Friday 20 October 2017

Wembley

Reading v Arsenal
The FA Cup
Wembley Stadium
Saturday 18th April 2015
5:20pm

Journey Time to the ground: 2 hours 15 minutes.  We left Newbury at 11am and drove to my parents house in Reading before making our way up to High Wycombe.  We then jumped on the train from High Wycombe to Wembley Stadium.  As we arrived about four hours before kick-off, we went to get some lunch Moulin Grill then had a look around the London Designer Outlet for a couple of hours before entering the ground about an hour before kick-off.

The ground was about a 5 minute walk from Wembley Stadium station.
 
Ticket Price: £33

Programme Price: £5

This was my eighth visit to the new Wembley and the second time I had seen Reading play there.  We were sat in the Upper Tier of the East Stand at around the level of the corner flag.  The Upper Tier is tier five and although it is a long way back from the pitch, the view of the playing action is good.  The leg room is good, although the seats are slightly uncomfortable as they seem to slope downwards. 

Wembley Stadium is the only five tiered ground that I know of, however the North Stand is the only stand which has the fourth tier.  Opposite the East Stand is the West Stand, which is identical to the East Stand and includes a large television screen built in between the third and fifth tiers.  The two side stands, the North Stand and the South Stand are almost identical to each other with a larger upper tier than either of the ends behind the goal.  The North Stand is the main stand, with the players' tunnel and dug-outs. There are large hospitality areas running between the lower and upper tiers running around the whole of the ground.  The stadium feels huge inside, especially when sat towards the back of the upper tier.
 
This was Reading's first FA Cup Semi-Final since 1927 and having never made an FA Cup final, and being rank outsiders, the majority of Reading fans travelled in the hope of not being embarrassed and being able to enjoy the day.  The first-half was as expected with Arsenal dominating possession and creating a lot of chances.  Reading managed to hold out until five minutes before half-time when Alexis Sanchez finished smartly to give Arsenal the lead.

I was worried that the goal so close to half-time would have broken Reading's spirit, but if anything the opposite was true.  Reading seemed to sense there was an opportunity to make something of the game, and equalised 10 minutes into the second-half.  Pavel Pogrebnyak managed to get the ball across the box and Garath McCleary was on hand at the back-post to volley in, a goal that was given by the hawk-eye system.  I have never celebrated as nuchas I did that equaliser!  There seemed to be belief within the team and although Aaron Ramsey hit the post for Arsenal, the game finished 1-1 and headed into extra-time.

Into the first period of extra-time came the moment that broke Reading hearts.  In added time at the end of the first-half of extra-time Adam Federici, who had been magnificent all game, let Alexis Sanchez's tame effort slip underneath his body, through his legs and roll over the goal-line.  Reading tried to find a second equaliser in the second-half of extra-time, but ultimately come up slightly short.

Attendance: 84,081 with 30,963 Reading fans.

Atmosphere:  The atmosphere was good.  I have never heard noise like it when we scored our equaliser.  However I don't think the acoustics at Wembley are that good.  The ground seems too big to generate a really decent atmosphere as the sound seems to get lost in the bowl and it is difficult for chants to be co-ordinated between the upper and lower tier.

Journey Time home: 2 hours 30 minutes.  There was quite a long wait at Wembley Stadium station to get the train back up to High Wycombe.  Once at High Wycombe we drove back to my parents' house in Reading to pick up the car before driving back to Newbury.  We got back into Newbury at around 10:30pm in time to get a KFC before it closed! 
 
Overall, I enjoyed my trip to Wembley, if not the result.  It was a long day, with it being the late kick-off and also arriving so early to soak up the atmosphere.  I have never seen Reading win at Wembley and it is a horrible place to lose, but I have never been more proud of my team as I was at the final whistle.

Thursday 19 October 2017

Swindon Town

Swindon Town v Peterborough United
Sky Bet League One
The County Ground
Saturday 11th April 2015
3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 30 minutes.  We left the house just after 2pm and a straight forward journey saw us parked up in the Carlton Car Park which cost £1 for the afternoon.

The ground was around a 10 minute walk from the car park.
 
Ticket Price: £19

Programme Price: £3

This was my third visit to the County Ground.  We were sat in the Town End, a small, single-tiered covered, all-seated stand behind the goal, where the majority of the vocal home support sat.  The leg room was adequate and the view from the seats was good although there were a couple of pillars that partly obscured some of the pitch.  

The County Ground is a good sized, all-seated ground.  To the left of the Town End is the Arkells Stand, a single tiered main stand which had the dug-outs situated at the front of it.  This stand is shared with away fans.  Opposite the Arkells Stand is the Don Rogers stand, another single tiered stand which runs the length of the pitch.  Opposite the Town End is the all-seated, uncovered Stratton Bank Stand which is largely unused unless there is a particularly large away following.  This end also has the only Rolex clock found at any football ground in the world.   
 
Both sides had a realistic chance of making the play-offs with Swindon sat in third and Peterborough six points outside the top six, so both sides were pushing for a win.  The best chance of the first-half went to Swindon who were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute when Jonathan Obika went down under pressure from Michael Smith.  Andy Williams smashed his spot-kick against the bar and the half ended 0-0.
 
The second half was a fairly even contest with both sides restricted to long range efforts.  The home fans were growing frustrated but finally had something to cheer about in the 71st minute when substitute Jermaine Hylton grabbed the only goal of the game slotting in from just inside the box with one of his first touches of the game.  

Attendance: 7,126 with 285 Peterborough fans.

Atmosphere:  The atmosphere was pretty good.  There was a lot at stake for both teams and the Swindon fans in the Town End certainly kept singing for the whole 90 minutes.

Journey Time home: 45 minutes.  After a short 10 minute walk back to the car, we were on our way.  There was very little traffic and we were home before 6pm.

I enjoyed my trip to Swindon.  The weather was pleasant and the atmosphere in the Town End was very good.   With both teams evenly matched and pushing for a win, the game was entertaining and a Swindon win was probably the right result on the balance of play.