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This
match was sold out to away supporters with 4,160
City fans going. We were defiantly going to make an
impact. No team had done the double over us since we
came up to the Championship but if we were going to
hold on to that this was the toughest test following
the heavy 1-4 defeat at home and Reading just 4
points off top spot.
We
left Bristol at 10:15 and we got to Reading by
11:30. The Madejski is very easy to find less than a
mile from the M4. There is no on street parking near
by so we parked at the Holiday Inn on Imperial Way
about 10-15 minutes walk from the ground. There is a
bar in the hotel and an Irish Pub attached to it.
They charged £7 to park there whilst the car
park over the road wanted £8.
We drank in the Irish pub which soon filled up with
City fans. The bear was a little over priced (larger
at £3.80) but watch out for the food which is
very expensive (£6:75 for a sausage toasty) so
eat first or at the ground unless you have very deep
pockets. They have Sky TV and plenty of staff on so
no problem getting served.
Later
on Reading fans began to arrive and as the sun was
shinning we moved outside where there is a paved
area with tables and lots of open grass areas. It
all looked very colourful Red & white everywhere
mixed with small sections of Blue & white. Not a
hint of trouble and I passed the time chatting with
some Reading fans who were surprised that so many
had come from Bristol. It almost had the feel of a
cup final about it.
We set off for the ground at 2:10 pm the pavements
were packed with supporters as most have to park
some distance from the ground and walk in. The
Madejski is a modern oval type stadium. There are
kiosks just inside selling pies bear etc. We entered
the South Stand and found our seats. I was very
impressed with the whole place. The seats have
plenty of room and the view is superb as it is quite
steep and the stands are close to the pitch. It is
very uniform all round except the West Stand
which is two tiered.
The
atmosphere generated by so many away fans was
superb. I had heard the stewards were a bit heavy
handed but we found them very low key and we stood
up when we wanted to without interference. The
Reading vocal supporters were situated off to
our right but they were totally drowned out and gave
up altogether after 20 minutess when we
scored.
At
half time I went to the gents which was a real
scrum. Two rows of urinals opposite each over which
could deal with around 15 a side with another 100 of
us squashed in between them waiting and more trying
to get in from both ends.
The
sun continued to shine in the second half as we went
2 up early on and we bounced and sang all the way to
the final whistle while many disgruntled Reading
fans left early although quite a few applauded us as
we waved them goodbye...
On leaving the ground the police used a system of
blocking us with there vans parked in a semi cercal
just outside the ground then letting us go through
small gaps which controlled the flow of City fans
joining the Reading fans on the walk back to the car
parks. This worked very well as there was no mass of
fans together. The traffic back to the motorway was
heavy but still only took 10 minutes and we were
away.
One
the way home we found out we had jumped from 8th to
4th in the table and that this was a record attendance
for away fans in a league game at the Madejski. It had
been one of the best away day’s ever. Everything was
perfect and I enjoyed everything about it. It is a
very nice stadium the locals are very friendly and
it’s easy to get to.
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