Nearly 24 hours on from the night before, promotion has just
started to sink in and the memories from last night are still fresh in the
mind.
What follows is a series of thoughts and emotions, some
personal and some applicable to all Reading fans which are just as much to keep
my memories and experiences alive for future reference as well as a typical
‘article’ on this blog.
So here goes…
The three ‘M’s
There are three people who deserved last night more than
most and they all have surnames beginning with ‘M’.
Firstly, John Madejski who signed off his reign as owner of
the club in fine style. He has his detractors but he has always had the best
interests of the club at heart, to make us self-sufficient, to find the right
investor and to keep us at a solid base level at the very least. Over the years
he has grown to love this club, not as a businessman but as a fan and his joy
from some pictures last night showed this.
Secondly, Jobi McAnuff was not everyone’s choice when he was
appointed captain at the start of the season but he has showed just how
inspirational he is. He isn’t a shouting captain but what he does is lead by
example, covering every blade of grass, tracking back, providing jolts of
quality here and there and being an eloquent speaker off of the field. The
video going round of him and his reaction to being promoted is one of my
favourites thus far. After a career spent in the Championship, he has served
his time and on an individual level, has earned his promotion.
Thirdly, Brian McDermott who has built a third outstanding
team at this level in two and half years at the club on a small-ish budget and
having to sell his best players every summer. To bounce back from the play-off
final defeat last year, to identify players like Kaspars Gorkss, Adam le
Fondre, Jason Roberts and Hayden Mullins, to inspire his team, to make
game-changing subs, to keep the pressure off them, he has done it all.
The whole club deserved last night but these three leaders
each have their special reasons for last night.
Promotion to the
top flight a second time
Nothing will ever beat getting promotion to the Premier League
at Leicester back in 2006 as it was the first time we had done it but last
night was damn close for a multitude of reasons.
Doing it at home and so the resultant pitch invasion is one,
our game kicking off 15 minutes later the one at Ashton Gate thus giving us the
knowledge of what we needed to do to make promotion a reality, the last five
minutes of the game itself with the clearance off the line and Forest hitting
the bar and the extraordinary run that led up to last night. Seriously, if you
had said in November we would win promotion with two games to spare, you’d have
been sectioned.
Atmosphere
More often than not, and rightly so, Reading fans and the
Madejski Stadium gets a bad press for a lack of atmosphere and quiet home fans
but last night, you could literally feel the floor shaking.
Admittedly, so it should be on a night when promotion is on
the cards but the stadium really was rocking last night, particularly in the
second half when the racket was unrelenting. The clap banner things were
rightly neglected in the East Stand as you cannot make a solid noise with them
(and the fact they’re a bit ghey) but elsewhere in the ground, they made a
right din and looked good too when utilised.
It is very rare to come out of the Madejski with no voice
but last night was one of those occasions.
Bus banter
Everyone has their own little stories from football that
make the whole experience unique and special to them on a personal level. This
is mine.
From 2004 to 2008, I had a season ticket sat next to my Dad
and two of my uncles. By 2008, I had gone to university so took the decision to
not renew my ticket and haven’t had the finances to do so since. Every game we
went to then and every game I go to now, we get the bus from one of our local
pubs.
However, I went to the game last night and I was sat close
to them last night and we got onto the pitch together (and with other family
members too, more on which later) before losing one of our number.
After half an hour or so on the pitch, we ambled out of the
ground to find our bus back to the pub had departed without us. We marched on
cheerfully to the buses back to the town centre, skipped onto one without
paying (sssshhhhh) and took seats at the back of the top deck.
So ensued a superb journey to the bus station with non-stop
singing of “West Ham United, it could have been you”, “we’re not going to
Wembley”, “We’re the left side” and “We are going up” with a bunch of random
fans I had never met before. Football has this effect of unifying people who do
not know each other to make unforgettable and unique experiences for those
people.
Purple Turtle
The unofficial Reading promotion party location for the
third successive promotion now with Madejski and McDermott ending up there in the
early hours of this morning, played the event well as the numbers built up
which got the noise and singing back. One of the more unusual memories of a
horde of football fans invading a decidedly alternative place is testament to
the way football can cross societal boundaries, albeit as it is the one late
night drinking establishment in Reading for celebrating.
Family and friends
As alluded to earlier, going to football has been a family
experience for me for the vast majority of my footballing life with my
companions to games usually being some combination of cousins or uncles.
Last night, sat within about a fifty metre radius of each other
were myself, my cousin, my dad, three uncles, my cousin’s mate, another cousin and his daughters and when coming
down the stairs to get on the pitch, I turned around to see another one of my
uncles who was promptly bundled.
Sharing a massive group hug in Row BB Y26 followed by
individually hugging everyone and jumping up and down and shouting was one of
the best moments of the night, as was sharing the half hour or so on the pitch
with them. After the whole family going through a great deal of loss and pain in the last 18 months, to have a lot of us together for a joyous moment was a wonderful moment and almost something of a closer.
To top it all off, when leaving the ground in this group, I
saw a friend of mine who has moved away from Reading this season so I do not
get to see often enough. Immediately upon seeing him, I ran and jumped on him
and the shouting and singing started again. Another golden moment.
The team
Anyway, enough personal memories, back to the football.
Last night was another one of those team performances that
has epitomised our season where we gritted our teeth and got through it through
sheer force of will as a strong unit, this time for the ultimate prize.
Two moments stand out in this regard; the three players on
the line to block Forest’s goalbound effort with five minutes to go showing the
commitment of every single player in that team (the fact that one of those
players on the line was Jimmy Kebe only adds to it).
The second moment of showcasing the team spirit of this
incarnation of Reading is Jem Karacan discharging himself from the Royal Berks,
still visibly worse for wear, to join in the festivities like being pushed
around in his wheelchair by Noel Hunt in his underpants. He got a hug off
McDermott and McAnuff, naturally as his captain and skipper, but also from
Benik Afobe; a player who has only been at the club a matter of weeks but is
clearly a big part of the team judging by how much he wanted to see Karacan. A
clear embodiment of the team’s attitude and unity.
The club
Lastly, as has been said elsewhere “I love this club”. There
is a Reading way (explained here) and the
connection between the fans, the players, the management and the owners of the
club are clear to see and this factor enhanced the feelings of last night,
topped off by Madejski’s speech at the Turtle in the early hours.
I’m probably biased
but the way we go about things as a club is quite unique and long may it
continue to bring nights like yesterday.
We are going up. And that is all that matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment