Wrexham

Wrexham v Reading

Sky Bet League One
Stok Cae Ras

Saturday 24th August 2024

3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 1 hours 25 minutes.  Living in the middle of nowhere in South Shropshire, this was one of the closest away games of the season.  We left home at 1pm and drove the scenic route up to Wrexham.  We parked up at Stansty Park, a local football ground located on Summerhill Road just off the A483, for the cost of £4.  From here it was about a ten minute walk to the ground.

Ticket Price: £22

Programme Price: £3.50

Attendance: 13,322 with 1,261 Reading fans.

Now living not too far from Wrexham I feared I was to be disappointed in my quest for tickets as the away end had sold out before I had reached the required criteria to purchase.  I'd almost given up on being able to make the game when, as luck would have it, seating was released in the home end the day before the game.  It was a fairly simple process to register for a free membership (thank you SY postcode) and to buy a couple of tickets in the Fourth Wall Temporary Kop Stand.  This is a temporary all-seater stand that has been erected on the previously unused Kop End due to Wrexham's recent success and will be in place until a permanent stand is build at this end.  We were seated behind the goal at the side of the stand next to the Macron Stand and although temporary in nature being made of scaffolding, the view and leg-room was good.  This stand is uncovered and we were very fortunate that despite some dark clouds we stayed dry the whole game, unusual in this part of the world!

To the left of the Fourth Wall Temporary Kop Stand is the Macron Stand.  This is a single-tiered all-seater stand which houses executive boxes at it's rear.  Opposite the Fourth Wall Temporary Kop Stand is the Stok Cold Brew Coffee Stand.  This is a two-tiered all-seater stand where the most vociferous Wrexham fans seemed to congregate.  To the right of the Fourth Wall Temporary Kop Stand is the Wrexham Lager Stand.  This is another single-tiered all-seater stand and is the main stand at Cae Ras housing the team dug-outs at its front.  Away fans are housed in this stand, allocated around a third of the stand towards the Stok Cold Brew Coffee Stand.

Both teams came into this game unbeaten with four points from the first two games of the new season.  The game started pretty evenly with both teams playing some good football, however Wrexham took the lead in the 23^rd minute when Ollie Palmer rose highest to head Ryan Barnett's right-wing cross past Joel Pereira.  The lead was doubled ten minutes later when another Barnett right-wing cross caused chaos in the Reading box with James McClean hitting the post and Jack Marriott drawing a point blank save from Pereira before Elliot Lee blasted home from close range.  Reading almost grabbed a goal back instantly with Tyler Bindon's header hitting the top of the crossbar from Lewis Wing's right-sided free-kick but the half finished with the Red Dragons two up.

The game was over as a contest four minutes into the second-half when Lee picked out Andy Cannon in the middle of the Reading half and the winger struck a low effort into the bottom left-hand corner from 25-yards.  The Royals had chances to grab a consolation with Jeriel Dorsett forcing Arthur Okonkwo into a point blank save and Tivonge Rushesha hitting the underside of the bar from Basil Tuma's right-wing pull back.  The ball appeared to have crossed the line but with no goal-line technology in League One, Reading drew a blank for the first time in 25 league games and the game finished 3-0.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was a little disappointing.  The Wrexham fans in the Stok Cold Brew Coffee Stand made some noise around the goals and the Reading fans were quite loud in parts.  I'm not sure if it was where we were sat in quite an open environment so the sound dissipated but I was expecting the crowd to be louder throughout the game. 

Journey Time home: 2 hours 15 minutes.  We got back to the car just after 5:15pm and drove into the town via a petrol station to look for some food.  We decided against eating in Wrexham and instead drove to Oswestry and went to the Wetherspoons for dinner before doing some shopping at B&M.  We arrived back at home at 9:40pm.

Overall the trip to Wrexham was ok.  It's never nice sitting with the home fans when your team is losing and it was frustrating as I felt the scoreline flattered Wrexham slightly.  They were worth the win but probably not by a three goal margin.  Wrexham are obviously a team on the up, with increased interest in the club, however there is a danger that game days become something of a day-trip experience for new converts with fewer long suffering Wrexham fans able to attend games.  Things like the FanZone at the back of the Fourth Wall Temporary Kop Stand charging separately for entrance don't really sit well with me.

Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers v Reading

Sky Bet League One

Toughsheet Community Stadium

Monday 1st April 2024

3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 3 hours 20 minutes.  We are staying in Knighton, Wales at the moment so left just before 10:20am and made the journey cross-country up to Bolton.  We parked up at Bolton Arena literally across the road from the ground just before 1:40pm, paying £5 for the privilege of being so close.  After picking our tickets up from the club shop, we looked around the nearby Middlebrook retail park to kill some time before kick-off.  

Ticket Price: £10

Programme Price: £3.50

Attendance: 25,266 with 1,299 Reading fans.

This was my first visit to Bolton for a game that I decided I needed to see when the very reasonable ticket prices were released.  It was Bolton's community day so a large crowd was expected.  We had tickets in the Franking Sense South Stand Upper Tier which is the away end.  This end was shared with home supporters who were situated in the lower tier.  The Franking Sense South Stand is a two-tiered all-seater stand.  The view from our seats and legroom was good, however the seats themselves were actually quite narrow.  

To the left of the Franking Sense South Stand is the Kia West Stand.  This is a two-tiered all-seater stand that is the main stand at the Toughsheet Community Stadium housing the team dug-outs at its front.  Opposite the Franking Sense South Stand is the Carrs Pasties North Stand which is another two-tiered all-seater stand.  To the right of the Franking Sense South Stand in the Nat Lofthouse East Stand with Eventura.  This is another two-tiered all-seater stand with Bolton’s most vociferous fans seeming to congregate in the lower tier of this stand in the South East corner closest to the away fans.

Reading came into this game in decent form but still with lingering relegation concerns after what has been the hardest season I've ever known as a fan.  Bolton on the other hand were well in contention for an automatic promotion spot and it was the hosts that took the lead with the first meaningful shot of the game, Aaron Collins scoring after 11 minutes with a 25-yard effort I could see curling into the top-corner as soon as it left his boot.  Bolton were much the better side in the first-half, however Reading managed to level against the run of play, Lewis Wing with an equally stunning effort from the edge of the box five minutes before half-time.  However The Royals were unable to go into the break level as Amadou Mbengue brought Collins down in the box and he duly dispatched the spot-kick past Joel Pereira in the Reading goal.

Reading started the second-half with purpose but fell further behind five minutes in when former Royal Jon Dadi Bodvarsson poked in to capitilise on Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan's wayward pass in the middle of the pitch.  To their credit, Reading continued to press and with Bolton always dangerous on the break, this lead to a hugely enjoyable game to watch.  Jayden Wareham thought he had pulled a goal back on the hour-mark but it was disallowed as Sam Smith was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.  Collins completed his hat-trick in the 77^th minute with a close-range finish after pinball in the box.  Reading grabbed a second consolation goal in the second-minute of stoppage time but amazingly this wasn't the end of the scoring as Bodvarsson scored his second, and Bolton's fifth, three minutes later.  It was a deserved victory for Bolton, however I couldn't help thinking that if Reading hadn't conceded two either side of half-time it could have been a different result.  

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was a little subdued for the size of the crowd and the end result.  The Bolton fans didn’t seem to be too loud and the Reading fans were also quite quiet as the team was under pressure for most of the game.

Journey Time home: 2 hours 55 minutes.  We got back to the car just before 5:20pm and arrived back at our hotel just before 9:30pm with an hour and 15 minute stop at Chester services where we got some McDonalds for dinner.

Overall I really enjoyed my trip to Bolton despite the result as it had been a highly entertaining game.  The stadium is quite impressive from the outside however I felt that it seemed smaller than I expected once inside the ground, however this could be because we were in the upper tier.  The semi-circular design of the upper tiers also made it look like there was quite a bit of empty space which probably also made the ground feel smaller than an almost 30,000-seater stadium.