U23's & The Checkatrade Trophy - Wembley

[One8Seven1*]

First off, have you taken part in the boycott, or just not fancied going to the games?

Would you go to Wembley if we get there, and there's a good chance now having knocked out a favourite in Southampton.

Personally I'm against U23 sides being allowed to enter the competition. Having said that, we are in it, and it's a great expereince for our young players (who've got further than Swindon's first-team...). I haven't been to any games but that's more to do with family commitments than anything else, and I would be up for a piss up in London if we get to the final. Knowing our support, I'd expect a good 30,000 to still go along.

[Hendo]

I would be up for a Wembley trip.

Think it would be great to see our kids play at the national stadium.

If we got there, I hope we win it as well.

[KC Royal]

I would be up for a Wembley trip.

Think it would be great to see our kids play at the national stadium.

If we got there, I hope we win it as well.

This for me.

I've wanted to go to U21/U23 games in the past but haven't been able to, and watch the streamed games as much as possible so would be definitely be up for Wembley, especially as so far (and I expect this to change before the end of the season) I think I've seen as many U23 games as first team games this season.

The fact that it's on the weekend of the Leeds home game is also a plus for me as i'd already decided to give that a miss after the home games against them I've been to in the past.

[TBM]

We won't beat Yeovil in the next round.

[kwik-silva]

I've boycotted the games local to me (not Reading's) because I didn't like it, if we got to Wembley I'd have to rethink but considering we're playing Yeovil again I'm not sure it's going to matter that much

[Sutekh]

1. It's the U21s not U23s
2. Agree that it is a disgrace that this competition has been hijacked in this manner
3. IF Reading made it to Wembley I think it would be worth going as it's, largely, the kids that you'd be supporting and it'd be worth giving them something to remember on their day as it's not their fault they've been catapulted into this competition
4. There are still 3 rounds and 4 games (still a 2 legged semi-final?) to play before Wembley so a lot of work to do. Beat Yeovil and Reading will be in the quarter finals (I am presuming that the competition has now lost it's regionalisation given Wycombe Wanderers' draw (see below)
5. Presuming the final would retain its live on the telly status and be played on a Sunday (and therefore not clash with Reading's first team game over that April weekend)
6. Only 5 U21 teams left anyway

Draw is

Mansfield Town v Oldham Athletic
Luton Town v Chesterfield
Oxford United v Scunthorpe United
Blackpool v Wycombe Wanderers
Cheltenham Town/Leicester City U21 v Bradford City
Yeovil Town v Reading U21
Coventry City v Brighton & Hove Albion U21
Swansea City U21 v Wolverhampton Wanderers U21

[Stranded]

First off, we'll need to do better than the home game against Yeovil.

Think if we get to the final we'd see a fair number go, though think it would depend on the opposition. If we get there and it's against see Wolves U21 then think numbers would be low. Final against a "proper team" esp. if it is Oxford or Wycombe and we'd get a few go.

Can't see any final with an U21 team getting much more than 20 or 30k in attendance max.

[SCIAG]

Think it's a great idea and I am not boycotting.

Wembley would very much depend on pricing etc. I would not be willing to pay Wembley prices. £20 would be acceptable.

I don't think we'd get 30,000 supporters. That's ten times our record U21 attendance for the Premier League Cup final. If it was sufficiently promoted then maybe we'd get 10,000.

Yeovil are very beatable. We'll need to do well but it's not like they're Arsenal. If we set up properly then there's no reason why we can't win. Scunthorpe, Bradford, and to a lesser extent Oxford are the teams we need to look out for, but if we take them seriously then on paper we should be able to match them.

[billybraggsbeard]

Hi
Went to the game down at Southampton last night, pretty good , Saints were the better team in the first half( although their goal was scored from a mistake by us , we were by far the better team in the second.
Nice to see Niall Keown back (including scoring from a corner), Cooper was captain and Meite played well out on the wing, but star player for me was Josh Barrett one great shot hitting the bar in the 85th minute. No extra time straight to pens Jakoola saved their first two and Meite got the winning one. Wembley here we come

[Stranded]

Just watched the highlights - Jakkola looks really pi$$ed off after the final pen - mutters something, waves his had and stomps off half barely pausing to clap the fans, whilst the rest of the team pile on Meite.

[Saaaaaaaammmmmm]

The Yeovil group game was pretty even, we missed a couple of good chances and lost our best player in Kelly at HT, their second goal only came in injury time

The boycott seems to be against B Teams in the Football League, which the EFL officially ruled out a few weeks back, therefore this 'boycott' seems to have done its job, and there isn't much reason to continue the protest (it's unlikely U21s will be competing next year)

I'm actually for U21/U23 sides competing, but totally against how the EFL are managing it. The JPT was a poorly supported competition by the lower clubs anyway, so really there was no harm in making some changes. A competition that lets the youngsters of the top clubs play against professionals down the pyramid is a decent idea, especially if it's just a one-off competition like this one with a Wembley final incentive. Fining the lower clubs for playing youngsters, a badly publicised format which no one understood (a group stage with 2 points for a shootout win?), and a complete mishandling of all the boycotting taking place, has meant this competition has developed a terrible reputation that really there's no way back from

It's no doubt been a great experience for our youngsters, especially getting results against Bristol Rovers and Portsmouth, therefore it's a shame a lot of our fans have been reluctant to come out and support them. This competition has the opportunity to give a lot of our players some very special moments, especially potentially playing in front of thousands at Wembley. It would therefore be a huge shame if they were playing out a final in front of a near empty stadium, even the FA Vase final this year got 46,000 in, you'd worry that we would bring far less if the game wasn't promoted well enough by the club

There is the problem of the Leeds game the same weekend. The JPT Final was always played on the Sunday, but that still throws up some issues. What's more important, a league game or the rare chance of the club winning some genuine silverware? (We never won the competition when the first team were in it) And think of the players, do you risk Watson, Cooper, Meite, Kelly, Mendes, Jaakolla on the pitch or bench against Leeds, given they would perhaps rather play in a Wembley final the next day? Suddenly we wouldn't have much of a squad to pick from for the league game, or you'd have to upset some youngsters by denying them the opportunity

A couple of questions on here... all the games are one-legged from now on in with no ET, which when you've got a newfound penalty-saving specialist in Jaakkola available, makes the likelihood of progressing somewhat easier. All you really need to do is hold out for 90 minutes and you'd be in with a decent chance of winning the tie. The draw is no longer regionalised

Hopefully we get past Yeovil and the draw gives us a couple of home games that the club can get behind in promoting. Something different in terms of ticketing and matchday experience and suddenly you could get a bit of interest in a Quarter/Semi-Final, the more people attend there, the more we could be likely to get at Wembley

If the youngsters continue to progress, then they deserve more than their fans boycotting because they don't like the format

[boycey]

Only if its Oxford.

[Nameless]

Has anyone 'boycotted' this at Reading ?
I just think there isn't much to attract people to watch lower division teams in a low key competition which is the 4th priority (at best).
It's been good experience for our young players, and if we win another 3 games and get to Wembley it will be a nice day out, although I hate Wembley so would be quite happy to play the game somewhere smaller.

[sandman]

We won't beat Yeovil in the next round.

It will be unpresidented if we beat them.

[handbags_harris]

If I were a supporter of a L1 or L2 club I think I'd be pretty pissed off with the renewed status of the competition, but the fact that we've accepted an invitation to play in the competition shouldn't mean we also boycott. Whatever other clubs do is up to them, as far as RFC is concerned it is a great opportunity for our academy and fringe players to gain experience they wouldn't normally get unless they went on loan. It's not their fault they have to play in it, so the least we as supporters can do is support them.

For the record, I attended the Yeovil match and will attempt to get to any home match in this competition. Wembley if we get there? Absolutely.

[Sutekh]

One day the penny will drop and the FL and PL will reintroduce reserve sides and the old reserve competitions.

[Kitsondinho]

Not a chance in hell that I'd go to Wembley to watch it. The changes to the competition were utterly stupid. Switch us with one of the L1/L2 sides and we'd (rightly) be fuming at the U21s being in the competition. There was nothing wrong with the FLT before this season. I'll be amazed if they try to repeat this disaster next year!! After all this year is only a 'trial'.

[SCIAG]

One day the penny will drop and the FL and PL will reintroduce reserve sides and the old reserve competitions.

Why? The new competitions are much better, with a higher standard of play and competition. There's no reason for us to go back to turning over the likes of Crawley, Woking, and Salisbury Reserves every week and hoping that Millwall give us a good game this year.

[sandman]

Not a chance in hell that I'd go to Wembley to watch it. The changes to the competition were utterly stupid. Switch us with one of the L1/L2 sides and we'd (rightly) be fuming at the U21s being in the competition. There was nothing wrong with the FLT before this season. I'll be amazed if they try to repeat this disaster next year!! After all this year is only a 'trial'.

I suspect if the big boys were involved in it then the objections would be less vocal. Must be a kick in the teeth for certain clubs to have a side like Reading, who they were once playing first team games against, be so far ahead of them that they are now playing the under 21's.

[Kitsondinho]

Not a chance in hell that I'd go to Wembley to watch it. The changes to the competition were utterly stupid. Switch us with one of the L1/L2 sides and we'd (rightly) be fuming at the U21s being in the competition. There was nothing wrong with the FLT before this season. I'll be amazed if they try to repeat this disaster next year!! After all this year is only a 'trial'.

I suspect if the big boys were involved in it then the objections would be less vocal. Must be a kick in the teeth for certain clubs to have a side like Reading, who they were once playing first team games against, be so far ahead of them that they are now playing the under 21's.

Fair point. However the FL really needed to ask the big PL teams prior to the annoucement of the changes. Having a fair few PL teams announce they would not be interested on launch day was hardly a good start. The whole thing has been a disorganised farce from the start. Not consulting the fans was also daft. However if two L1/L2 teams are the finalists at Wembley, I'd hardly be surprised if the crowd was over 10,000.....despite all the boycotts!