Disappointed by the close season

[Wycombe Royal]

:roll: if you want to maximise your royalty points in order to stand any chance of getting to the big away games - i.e. Chelsea Man Utd etc, then those 20 are necessary. In order to get them you have to go (or at least pay for a ticket) to watch a pre-season friendly.

But you still have a choice and you aren't being forced.

Bribed maybe.

[SpaceCruiser]

Am I right in thinking that you are season ticket holders? Therefore you already have lots of royalty points, more than me anyway.

I decided not to buy one for two reasons, 1) can't afford it on top of the £63 I've splashed out on a ticket for Middlesbrough and a ticket for Man City. 2) don't want to travel up to Reading twice in the space of 7 days.

[Stranded]

:roll: if you want to maximise your royalty points in order to stand any chance of getting to the big away games - i.e. Chelsea Man Utd etc, then those 20 are necessary. In order to get them you have to go (or at least pay for a ticket) to watch a pre-season friendly.

They'll only be necessary to people with fewer points. ST holders for the last few years (and in particular those that go away) will have plenty of points already. And then the 20 may not take you over a probably cut-off point anyway.

[Hoop Blah]

Am I right in thinking that you are season ticket holders? Therefore you already have lots of royalty points, more than me anyway.

I decided not to buy one for two reasons, 1) can't afford it on top of the £63 I've splashed out on a ticket for Middlesbrough and a ticket for Man City. 2) don't want to travel up to Reading twice in the space of 7 days.

There are about 18,000 season ticket holders, about 8-10,000 of which have had tickets for a couple or more seasons.

The big away games such as Liverpool, Utd, Chelsea etc will have a significantly lower allocation and so points will be necessary for anyone wanting to go to these games.

[Schards#2]

:roll: if you want to maximise your royalty points in order to stand any chance of getting to the big away games - i.e. Chelsea Man Utd etc, then those 20 are necessary. In order to get them you have to go (or at least pay for a ticket) to watch a pre-season friendly.

They'll only be necessary to people with fewer points. ST holders for the last few years (and in particular those that go away) will have plenty of points already. And then the 20 may not take you over a probably cut-off point anyway.

Rubbish. There are around 1,000 away s/t holders and the away allocation will generally be around 2,000 - 3,000. I've been a season ticket holder pre Madejski and go to many away games but would i be in the top 1,000 with a margin of 20 points? I honestly don't know but I would doubt it.

[Bowman's Quiver]

:roll: if you want to maximise your royalty points in order to stand any chance of getting to the big away games - i.e. Chelsea Man Utd etc, then those 20 are necessary. In order to get them you have to go (or at least pay for a ticket) to watch a pre-season friendly.

They'll only be necessary to people with fewer points. ST holders for the last few years (and in particular those that go away) will have plenty of points already. And then the 20 may not take you over a probably cut-off point anyway.

Rubbish. There are around 1,000 away s/t holders and the away allocation will generally be around 2,000 - 3,000. I've been a season ticket holder pre Madejski and go to many away games but would i be in the top 1,000 with a margin of 20 points? I honestly don't know but I would doubt it.

....and so it seems a fair and reasonable way of sorting out the men from the boys by awarding an advantage in the way of Royalty points for those fans that can be arsed to go to a prestigious pre-season friendly.

[Schards#2]

:roll: if you want to maximise your royalty points in order to stand any chance of getting to the big away games - i.e. Chelsea Man Utd etc, then those 20 are necessary. In order to get them you have to go (or at least pay for a ticket) to watch a pre-season friendly.

They'll only be necessary to people with fewer points. ST holders for the last few years (and in particular those that go away) will have plenty of points already. And then the 20 may not take you over a probably cut-off point anyway.

Rubbish. There are around 1,000 away s/t holders and the away allocation will generally be around 2,000 - 3,000. I've been a season ticket holder pre Madejski and go to many away games but would i be in the top 1,000 with a margin of 20 points? I honestly don't know but I would doubt it.

....and so it seems a fair and reasonable way of sorting out the men from the boys by awarding an advantage in the way of Royalty points for those fans that can be arsed to go to a prestigious pre-season friendly.

One home friendly = 10 away league games

Not exactly my definition of "fair and reasonable"

I wouldn't go to any friendly involving any teams as, at the end of the day, it's irrelevant and meaningless. I will go to this one as the club have engineered a situation whereby, if you want a chance to go to the away games, you have to go to this...at £16.00 per head... Kerching!!

[TVPRoyal]

One home friendly = 10 away league games

Not exactly my definition of "fair and reasonable

Not correct! - Feyenoord Friendly = 20pts - Away Games = 5pts

[Hoop Blah]

....and so it seems a fair and reasonable way of sorting out the men from the boys by awarding an advantage in the way of Royalty points for those fans that can be arsed to go to a prestigious pre-season friendly.

That would be fair enough if it was weighted at the same as any other game.

The club know that shifting tickets for this game is difficult so they whack a totally disproportionate number of points to make tickets a whole lot more appealing. This isn't rewarding loyalty at all, its a way of driving up the demand and the revenue.

Rewarding loyalty would be purely awarding points on a fair points per match ratio so that you get an points advantage relative to your attendance over a season.

[Huntley & Palmer]

ANd last year they were only 2 points for away games

[Forbury Lion]

I thought the rise in season ticket prices was meant to cover the cost of new players being brought into the squad. Or something. I'm more concerned that the likes of Shittu prefer to sign for Watford than us.

We don't actually know that Shittu was even talking to us do we?

Nor whether we were actually interested in him.

[iang040563]

:roll: You have to be realistic though - are you seriously saying that with our current squad we can give Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool a run for their money both home and away?? And this isn't a whingy whiny thread - it's saying how one particular supporter thinks.

Maybe not but that is only eight games. We will be more than a match for Sheff U, Watford, Middlesbro, Villa, Wigan, West Ham, Bolton, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Man City etc. After year of being a Reading supporter, I am looking forward to the next nine months - this is what we have been waiting for and I intend to enjoy it win or lose.
Anyway, noone gave Watford a chance when they travelled to Anfield last time round, yet they earned a win. Why be so negative when we have a team that were well ahead of the rest of the pack last season. I keep saying this - the lads have done the hardwork... keep the momentum and give them a chance to finish the job off.
uRZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[West Stand Flash]

I thought the rise in season ticket prices was meant to cover the cost of new players being brought into the squad. Or something. I'm more concerned that the likes of Shittu prefer to sign for Watford than us.

Does anyone remember the letter John Madejski wrote Reading fans on the official site regarding why ticket prices shot up £200?
There was a paragraph where he stated part of the reason for the rise was because we were to 'significantly improve the squad' ready for the Premiership Campaign.

I'm not moaning as there is still time to buy players, but unless significant investment is made between now & Sept 1st, I imagine there will be a lot of p1ssed off fans @ yet more broken promises from the Chairman!!!

I’ve tried to find it on the Official site from when the season ticket prices were released but can’t. Does anyone else have it or able to find it?

[West Stand Flash]

I thought the rise in season ticket prices was meant to cover the cost of new players being brought into the squad. Or something. I'm more concerned that the likes of Shittu prefer to sign for Watford than us.

Does anyone remember the letter John Madejski wrote Reading fans on the official site regarding why ticket prices shot up £200?
There was a paragraph where he stated part of the reason for the rise was because we were to 'significantly improve the squad' ready for the Premiership Campaign.

I'm not moaning as there is still time to buy players, but unless significant investment is made between now & Sept 1st, I imagine there will be a lot of p1ssed off fans @ yet more broken promises from the Chairman!!!

I’ve tried to find it on the Official site from when the season ticket prices were released but can’t. Does anyone else have it or able to find it?

Background
We have all waited a lifetime to finally see Premiership football in Reading. We believe that we have been responsible in setting prices at a fair level for Premiership football, which will allow the Club to compete in the top flight.

Having finally reached the Premiership, we are now determined to stay there. We are ambitious to continue to grow and develop as a Club, and naturally this will require significant investment.

During the summer months we will spend money on the squad to improve and give us the best possible chance of succeeding in the Premiership. There will also be serious investment to improve other areas of the Club, such as the training ground and the Academy.

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10306~829856,00.html

Doh - Ignore me.

[SpaceCruiser]

WST - always moaning.

[West Stand Flash]

WST - always moaning.

Same as Royal Lady & Schards#2 then????

[Royal Lady]

gosh - I'm not moaning - I'm making constructive criticism.

[Riseley]

Anyone agreeing with Schards is a numpty.

[floyd__streete]

- Huge hike in ticket prices with no concession for long term fans
- Sidwell's wage demands
- The radio rights fiasco
- Forced to attend pre season friendly to ge necessary loyalty points
- Various other things such as charging to have a photo with the trophy

Schards, I tend to agree with much if not all of what you say and as a fellow long term RFC supporter I am beginning to feel a little disenfranchised at times.

-however-

The club are damned if they do and damned if they don't in some respects. They seem to be ever more keen to take that little bit more money off the loyal and not so loyal supporter to cover costs towards the forthcoming expensive campaign. That said, despite an outlay of approcahing 2 million pounds already on transfer fees and goodness knows how much on wages (I dread to think, I think it's best not to think about these obscenes sums of money ) peope are still bemoaning a perceived lack of ambition.

Folks, welcome to the Premiership. It's a greedy, rotten league and the club have to be as greedy as 20 other big fish just to stand half a chance of competing. I am less than 100% happy with much that has gone on, but have tended to shrug it off with an ever more weary sigh. Delighted and emotional as I was when my beloved football club finally made the top flight, I knew that there was going to be an awful lot about the experience of being a supporter of a Premiership club that I wouldn't much care for. We're here, we've arrived - and whilst a good many of us harbour back to the rather twee days of little old Reading, Royals Rendezvous and a corridor for a ticket office at Elm Park we should make the best of what the club has achieved; top flight football for the first time in 135 years.

[The Goat was fed]

I can't believe that it's all going to plan for us this close season.

One of Steve Coppell's favourite sayings last season was along the lines of "the football you play to get out of the Championship will not work in the Premiership, and the football played in the Premiership won't get you out of the Championship".

I don't think by saying that he envisaged playing a different style of football with the same bunch of players.

I'm clinging to our manager's fantastic track record, but the fact that we've so far spent £1.5 million on one Championship and one League One player, compared to Watford's £3m on Damian Francis and Shittu, plus Sheff Utd's £4-5 million on Hulse, Claud Davis and various others. Even Southampton have spent far more than us this close season (mind you, they needed to).

I hope I'm wrong (this time last year Ithought we'd had a better chance being relegated than promoted), but I'm disappointed by the lack of ambition/activity. And I bet Steve Coppell is to, though he'll never say so.