Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Thoughts and feelings the night after the night before


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.

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