The Elm Park Years Part 4: Where's Our Eddie Gone Then?

"Where's Our Eddie Gone Then?" was the question fired by one of the more aggressive looking Reading fans at John Madejski, as the Chairman ventured in to the away end at Brisbane Road on the penultimate  sunny Saturday of the season. The Eddie referred to was Welshman Niedzwiecki, placed in charge of the Royals after Ian Porterfield was sacked, with the assistant now joining his former boss in the dole queue. The new man in charge, but not the final change of the season, was physiotherapist John "healing hands" Haselden. Madejski himself was the second Chairman of the season but had rather a longer stint in post than the loyal Haselden who reverted back to his physio role the following Saturday under new manager Mark McGhee in a chaotic end to a tumultuous season which remains something of a nadir in the modern history of Reading Football Club. A low point from which, barring the odd stumble, everything improved exponentially to the point of selling out a shiny new all seater stadium on a regular basis in the Premier League.

This end to the season didn't bear thinking about on the similarly sunny Saturday on which the season began, way down in Devon at St. James Park where Reading confirmed early season optimism about promotion by systematically taking apart 1990 Division Four Champions Exeter City 3-1, the Grecians first defeat at home in over a year. Standing on the distinctly non league terrace which masqueraded as the away end we saluted the team and in particular the scorers of the three goals the triple strike force of Trevor Senior, Craig Maskell and Steve Moran before getting back on the coach to avoid the attentions of the locals who wanted to fervently discuss the outcome of the game. 

Porterfield had bet the farm on Maskell, a striker prolific in the previous two seasons at Huddersfield in Division Three, a classy ball playing forward that any supporter would want to watch. The problem was the squad was already congested with attackers, the always reliable Trevor Senior playing alongside a number of partners who all remained at Elm Park over the summer, with no form to attract other clubs. Presumably Moran would have also been on a contract as big as his waistband hence his presence in the line up on the opening day. David Leworthy was a permanent bench fixture, George Friel was one for the future and at least Michael Gilkes' pace could be devastating anywhere on the left hand side. Porterfield attempted to convert the hard working Mike Conroy into a midfielder, but the Scotsman's application lacked the finesse to augment Mick Gooding's dynamism in the centre, and with hindsight this is where the investment should have been following the summer departure of Stuart Beavon and Mick Tait. This would have complemented the neat bit of business in defence which saw Darren Wood swapped for Keith "Tom's Diner" McPherson who fortunately exceeded expectations as the other defender brought in was the frequently injured "Oops Up" Floyd Streete.

Still the feeling of bliss to be in the heaven of an season opening day tour de force persisted until the middle of October when the Royals held third spot after drawing at home to Birmingham City following an exciting midweek win at Elm Park over Bournemouth. League games with the Cherries were the closest the Royals had to a local derby at this time and it was Reading's turn to claim the bragging rights in a somewhat fortunate fashion when goalkeeper Peter Guthrie let a Maskell shot through his legs to complete the comeback from a 1-0 half time deficit before second choice Reading goalkeeper Phil Burns sealed the points with a world class save to stop Efan Ekoku snatching a point.
This play off placing proved to be a temporary one as the next four games were all lost but promotion hopes were kept alive by a 1-0 at Stoke in November. This was my first trip to the Victoria Ground and last one on the supporters coach. Standing in the abysmal fenced away end which at the front was below pitch level, we just about saw Moran give Reading a very early lead and then saw the Royals heroically hold on for the rest of the game to win the Football League performance of the week. This proved to be another false dawn though as form continued to slump up to Christmas.
However if the league form suffered, the Cup matches were a complete write off and I saw every minute of each of the five knockout defeats. Earlier in the season Reading had lost both legs of their first round tie against deadly local rivals Oxford United, whose top boys contribution to the atmosphere at Elm Park was to vigorously rattle the gates at the front of the away end.
Hopes that another great FA Cup run was in prospect were raised when Reading were drawn away to Colchester United, the Us then battling for promotion at the top of the Conference. This proved to be a great day out spoilt by ninety minutes of football. Travelling up by train from Liverpool Street, we joined the Reading fans wholly occupying one carriage and marshaled by one supporter with an Ed the Duck glove puppet. Welcomed by the local constabulary on our arrival in Essex we made the long walk to Layer Road to the dire covered away end consisting of wooden terraces. Everything was going to plan at half time thanks to a Martin Hicks goal, but the Col U came back to create a cup upset and leave us with an uneasy walk back to the station with the locals eager to engage us in conversation about the result.
Any chance that the Leyland Daf Cup would provide any joy were quickly crushed in an embarrassing 3-1 defeat at soon to be defunct Aldershot where once again the locals were keen to start a post mortem asking me if I was part of the "Reading scum". Needless to say the final group game ended in a 4-1 defeat to promotion chasing Southend at Elm Park, the Shrimpers second win at Elm Park in a fortnight. In the league they had thoroughly exposed Reading's shortcomings by going 4-0 up. At this point we decided to de camp to the Tilehurst End where we saw Reading score two consolation goals, the second giving Dave the opportunity to be captured for posterity on TVS by giving the finger to the United goalkeeper.The only bright spot on the horizon was the continuing development of young talent such as Ady Williams and Scott Taylor with Stuart "Archie" Lovell announcing his arrival with the only goal of the game on his debut at home to Fulham.
By now Mark had passed his driving test to signal a change to our trips to Elm Park. Although the long walk down the Oxford Road had stopped when we discovered our train tickets were valid to Reading West, and the 17 bus could get us back to the station in time for the 17.08 train back to Maidenhead, Mark's mum's spacious saloon car made the journey even easier, with the only problem trying to find a parking space somewhere between the Bath Road and the Tilehurst Road which didn't infringe resident parking restrictions.
This meant the lack of public transport on Boxing Day wasn't a barrier to getting to the game at Elm Park although very few bothered on a horribly wet and windy day in a crowd of just over 3,000. Grimsby were the unseasonal visitors for a match that started a run to raise hopes that the second half of the season would be better than the first. Mick Gooding scored both goals in a 2-0 but it was his new midfield partner Danny Bailey who sparked a five game winning streak. Bailey a man as wide as he was tall stomped around the midfield daring anyone to come near him and became the source of endless conversations starting who would win  in a fight between Bailey and Vinnie Jones, Mike Tyson, a sabre toothed tiger etc.
Mansfield were up next at Elm Park with my main man Linden Jones forcing a last minute winner over the line. Maskell scored the only goal of the game then got sent off in the return fixture against Exeter and by the time Wigan were comfortably beaten at Elm Park at the end of January the Royals stood on the brink of the play offs once more. Confirmation that they were serious promotion contenders then followed on a midweek trip to Southend. Everything looked lost at half time at Roots Hall, with the home team one goal up thanks to Ian Benjamin. Worst was to come after the break when Gilkes was stretchered off with a broken leg but Reading rediscovered their resilience of the previous season with goals from Moran and Bailey winning the game, the latter climbing the fence at the away end to receive the acclaim of us travelling faithful.
This upturn in form coincided with a change of ownership. In the autumn former Chairman Roger Smee had revealed that weekly losses were running into five figures which he was unable to subsidise. Just when it seemed Reading might be on track to follow local rivals Oxford and Aldershot into financial oblivion a local businessman stepped forward to take up the challenge of getting the club back on its feet. Despite a professed lack of interest in football John Madejski was man cast in the better aspects of Victorian civic philanthropy. Founder of the publishing empire which produced Auto Trader, Madejski was one of the country's richest men and perhaps because of his antipathy towards the beautiful game, unlike many a new football club owner, he managed to hold on to the sound business principles which had made him so successful, seeing the virtue of parsimony (which reportedly led to the break down in his relationship with Porterfield) and being ready to play the long game. He also had the nous to show a genuine interest in the concerns of supporters in stark contrast to the previous regime which led to his pioneering terrace walkabout at Brisbane Road.
The Orient match came almost at the end of a nineteen game run which included just three wins and four draws. Porterfield had tried to plug the gaps in the team with loan signings, some of whom (Mark Smith and Steve Morrow) were more successful than others (Garry Brooke, Matthew Edwards and Brian Statham), all of which contributed to an ever growing sense of desperation which ultimately saw home crowds plunge below the 2,000 mark.
Still hope sprung eternal after the Southend win, with another good point on the road at Fulham spoiled by the over zealous Met police who decided to stop the half time lets all have a disco bundle by ejecting the only non white Royal involved, leaving us to return to making fun of Bjorn Borg the groundsman. A trip to the Cottage always gave rise to the feeling of faded glamour as a celebrity was taken onto the pitch by Diddy David Hamilton to make the half time prize draw. To show that sublebrity is not a new phenemon I can remember Oxo Dad Michael Redfearn and Duffy from Casualty being wheeled out in consecutive visits in the early nineties.
Serious promotion hopes hinged on a midweek trip to fellow play off hopefuls Bournemouth in mid March. After analysing the league table all day at school, Mark made the snap decision to borrow his mum's car at 5 pm and we got to Dean Court just in time for kick off which was all to no avail as the Cherries won comfortably 2-0 under the horror show management duo of Harry Redknapp and Tony Pulis. This result hit me so hard I had to bunk off school the next day to recover but a win the following Saturday over Rotherham at Elm Park saw me and Mark take the train up to the midlands seven days later to stand at the top of the steepling away terrace at St Andrews. Welsh wonder Jones repaid our loyalty by scoring in a 1-1 draw to leave us to walk back in silence to New Street in the middle of several thousand Blues.
Two points out of the next eighteen though spelled the end for Porterfield a decision which at the time upset me although as I type these words two decades later seems evidently sensible. I never lost my trust in a manager for whom the Reading spell must have been a low point in a fairly admirable career on and off the pitch. Stories emerged that he was sacked as a result of unprofessional conduct in terms of transfer dealing and a drink driving charge which seemed to point to opportunism on the part of the club to get rid of an employee on a sizeable salary. A more obvious reason for dismissal due to performances on the pitch would of course necessitated paying up his contract.Still us vocal South Bank right siders were placated by "our" Eddie being placed in temporary charge.
Niedzwiecki was backed to the hilt by us loyal Royals in a tumultuous end of season trip to Griffin Park. Whilst the Met found it necessary to search my turn ups before allowing me entry they missed someone else in the away end bringing in a smoke game which was let off in the first half. The atmosphere grew more febrile as the game which remained goalless moved into injury time. Brentford then scored and Reading were reduced to ten men following a bad tackle by Statham at the far end. The usual melee on the pitch followed whilst Brentford keeper Graham Benstead turned round to inform us of the score, prompting one fan to jump on the pitch to seek more details, meanwhile Eddie tried to do likewise with the referee but was led away by a policeman. The final whistle sounded soon after signalling the end of any Reading fight on or off the pitch.
Seven days later a supine team looked after by Haselden were thrashed by Orient and although new manager Mark McGhee's first home game a week later ended in another 1-0 win over Stoke, the naughty 40 invaded the South Bank at the end of the game and we all ran away never to be seen again for another three months. Things could only get better.

My memorabilia from this season can be found here: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/elmparkyears

The Elm Park Years Part 3: Ian Porterfield's Blue & White Army

The managerial vacancy at Elm Park coincided with my decision that it was time to be a hardcore loyal Royal and start going home and away every Saturday. This would be without most of the friends who I had originally started to go to Elm Park with as we had all got jobs at the new Maidenhead branch of Waitrose but I was the only one wise enough to negotiate two evening shifts and thus avoid working on Saturday. Fortunately the previous season we had been joined on the South Bank by another school friend Mark who was to be my travelling companion for the next eighteen months. This proved to be doubly fortunate as he was the first of my friends to pass his driving test, and had access to his mum's rather nice saloon car, for the time being though we would have to make do with the supporters coach.

The coaches were run expertly by the official supporters club, with the transport provided by Horseman (Horseman coaches and Reading FC, coaching at its best). Tickets could be booked at the club on a matchday, or by ringing Denny Fulbrook at home, the Don of Reading Supporters Club. Fares provided excellent value and you could get dropped off at the station which was a bonus for evening games to get back to Maidenhead. 

First up under caretaker manager Lew Chatterley was a trip to Gigg Lane, Bury. Unsurprisingly there was just the one coach to this game full of the regulars. As well as Denny, you would have his right hand man Peter Brown, always a popular passenger as we would all sing "Its not unusual" when he walked up and down the aisle in acknowledgement to his doppelganger Tom Jones. For games a bit closer to home when more than one coach ran, we prayed Colin Bishop wasn't coach leader as he was a stickler for the no cans or bottles rule even if the contents contained nothing stronger than coke. Other characters included an old chap who was always keen to get back to the local wrestling hall to see his favourite the Mongolian Mauler, whilst a Fagin type character known as Tav always seemed to have a group of kids hanging around him, gleefully reminding another regular passenger of his resemblance to Billy Connolly.

Despite a win at home over Mansfield in Chatterley's first match in charge at Elm Park, the team had gone on to lose to Wigan and Birmingham, and were well and truly beaten at Bury 4-0, with one Royal who appeared to have travelled to the game on his own spending ninety minutes berating young full back Ady Williams, shouting "not good enough Mrs Williams" every time the unfairly maligned youngster touched the ball.

This proved to be the end of the interregnum with the appointment of Ian Porterfield as manager. This appeared to be a sound decision with Porterfield coming across as a real football man having experienced a decent playing career including scoring the only goal for Sunderland in their 1973 FA Cup Final win, and more pertinently substantial managerial experience in particular leading a similar size club to Reading, Rotherham United, to the Division Three title.

Appropriately enough first on the agenda for Porterfield was the FA Cup 1st Round. The subsequent run to the fourth round was unforgettable and securely wedded Porterfield and his assistant Eddie Niedzwiecki to the hardcore Reading support, such was the resilience quickly created and the results achieved which in terms of the number of games played, was more than was needed to win the Cup itself.

First up was possibly the toughest draw of the round, a trip to title chasing Bristol Rovers. A sizeable Reading following travelled down the M4 to Rovers' temporary home in Bath at Twerton Park. To a background of constant noise from the Gas heads, encouraged by the Sinatra loving PA man Bob, Reading worked hard to earn a replay at Elm Park. The rematch went to extra time and the Royals were only saved by a last minute strike from who else but Trevor Senior. This was a time when replays were still unlimited and Reading lost the toss for the third game so we all traipsed back down to Somerset the following Monday. In an unsurprisingly tight affair Reading scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half although Stuart Beavon still needed two attempts to fire his penalty home, a goal I could enjoy again  the next day on BBC Breakfast.

The win provided a reward of a home tie against non league Welling United but despite beating superior opposition in the previous round Welling proved something of a tough nut to crack. Having ground out a goalless draw at Elm Park, Welling were well up for the replay at their tight Park View Road ground.The night was a memorable one but not for events on the pitch. Taking the train up to London was a bit of a mission caused by a serious accident earlier in the week just east of Maidenhead station. Having taken the long walk down Welling High Road to the ground we were then directed on into Kent, racing across a muddy cricket pitch next door to get in for kick off. Fortunately the entrance was nothing more than a gap in the fence where a bloke just ripped our plain cardboard tickets in half. Beavon again was the man to secure Reading's future in the competition although he had to take his penalty twice due to a team mate's encroachment. The goal only secured a 1-1 draw though and this time BBC Breakfast news focused on plucky Welling with me clearly visible behind the goal by virtue of Mark wearing his gold Simod Cup winning replica away kit. Unbelievably the second replay at Elm Park produced no goals in 120 minutes of football so it was back to Kent for the fourth attempt to settle the tie. Welling went into half time a goal up but two rare strikes from Steve Moran in the second half at last sent Reading through to the third round.

Inevitably Wearside folk hero Porterfield was to host his old club Sunderland at Elm Park in the third round in what was probably my favourite ever Elm Park match. At the time Sunderland were resurgent following a dismal time under the management of Lawrie McMenemy which had seen the Mackems fall into Division Three for the first time. McMenemy's replacement Denis Smith had led them to the Division Three title in 1988 and Division One football was to return to Roker Park in 1990. Thus given the struggle to dispose of little Welling, Reading were given no chance even at home, particularly in the face of Division Two's hottest property Marco Gabbiadini. However on a day for heroes the two smallest men in the Royals' line up stood tall to win the day. Firstly left back Steve Richardson was recast for the day as a sweeper and he took to his new role with gusto, effectively marking Gabbiadini out of the game. Right back Linden Jones however set the bar high for heroism when he put through his own net in the first minute. This set off one of his harshest critics who was stood behind me. I quietly seethed as Jones was my favourite player at the time. I loved his all action approach to the game whether selected as a right sided midfielder or at right back In typical FA Cup fairy tale style, Jones went onto score an unusual hat trick, going on to equalise then score the winner, which certainly shut up the bloke behind me. I would love to find footage of this game somewhere more than any other I saw at Elm Park, sadly there is nothing on Youtube to date.

Having disposed of Sunderland, ironically at one go having spent seven games getting past Bristol Rovers and Welling United, logically Newcastle United were drawn to play at Elm Park in round four. With almost twelve thousand in Elm Park the Toon Army were in rather more combative mood than in the League Cup tie back in September. A replica FA Cup made out of silver bottle tops bounced around the away end, whilst a Sid the Sexist look a like skipped around blowing kisses at the South Bank, mocking us as we insisted "We love you Reading we do". The game was a six goal thriller, only interrupted when the Newcastle fans charged into the wall separating them and the South Bank. Fortunately it held firmer than the two defences, with in a neat reversal of the fourth round tie at Elm Park twelve months earlier, Michael Gilkes latching onto a lax back pass in the dying minutes to take the game to a replay. This time though Reading had met their match at the Magpies ran out 4-1 winners at St. James Park, the only game of the ten game FA Cup run I missed.

The Cup run pretty much summed up Reading's season. The Royals were a match for any opposition but too often no more than a match as they drew almost half of their league games, but their ability to sometimes rise to the occasion and beat the best in the division gave hope that a squad was being built to mount a serious promotion challenge in Porterfield's first full season. Thus the rest of the season was an enjoyable one with every journey to the match being made in expectation with many a new ground uncovered on the way. 

Thanks to the supporters coach I made my first trip to Deepdale, Northampton's three sided County Ground shared with the cricket club, Gay Meadow, Ashton Gate and Field Mill as well as the games mentioned earlier at Gigg Lane and Twerton Park. Unfortunately the New Year's Day trip to Ninian Park saw us only reach the Bluebirds car park before finding out the game was postponed. I also took the train to Craven Cottage, Brisbane Road and Griffin Park. The Orient game aside, Reading were never embarrassed and generally came away with a point much to the delight of those of us chanting "Ian Porterfield's Blue and White Army", whilst not forgetting his assistant with regular rounds of "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie".

Two of these trips, Shrewsbury and Mansfield were enlivened by the organised presence of the RDS, not so much a firm, more a jolly boys day out. Travelling on a double decker Reading bus, they allegedly negotiated their way past West Mercia police by claiming they were going brass rubbing at Shrewsbury Abbey, this game being memorable for the way everyone sang "we know a song that will get on your nerves" for the last twenty minutes. At Mansfield chaos ensued when the home team got a penalty in front of the away end. Everyone rushed behind the goal to wave at the penalty taker which seemed to sufficiently distract him as the kick was missed. Whilst delirium broke out behind the goal the referee signalled for the kick to be taken again as seemed to be the style that season so we all rushed back to start waving again only for the ball to hit the back of the net this time. Never mind the game finished as a 1-1 draw as usual.

At home results can be summed up as the veritable curate's egg with crowds often dropping below the 4,000 mark. Only four games were lost all season but nine were drawn. Added entertainment was provided by Mark's friend Andy who prepared for a future career at Sky Sports by regularly going to Reading games. Commonly the result would be in the balance in the second half so Andy would go down the front, stick his head through the fence and wish for a goal, which when it came would see him trampled in the charge for the fence leaving him to describe his pleasure at his pain afterwards. 

A favourite league game this season was a win by the odd goal in five over Porterfield's old club Rotherham, which was memorable for one supporter, clearly under a chemical influence, running along the right side of the South Bank at the front keeping up with play, randomly shouting "triangles" at the players.

Reading were at their best when playing the two Bristol clubs who were dukeing it out for the title at the top of the league. Reading drew either team in every single cup competition that season, playing them a total of ten times, losing just once, at home to Rovers in the league. Apart from beating Rovers in the FA Cup, the only Reading win came at Ashton Gate in February with a rare goal from substitute David Leworthy being the difference between the two teams, Steve Richardson reprising his super sweeper role to shut out the Robins. This proved the latent potential of the Royals who produced some excellent performances against the rest of the top six that season, beating Tranmere, Bury and Bolton at home, whilst holding Notts County in both games. Results against the bottom six however left a lot more to be desired but watching the news clips of the tumultuous final game of the season which saw Rovers beat City at Twerton Park to win the title with City promoted as runners up, it was clear that having matched or bettered these two teams for most of the season the future was bright for the Royals. Porterfield had made just one permanent signing at Christmas (but what a signing in Mick Gooding, "the Bryan Robson of the lower divisions"), so with a bit of tinkering with a half decent squad it was clear that Reading were going to walk the league in 1990/91.

My memorabilia from this season can be found here: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/elmparkyears