmare !!

 

Was that when Joe Joyce made his debut ?

 

Yes, I think it was his debut.
Now there's a baptism of fire lol

 

I was there for the 7-0 West Brom in 89 but blind drunk for most of the 90 minutes. Wasn’t that one of Sean Dunphy’s appearances? I enjoyed that game.

 

He was to blame for a few as well.

He recovered well obviously and played as our regular number 2 for many years.

A proper Right Back

 

Yep I was there, went down ont special..under half full as I recall. Nearly more police than fans when we got there. Caught em by surprise the year before when loads went down Police weren't expecting so many from Yorkshire. Trouble all over that year.
Anyway the seven nil.. all that stands out was miserable day muddy pitch and I think Peter Springett never played again..

But it was funny you mention Reading /Chelsea fan. cos the year before when there was lots of trouble. There was a large gang of fans in the Reading end. (Which actully was on the side of there ground) cos they had two open Kops behind each goal. Anyway this team of lads who were stood just to the side of the away fans... All they sang all game was Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea.. and I'd hazard a guess it was these who the reds fans were having bother with after the game.. Ask you're mate if he was one of them..

 

Think that was away at WBA. Dunphy got a red card during the game.

 

Aye it was. Thought we were talking about 7-0 defeats not Reading specifically. I should drink some coffee before responding.

 

The 7-0 I recall was at Reading around Christmas ‘79.

Not many of you seem to recall this game as being Joyce’s debut so maybe I’m wrong.

 

Yup, I was there. When we got into the ground, we heard that we'd just signed Ian Evans on loan. One of my mates asked "Will he be able to get into our team?". By the end of the match, he had his answer! Joe Joyce made his debut as a second half substitute. The likes of Flavell, Springett & Pugh never played for us again. Collins only played one more match. Sadly, it also proved to be Clarke's last ever game, too.