I thought that it was a town, but it turns out that now there is a team in the tow...err city called Reading City.
Formerly Highmoor-Ibis, they are now called Reading City and are playing in the Hellenic Premier League (some of our elder posters may have heard of this league...)
Seems like a most strange moniker to adopt, but hey ho life goes on...
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
2Used to be you needed a Cathedral to be a city. Not sure if that still stands?RThomas55 wrote:I thought that it was a town, but it turns out that now there is a team in the tow...err city called Reading City.
Formerly Highmoor-Ibis, they are now called Reading City and are playing in the Hellenic Premier League (some of our elder posters may have heard of this league...)
Seems like a most strange moniker to adopt, but hey ho life goes on...
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
3Countymax wrote:Used to be you needed a Cathedral to be a city. Not sure if that still stands?RThomas55 wrote:I thought that it was a town, but it turns out that now there is a team in the tow...err city called Reading City.
Formerly Highmoor-Ibis, they are now called Reading City and are playing in the Hellenic Premier League (some of our elder posters may have heard of this league...)
Seems like a most strange moniker to adopt, but hey ho life goes on...
I think as well as a Cathedral, you have to be granted the status of City by the sovereign of the day.
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
5I have lived in Reading since 1978 and no, it is definitely not a city despite numerous attempts. It comes up every few years and they always get knocked back, including the year Newport achieved the status.
Are you sure about the football team? Highmoor-Ibis became Reading Town who played in the Hellenic but I believe they folded fairly recently.
Are you sure about the football team? Highmoor-Ibis became Reading Town who played in the Hellenic but I believe they folded fairly recently.
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
6The place either needed to have a cathedral or a university to be considered by royal decree as a city in the uk.
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
7I think (though I could be wrong) that Reading Town's ground at Scours Lane got taken over by Highmoor-Ibis after Town's owners (Battersea & Wandsworth TUC) closed the club down.
Woodley United now use Scours Lane as well, not sure if they are tenants or have a 50/50 arrangement with Highmoor/Reading City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_City_F.C.
Woodley United now use Scours Lane as well, not sure if they are tenants or have a 50/50 arrangement with Highmoor/Reading City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_City_F.C.
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
8Part of a programme article from a few years ago:
... I hadn't seen the Hellenic League since 1990. I suspect that applies to nearly all of us. The last time, of course, was the final game of our inaugural season’s championship at Abingdon.
The FA promoted 4th September as Non-League Day and supporters of bigger clubs were encouraged to take in a non-league game on the Saturday left blank by the previous evening's internationals. I decided to drop down the pyramid as far as the Hellenic Premier.
Looking at the overall structure, placed roughly midway in the Conference as I write this we are exactly halfway between the top of the Premiership and the bottom of the division Reading Town and Witney play in. (If you travel to Paddington by train, the ground is in the gap between the railway and the river as you come into the town.)
Something hadn’t really occurred to me during 1989-90 or since. It must have been a shock to have our supporters turn up in the numbers they did, and how well the clubs in that league did to accommodate us. For us it was the norm, but we featured in a whole season’s worth of completely atypical games for the league in terms of atmosphere. Most would have been much more like Reading v Witney.
The game was disappointing and I doubt either club would call it differently. Reading might have been half a goal better, but 0-0 was about right. A few players, particularly Town's fullbacks, looked like they could handle a higher standard; one of two more looked like maybe they already had and were now winding down; one or two looked like if this was a typical week they were playing at their limit; both keepers were excellent but maybe at this level because they are on the small side; and above all both sides were crying out for a clinical finisher, which had me recalling just how deadly Chris Lilygreen and Dave Jarvis were against defences like these 21 years ago. Check out the compilation video.
The officials were excellent. Again something I'd never considered is that many – maybe most - players around this level are several rungs above the best parks football because they have a better level of anticipation of what might happen next, but aren't playing any higher up the pyramid because they can't cash in on that often enough.
This led to some pretty strong expressions of frustration with teammates, themselves and offside flags, but the ref took it all calmly without booking anyone for dissent. There were some handbags after an injury, but the ref played it cool. I suspect some in the Conference would have spotted an opportunity to strut their stuff.
Admission was six quid and included a programme, and in honour of Non-League Day there was a generous voucher for a free drink - which I sincerely hope the FA was refunding from the proceeds of those Club Wembley hangers-on who left swathes of empty seats either side of half-time in the England game the night before.
The attendance, however, was still a disappointing 94. It did leave me wondering just how a club at that level of the pyramid can ever thrive when it's so close to a really big one.
Anyone who normally watches Reading in the Championship might well have found the gulf in standard a bit too much to be enticed back. On the other hand, anyone who wants a bit more atmosphere while staying non-league can get it better locally a few rungs up at clubs like Maidenhead or Basingstoke. Someone who just wants to watch any old football might feel they can be entertained in the parks and save the six quid. It must be immensely hard work running a club at a level worth that’s worth charging for, but where three figures is a decent gate.
I hope the FA taking an interest in the grassroots isn't just a sop because the internationals happened to be on a Friday. Maybe free tickets next time which the clubs can cash in with the FA? Obscene sums slosh about at the very top, what’s to lose?
... I hadn't seen the Hellenic League since 1990. I suspect that applies to nearly all of us. The last time, of course, was the final game of our inaugural season’s championship at Abingdon.
The FA promoted 4th September as Non-League Day and supporters of bigger clubs were encouraged to take in a non-league game on the Saturday left blank by the previous evening's internationals. I decided to drop down the pyramid as far as the Hellenic Premier.
Looking at the overall structure, placed roughly midway in the Conference as I write this we are exactly halfway between the top of the Premiership and the bottom of the division Reading Town and Witney play in. (If you travel to Paddington by train, the ground is in the gap between the railway and the river as you come into the town.)
Something hadn’t really occurred to me during 1989-90 or since. It must have been a shock to have our supporters turn up in the numbers they did, and how well the clubs in that league did to accommodate us. For us it was the norm, but we featured in a whole season’s worth of completely atypical games for the league in terms of atmosphere. Most would have been much more like Reading v Witney.
The game was disappointing and I doubt either club would call it differently. Reading might have been half a goal better, but 0-0 was about right. A few players, particularly Town's fullbacks, looked like they could handle a higher standard; one of two more looked like maybe they already had and were now winding down; one or two looked like if this was a typical week they were playing at their limit; both keepers were excellent but maybe at this level because they are on the small side; and above all both sides were crying out for a clinical finisher, which had me recalling just how deadly Chris Lilygreen and Dave Jarvis were against defences like these 21 years ago. Check out the compilation video.
The officials were excellent. Again something I'd never considered is that many – maybe most - players around this level are several rungs above the best parks football because they have a better level of anticipation of what might happen next, but aren't playing any higher up the pyramid because they can't cash in on that often enough.
This led to some pretty strong expressions of frustration with teammates, themselves and offside flags, but the ref took it all calmly without booking anyone for dissent. There were some handbags after an injury, but the ref played it cool. I suspect some in the Conference would have spotted an opportunity to strut their stuff.
Admission was six quid and included a programme, and in honour of Non-League Day there was a generous voucher for a free drink - which I sincerely hope the FA was refunding from the proceeds of those Club Wembley hangers-on who left swathes of empty seats either side of half-time in the England game the night before.
The attendance, however, was still a disappointing 94. It did leave me wondering just how a club at that level of the pyramid can ever thrive when it's so close to a really big one.
Anyone who normally watches Reading in the Championship might well have found the gulf in standard a bit too much to be enticed back. On the other hand, anyone who wants a bit more atmosphere while staying non-league can get it better locally a few rungs up at clubs like Maidenhead or Basingstoke. Someone who just wants to watch any old football might feel they can be entertained in the parks and save the six quid. It must be immensely hard work running a club at a level worth that’s worth charging for, but where three figures is a decent gate.
I hope the FA taking an interest in the grassroots isn't just a sop because the internationals happened to be on a Friday. Maybe free tickets next time which the clubs can cash in with the FA? Obscene sums slosh about at the very top, what’s to lose?
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
9Witney - a team now sadly lost to the non-league graveyard.
Their Marriott's Stadium home is now earmarked for development (if it hasn't already been built upon) where a certain Brendan Rodgers played as a footballer. I think there is also a video of former Liverpool great Jimmy Case playing there for Bashley as well.
A very nice post, by the way, George Street Bridge!
Their Marriott's Stadium home is now earmarked for development (if it hasn't already been built upon) where a certain Brendan Rodgers played as a footballer. I think there is also a video of former Liverpool great Jimmy Case playing there for Bashley as well.
A very nice post, by the way, George Street Bridge!
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
10Thanks!
We played at Witney the season we were switched to the Southern League's Southern Division. They'd sold up in the town centre and moved miles out of town, one of several non-league clubs to do that. The club I saw six or seven years ago was already a reincarnation after that one went bust.
The ground incorporated a nightclub - madness to think that would attract young people with Oxford not far in the other direction.
If we'd built a new ground on the periphery of Newport and needed to accept a relegation or two to do it, there's no guarantee we would still have progressed up the leagues. Wildly hypothetically, say where the short-lived speedway stadium went.
[Edit: Google maps aerial photo shows it has been demolished.]
We played at Witney the season we were switched to the Southern League's Southern Division. They'd sold up in the town centre and moved miles out of town, one of several non-league clubs to do that. The club I saw six or seven years ago was already a reincarnation after that one went bust.
The ground incorporated a nightclub - madness to think that would attract young people with Oxford not far in the other direction.
If we'd built a new ground on the periphery of Newport and needed to accept a relegation or two to do it, there's no guarantee we would still have progressed up the leagues. Wildly hypothetically, say where the short-lived speedway stadium went.
[Edit: Google maps aerial photo shows it has been demolished.]
Last edited by George Street-Bridge on June 11th, 2018, 8:29 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
11RThomas55 wrote:Liverpool great Jimmy Case
Greatest shit ever to pull on a Liverpool shirt you mean?
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
12Not one of my favourite reds, I must say, but it does beg the question, why? What has he done that has upset you?Stan A. Einstein wrote:RThomas55 wrote:Liverpool great Jimmy Case
Greatest shit ever to pull on a Liverpool shirt you mean?
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
13Morning Mike,pembsexile wrote:Not one of my favourite reds, I must say, but it does beg the question, why? What has he done that has upset you?Stan A. Einstein wrote:RThomas55 wrote:Liverpool great Jimmy Case
Greatest shit ever to pull on a Liverpool shirt you mean?
Just back from honeymoon hope that you are having a good holiday.
I lived in Liverpool in the late 70's early 80's. The 'tackle' on Geoff Nulty, actually the vicious criminal assault which resulted in Nulty's leg being broken, in a Merseyside derby in 1980 was but one of a series for which this scouse hardman/psychopath is not so fondly remembered by Everton supporters or indeed decent human beings anywhere.
Re: o/t Is Reading A City?
14Morning Brendan, won't go into too much detail about the hols as I have some sort of flu or kidney infection. Home tomorrow thank goodness.
As you mention it, I do vaguely remember the tackle. Not a pleasant player was Mr Case and I don't think he is as fondly remembered as other players by reds fans either.
I know my memory fades as I get older, but I thought the players name was Geoff McNulty. Probably mixing him up with someone else.
As you mention it, I do vaguely remember the tackle. Not a pleasant player was Mr Case and I don't think he is as fondly remembered as other players by reds fans either.
I know my memory fades as I get older, but I thought the players name was Geoff McNulty. Probably mixing him up with someone else.
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