Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

jar95
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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by jar95 » 05 Jun 2017 11:33

John Smith
jar95 I was in and around The Oracle last weekend before Wembley, and you wouldnt have known the club were a few days away from one of the biggest games in years! Works both ways IMO, thought a few shops would at least have a 'Good Luck Reading' banner in their window etc

Totally agree. I remember in the week leading up to Walsall at Cardiff you had blokes in Broad St. selling souvenir tat - I saw none of that this year. Even before Swansea at the station there was a real sense of excitement. I had none of that on Monday. It was tepid as oxf*rd. I've felt better lead ups to league games at the Madejski than that. It was awful.

I think I'll probably only do two or three homes and aways next year, especially given the distances.


Yep, would have thought somebody (even not associated to the club) would be out and about Town selling rubbish, and shops doing something

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by No Fixed Abode » 05 Jun 2017 15:08

jar95
John Smith
jar95 I was in and around The Oracle last weekend before Wembley, and you wouldnt have known the club were a few days away from one of the biggest games in years! Works both ways IMO, thought a few shops would at least have a 'Good Luck Reading' banner in their window etc

Totally agree. I remember in the week leading up to Walsall at Cardiff you had blokes in Broad St. selling souvenir tat - I saw none of that this year. Even before Swansea at the station there was a real sense of excitement. I had none of that on Monday. It was tepid as oxf*rd. I've felt better lead ups to league games at the Madejski than that. It was awful.

I think I'll probably only do two or three homes and aways next year, especially given the distances.


Yep, would have thought somebody (even not associated to the club) would be out and about Town selling rubbish, and shops doing something


IMO - Reading are far too middle class to be bothered with any of that tat. It's either official merchandise or nothing at all.

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Green
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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by Green » 05 Jun 2017 16:52

Yeh nothing says middle class quite like a gentlemen decked out in replica clobber :roll:

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by No Fixed Abode » 05 Jun 2017 16:54

Green Yeh nothing says middle class quite like a gentlemen decked out in replica clobber :roll:


The shop do nice range of subtle polo shirts. x

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bobby1413
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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by bobby1413 » 05 Jun 2017 17:10

Green WRTTOP, are you just talking commercially, in a direct retail and/or advertising sense?

I've long said that I'd like them to be more involved in the community, but usually get shouted down by some location_royal who tells me they do a couple of primary school visits and an old peoples home gig per season.


Initially I meant commercially but as the threads developed it's also interesting looking at it from all angles.

As others have said I guess it would just be nice to see more local shops, pubs, cafe's get behind the team, particularly (as someone mentioned) before massive games like against Fulham/Uddersfield.

Probably naive and silly to imagine chain shops or chain pubs displaying an RFC flag or putting a poster up, but what about independent stores and cafes, and shops.

I guess if they don't follow football they won't bother or won't know. But it makes me go back to the previous point about stamping the club's presence on the town. Someone mentioned how much advertising costs - I don't really have an answer to that, and I don't konw much about the costs, I'm just thinking.

I remember once saying to my m8 - "I sometimes wish Reading had a second team like Sheffield/Bristol and some sort of real local rivalry" - and he said "Yea but Reading in a way is fortunate as it's one club town". Just wish in a way there was more of a local buzz about it.

Sometimes I wonder how such a big town has such poor attendances - particularly away. Looking at other clubs such as Derby, Wolves, Norwich who have good home support, and I think away. Even Burnley which is a small town and Boro have good away attendences.

*** I don't want this to be a thread about attendances, but it's just a side point to increasing support, increasing a connection with the town itself.


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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by AthleticoSpizz » 05 Jun 2017 17:19

Morrisons (Whitley) had "Good Luck Reading FC" stalls (proper printed card surrounds) set up to display their beers and lagers.

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by Winchester Royal » 05 Jun 2017 20:58

Maybe the club should start buying up premises in town, like cafes, pubs, bars, shops, advertising locations, offices, leisure facilities, supermarkets and housing developments. It could brand each of them with Reading FC colours, decorate them with memorabilia, and insist on showing any of the live games. It could set up a second team, bankroll them through the divisions until they were a force to reckoned with, and then thrive off the local businesses and the competitive spirit in the town.

Alternatively, it could decorate a bus and pop into a primary school with Queensley once in a while.

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by muirinho » 05 Jun 2017 21:38

I think they don't have enough money for a big push in and around the town, so they've tried maybe one thing each season. So this season they've done that Reading Bus tie in.
Can't quite remember when it was, but they had that thing in the train station where there was some cardboard cutouts of some players so you could stand behind them and get a photo of yourself in the Reading kit. I certainly never saw anybody do it mind! And signs with #MyTownMyClub on them.

At least two of the last few seasons they've had a pop-up shop in The Oracle coming up to Christmas, pushing merchandise for Christmas presents.

I think rents in the town centre and the Oracle are probably eye-wateringly high, too much for a permanent presence, which is a pity. A shop in town, with regular signing events for shirts and stuff might get a bit of attention. But whether it would justify how much it would cost is debatable. I think it's easier for Northern clubs to do that kind of thing on Championship promotion budgets, purely because of rents!

As regards links with local schools and stuff - there certainly seems to be no shortage of local football clubs to do the flag-waving at the Mad Stad - how is that organised? Is that a community awareness thing - or is it actually a money-spinner for the club? I suspect the latter, there's some sort of package which costs money, and the kids get to do their thing at the start, and their penalty taking at half time, and watch the game - but it costs. I think money is a big concern all the time - the club is losing money hand-over-fist, it's easier if you're actually making some kind of profit to deal out free tickets, and invite local groups in etc.

They definitely go into local schools, or invite local schools into the club - they had some kind of World Book Day tie-in with Birch Copse Primary school for instance. The Community Trust is involved in the PL Primary Stars programme (see here https://plprimarystars.com/) so maybe if your kids primary school has never been involved with anything, you should nominate them! I guess with a lot of these things, it's a two way street, they can't just turn up at a school, the school has to approach the club. which means if nobody in a position of authority at a school is interested, they aren't going to be there.

The main problem I see is the lack of history in Reading of supporting the club - lots of people supporting their home-town clubs, or big London clubs.

Don't think this is a problem particularly affecting Reading btw, if you walk around Bournemouth, would you know they had a football club? Brighton, apart from their club-shop, doesn't seem to have a big presence in the town either.

I also wonder if the demise of print editions of the EP have made a difference - when that was being delivered to every house, and had Reading stories in it, people would be more aware.

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by bobby1413 » 05 Jun 2017 23:56

Winchester Royal Maybe the club should start buying up premises in town, like cafes, pubs, bars, shops, advertising locations, offices, leisure facilities, supermarkets and housing developments. It could brand each of them with Reading FC colours, decorate them with memorabilia, and insist on showing any of the live games. It could set up a second team, bankroll them through the divisions until they were a force to reckoned with, and then thrive off the local businesses and the competitive spirit in the town.

Alternatively, it could decorate a bus and pop into a primary school with Queensley once in a while.


Your first idea was far better.

I'd recommend they buy out the walkabout, call that 1871 bar and have blue and white everything. Even drinks.

I'd also get forcibly make the purple turtle change their name to "The blue and white turtle". This is Reading for feck sake

Rename TGI to "TGI Robin Fridays"

Smelly Alley to become Smelly Ali Al-Habsi

Just simple things like this to get the ball rolling. Enough is enough, we need to take over the town


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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by Winchester Royal » 06 Jun 2017 08:03

bobby1413
Winchester Royal Maybe the club should start buying up premises in town, like cafes, pubs, bars, shops, advertising locations, offices, leisure facilities, supermarkets and housing developments. It could brand each of them with Reading FC colours, decorate them with memorabilia, and insist on showing any of the live games. It could set up a second team, bankroll them through the divisions until they were a force to reckoned with, and then thrive off the local businesses and the competitive spirit in the town.

Alternatively, it could decorate a bus and pop into a primary school with Queensley once in a while.


Your first idea was far better.

I'd recommend they buy out the walkabout, call that 1871 bar and have blue and white everything. Even drinks.

I'd also get forcibly make the purple turtle change their name to "The blue and white turtle". This is Reading for feck sake

Rename TGI to "TGI Robin Fridays"

Smelly Alley to become Smelly Ali Al-Habsi

Just simple things like this to get the ball rolling. Enough is enough, we need to take over the town


They should also build a monorail.

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by Hound » 06 Jun 2017 10:13

muirinho As regards links with local schools and stuff - there certainly seems to be no shortage of local football clubs to do the flag-waving at the Mad Stad - how is that organised? Is that a community awareness thing - or is it actually a money-spinner for the club? I suspect the latter, there's some sort of package which costs money, and the kids get to do their thing at the start, and their penalty taking at half time, and watch the game - but it costs. I think money is a big concern all the time - the club is losing money hand-over-fist, it's easier if you're actually making some kind of profit to deal out free tickets, and invite local groups in etc.
.


I think its a bit of both. Im not sure if the local club/school pay to do the penalties as such, but they need to have 30 kids signed up to do it, each of whom has to buy a ticket - inevitably along with their parents/whoever comes along. That little section at the bottom of the ED is reserved for the group for the penalties.

Its a pretty easy way to shift another 100 or so tickets for a not great viewing area.

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by Zammo » 06 Jun 2017 11:58

No Fixed Abode Love seeing things like this from the past. Not really the done thing now.

Is that you in the white socks?

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by No Fixed Abode » 06 Jun 2017 12:08

Zammo
No Fixed Abode Love seeing things like this from the past. Not really the done thing now.

Is that you in the white socks?


RattLOLed. :lol:


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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by Winston Biscuit » 06 Jun 2017 12:37

No Fixed Abode In light of the recent terror attacks do you think Reading FC should visit the local mosques, on the Occy Road, Lower Whitley, the one near Palmer Park and any others to engage with the Muslim community more?


blue & white burqa's!

Proph Mohamed's blue & white army!
Proph Mohamed's blue & white army!

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Re: Does Reading FC do enough in/around town

by bobby1413 » 06 Jun 2017 13:14

Blibbidy Blob

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