The Wild Lower West: The Dawn Of A New Season

In the first edition of a new column, The Wild Lower West, Kevin Dix reviews pre-season and looks ahead to the new campaign.

Here we are again, the start of another season in the crazy world of Reading FC, when anything can, and probably will happen.

At the time of writing, we are still under the misguidance of Disastrous Dai and Pointless Pang, while Mark Bowen’s been embroiled in alleged breaches of betting rules

Despite the mismanagement of our club, I still go into the new season full of optimism. I love the squad of players that we have, I love their willingness to fight for each other, I love their obvious bond with each other and the fans, and I love the fact that they seem to care about this football club, despite its ability to resemble Jongleurs.

The club is starting to feel like a family again, and once the remaining deadwood is cleared, I feel confident that we will start to become the Reading FC that we all know and love. New owners are hopefully just days away, catering has finally returned to Bearwood (I hope this doesn’t spell the end of Yazmine’s spag bol?) and the players’ packed lunch boxes have been safely tucked away. The pitch looks better than it has done in years, and we are starting to look at more and more sponsorship opportunities to fund the club and make it sustainable, which will hopefully be aided by more bums on seats.

All we need now is a better choice of half-time refreshment, instead of warm Heineken, tepid Heineken or been-sat-there-since-kick-off Heineken!

Pre-season has not been too shabby either, with three wins and two losses against Championship opposition, together with a decent 2-0 win away at Woking, where hundreds of children joined the away support, which I can only assume was a series of organised end-of-term school trips!

While the win against Hull City was pleasing on the eye, the win against QPR was full of grit and determination and once again showed why we must protect our academy status at all costs.

Abraham Kanu absolutely schooled the QPR forward line, with the back-to-back crunching challenges ranking among my favourite moments of the game. Later in the match Emmanuel Osho showed why he could be pushing for more first-team minutes this season, with a solid 30 minutes at left-back, which included a box-to-box run with pace and control that belied his inexperience.

It was also fitting that that the goal came from another academy product in the shape of the brilliant Femi Azeez, who continues to impress with his movement and ability to beat his man, which will be key to our success this season.

There are of course those who feel friendlies are meaningless, but I see great benefit in getting players up to match speed, working on new formations and the “Selles press”, giving academy players the chance to shine, and continuing the momentum of winning games, especially if that momentum rolls over from one season to another.

This seems to be a viewpoint that was somewhat lost on Hull City manager Tim Walter, who complained after Reading’s recent 2-0 win that the Royals “played like it was the world championship final”, which loosely translates to “bigger boys came and wouldn’t let us have the ball”.

I would also be interested to know which clubs are allowed to participate in the world championship final, anyone know?

Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

And so to the idea behind a regular column entitled The Wild Lower West. Having sat in the Lower West Stand since the stadium opened, I am all too aware that this section of the stadium is seen by many as boring, full of old people, unpassionate and full of happy clappers on a day out.

Now I can’t argue that the vocals in the Lower West are more John Swift concert than Taylor Swift concert, but I can argue that the idea the West Stand is boring is somewhat misconceived. Like every other part of the ground, we have our characters, we have our undesirables, we have a diverse age range probably not seen in other areas of the stadium, but most of all we all have a passion for supporting Reading FC.

Many of those who sit in the West Stand have done so for many years, with most having supported Reading since Elm Park days, and each have their own interesting story about life under the old tin roofs.

I can also reveal that the West Stand has the narrowest concourse in the stadium, and that’s not just because I put on a few pounds every season, it’s a stadium fact. Passing others at half-time regularly involves scraping a wall or standing at the entrance to the ladies’ toilet to let people past (at least that’s what my mate Ginger does, and he swears he is just being polite).

So, throughout the season I aim to dispel some of the myths about life in the boring West, bring analysis on games from “the other side” and generally take a light-hearted approach to all things RFC.

At this point I would also like to reveal that I, along with friends and family, sit directly below the SCL executive box. I do not reveal this so that everyone can give me a wave, I say it because it seems like the ideal time to rename this “The Legends Lounge”.

The guys at SCL are absolute heroes in my eyes and went above and beyond what could reasonably be expected of sponsors in our time of need. I know for a fact that we could have been very close to going under without them funding the club on more than one occasion last season, so maybe we could organise an SCL Day at some point during the season?

Photo by Ben Hoskins - The FA/The FA via Getty Images

This Saturday we start our League One campaign against Birmingham City, who it would be fair to say have had a ‘kid in a sweet shop’ vibe about them since their relegation from the Championship last season. I’m certainly not knocking their ability to spend, I just wonder how you integrate so many high-profile new players into a system and make it work. Maybe Chelsea have the answer!

I have always been a great believer in strengthening your squad with one or two players in certain positions each window, rather than bringing in 10 new players at once and hope that they complement the ones you already have.

A small part of me is obviously jealous because they are allowed to pay a fee for new players (albeit inflated transfer fees). However, my overwhelming feeling is one of pride: that we can compete with what we have, and still (in my opinion) be a top six side come the end of the season.

Which leads me nicely to my predictions for Saturday’s game and the 2024/25 season.

10/08/24

Birmingham City 1-1 Reading

(May 26, Azeez 73)

Attendance: 28,384

I would love this to be a 3:00pm kick-off but, thanks to the magic of Sky, this is one of many games with an earlier/later start time. One of my real pet hates about Reading playing Premiership football (there were many) was the constant changing of kick-off times, with no thought for the fans who travel to these games. It seems though that money talks, and in our current financial position, a few rearranged kick-off times may be a small price to pay.

2024/25 season predictions

Championship winners: Burnley

Promoted: Middlesbrough

Surprise top-six finish: Bristol City

Relegated: Oxford United

League One winners: Rotherham United

Promoted: Who else would it be? – Reading

Surprise top-six finish: Leyton Orient

Relegated: Crawley Town

League Two winners: Port Vale

Promoted: Doncaster Rovers

Surprise top-six finish: Tranmere Rovers

Relegated: Cheltenham Town

For each of the above that are correct at the end of the season, I will donate £10 to a charity nominated by The Tilehurst End.

Dixey’s Dilemma

And finally, my dilemma for this week.

Having already purchased the new home and away shirts, I am now very much in love with the leaked third shirt. With a holiday looming in a few weeks’ time, do I:

• Save the money for holiday and use it for beer tokens and duty-free?
• Wait until I return from holiday and hope that we have ordered enough “big sizes” for there still to be stock available?
• Buy it anyway and convince myself (and my wife) that it’s an extra Reading shirt to wear on holiday, thereby making it essential holiday wear?

Much love and c’mon URRRZZZ

Dixey