After
ten loyal years at the club, John Madejski caved in to fan pressure earlier
this season to grant Phil Parkinson a testimonial after over 400 appearances
for the Biscuitmen. The club and the fans are keen to pay tribute to a player
that's Reading through and through.
Parky's contract runs into 2003 and will almost certainly see him end
his playing days at the club before staying on to help with the coaching and
management side of things. There's plenty of events planned for Phil's testimonal
season - and these include a testimonal match against an ex-England XI, a
tribute book, and a virtual transfer! Read on to find out more and see how
you can get involved.
Parky's Testimonial Website
A special website has been set up dedicated to Phil Parkinson's testimonial season. The website is the place to check details on all of the testimonial events and to find details on how to book and how to get involved. Use the links below to enter the site directly or to find out more about Parky's testimonial events.
Events include the testimonial match, race nights and a golf day. A summary of some of the details follow, but for full details please follow the links above.
An ex-England side visits the Madejski Stadium to take part
in Phil Parkinson's testimonial match. It promises to be a huge event. The
England side will take on a Reading side, including current and previous players,
on Monday 13 May 2002. Phil Parkinson should be joined by ex-Reading players
Shaka Hislop and Dylan Kerr and the England line-up is expected to include
Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle and Dennis Wise. The event is certain to be popular
with such a list of big names - and it follows shortly after Reading's confirming
promotion to Division One. The Reading side will be presented with their runners-up
medals at the end of the game.
The full line-up is now confirmed as follows:
5 ASIDE Match
CELEBRITY TEAM -V- READING LEGENDS
Kick-Off at 7:15pm, 2nd half at half time of main match
READING LEGENDS
TREVOR SENIOR - CAPTAIN
STEVE WOOD
STEVE HETZKE
NEIL SMILLIE
MARTIN HICKS
STUART BEAVON
MARK WHITE
STEVE RICHARDSON
CELEBRITY TEAM
KEVIN BREMNER - PLAYER/MANAGER
STEVE DAVIS
STEPHEN BECKETT (MATT THE DOCTOR - CORONATION ST)
LOUIS ATTRILL
SIMON DENNIS - OLYMPIC MEDALISTS IN THE ROWING EIGHTS IN
SYDNEY
OTHERS - TBA
Main Match
READING XI -V- EX-ENGLAND XI
Kick-Off at 7:45pm
EX ENGLAND XI
MANAGER : JOHN GORMAN
CAPTAIN : STUART PEARCE
TIM FLOWERS
DAVE BEASANT
PAUL PARKER
ALVIN MARTIN
CHRIS WADDLE
JOHN BARNES
LUTHER BLISSETT
PAUL GASCOIGNE
GORDON COWANS
JAMIE REDNAPP
ANDY SINTON
DENNIS WISE
KERRY DIXON
NEIL WEBB
KEITH CURLE
READING XI
THE CURRENT READING CURRENT TEAM PLUS :
SHAKA HISLOP
DYLAN KERR
LEE NOGAN
KEITH MCPHERSON
SCOTT TAYLOR
SIMON OSBORNE
MICHAEL GILKES
STUART LOVELL
MICKY GOODING
As one of the contributions to Parky's Testimonial, Reading Football Supporters Club want to give every Royals fan the chance to make a personal contribution to a special Tribute Book. The intention is to compile comments, messages and stories from as many people as possible and present them to Phil at his testimonial game.
RFSC are contacting former Reading players, managers, and officials, former Bury and Southampton players and fans and anyone else who may want to add their thoughts on Phil.
We'd like every Royals fan to send us their personal message
for Phil - include your name and any description (eg RFC season ticket holder,
Royals fan since 1968, Aussie Royal etc) and your message / story. Please
be as imaginative as possible - 10,000 'Well done Phil' type messages might
not make very interesting reading!
Your messages can be sent to parkyrfc@btopenworld.com
There is no cost in taking part in this testimonial tribute, we want everyone
to be able to join in but we would obviously hope that you also find ways
to contibute financially to Phil's testimonial! Please spread the word to
your Reading supporting friends.
Parky isn't actually leaving his beloved Reading, he's as much a part of our football club as Bovril and meat pies, albeit stronger and beefier. He is clearly as dedicated as any of the fans that follow our club year after year, all over the country, through both the good and bad times.
Now in this, his testimonial year anybody can buy tickets to win Parky, well his time at least, for transfer to a team or a project of your choice for a limited period and yes for the purposes of good taste and modesty, conditions will apply.
Gold, Silver and Bronze tickets will be available for purchase at £10, £5, and £1 per ticket. The winner from each category will receive approximately 4 hours, 2 hours and 1 hour of Parky's time to endorse, support or encourage your nominated project.
Imagine Parky pulling pints behind the bar of your local, or welcoming prospective buyers into your car show room, or coaching your school football team for the cost of a ticket. The possibilities are almost endless and provided each winner's project is deemed reasonable, appropriate and worthwhile, Parky will as usual, rise to the challenge.
Remember, there is likely to be major interest from the press about Parky's transfer and therefore free publicity for your project in the price of each winning ticket.
Tickets will soon be available from the Reading Football Supporters Club and approved ticket sellers at the testimonial game. Volunteer ticket sellers should contact Terry Reynolds on 01189 580648 or on cooking@gillians.freeserve.co.uk
