The big 'un in Wigan: Wigan 1 RFC 0 Heskey 70min RFC fans big up the return of Leroy. He is even more pumped up than normal. He gets sent off early doors for striking Heskey who swats him away like a fly. Subsequently, Emile heads the winning goal on 70 minutes that creeps in through the mud. Hahnem...

A true fan will do two things:

1. Back the boys.
2. Make some noise.

yeah - we go on about it a bit too much, to me it belongs in the Autoglass Windscreens / Zenith Data / Leyland DAF category of short-lived second-rate competitions that don't really warrant attending or remembering. Sorry. If we'd sat around in League 1 or League 2 for the last 20 years then maybe w...

For me,

No. 3: RFC 3 Boro 2 - 1st game in Premiership.
No. 2: RFC 3 Bolton 4 - playoff final, for the event rather than the result obviously.
No. 1: RFC 2 Wolves 1 - Archie's two injury time goals - will this ever be bettered?

Marcus - 7
Rosenior - 8 quality
Bikey - 8 quality
Ivar - 7
Shorey - 7
Oster - 6 but better than other games
Harps - 7
Matejovski -7
Hunt - 6
Doyle - 5 oh dear
Kitson 7

Long - 7
Cisse - 6

Matejovsky is rapidly becoming one of my favourite RFC players. At one point in the second half he controlled a ball that came at him v.fast with his knee - compare this to Oster letting a long ball go right under his foot (and the shot on the volley that he shinned into the crowd).

Reading 0 Blackburn 1 RFC fail to score - not even with Bikey's head. Looks to be heading for 0-0 but then Blackburn scramble a goal. RFC labour hard to get the goal back in the last 10-15 minutes but it never really looks like coming to much. Uncomfortable Premiership table viewing on Sunday and an...

I think Matejovsky is great - the sort of player who can do something beyond the ordinary, because of that I can forgive his slightly ineffective tackling and agree that this needs to come from somewhere else in midfield. Rosenior is also looking very good, Bikey too but trying not to let my judgeme...

Tight, cagey, both teams desperate not to make a mistake. We score first sometime between 40 minutes and 60 minutes. Then we get even more cautious and sit back defending more and more desperately. B'ham equalize with a scruffy scrambled goal where someone gets left unmarked. It won't be pretty. 1-1.

Leroy - I've written you a little poem to say goodbye.

Your first touch,
Wasn't up to much,
It's clear as crystal,
You spent too long in Bristol,
But I did like your goal in the 3-2 v Boro last season.

... I think what we really need is a 12,000 or 13,000 capacity stadium located close to town - maybe a site in West Reading sandwiched between Tilehurst Rd and Oxford Rd.

five, six, seven, eight,
how do you spell 'relegate' ?
nine, ten, elen, twelve,
stadium expansion we should shelve.

95. Someone sat close to you in the crowd, or maybe even a MOTD commentator, will make reference to the almost legendary quality, depth, and monetary value of the Man Utd substitutes bench. Expect to hear phrases like "individually worth more than the whole RFC squad", "it must be nic...

54. The match will take place without me. Saw RFC v Man Utd in FA Cup replay last year, so will save my money to see games that will more likely be evenly contested. 55. It will be easy to spot many RFC fans spending more time gawping at the Man Utd away support than watching events unfold on the pi...

It pains me to say it but Man Utd in the FA Cup was the loudest I can recall at the Madejski - good variety of songs too,... if only they would enunciate more clearly I would have been able to work out what they were babbling on about.

Excellent photos - happy memories - still live near Elm Park, part of me wishes RFC were still there...

Is Bikey a Biker?

On the thorny balloon issue, wasn't it the RFC v Wigan play off game when the match was temporarily stopped so that all the blue and white balloons (many of which were given out by the club if I remember) could be burst by the groundstaff because the Wigan manager had moaned about it after playing a...

I'm all for expansion of the East Stand - more people can see games that currently sell out- maybe some cheaper tickets (is that what "imaginative pricing" means?). Some sympathy for those who get relocated by the hospitality thingy maybe - but only a bit. I'm sure the increased capacity s...

Maybe I should say this quietly - I quite enjoyed it today, thought most of our players did well - I'd even include Bikey and DLC who can both make me a little nervous at times. If I have to find something to moan about it, it would be that some bloke sat a few rows in front of me thought it was acc...