(Bad) memories of that game in 1995

[PATRIQT]

Still my favourite season, but the ending still hurts, despite all our dreams being realised some 10 years later. If I watch the PO Final again, I have to stop at Archie missing that penalty.

I can remember singing so hard that first 20 minutes that I saw stars and my legs almost went from underneath me. 2-0 up in such a short space of time, and then a penalty... wow! I just wish Ozzie had been allowed to take it.

That was also my first full season under the South Bank, stood in line with the 18 yard box at the Town end. Such amazing memories that season and a few that followed, with the return of the FSB with Wolves. Unbelievable atmosphere's rarely matched since!

[YorkshireRoyal99]

There is plenty wrong with the game !
But I suspect most fans feel the same. You dream of playing in the PL, eventually you get there and it’s a huge deal.
it’s never the same after that. It can’t be. If we get promoted again I won’t be as excited as I was at Leicester.
And I really doubt Burnley , Norwich, Watford, Bmouth, Baggies fans get ‘excited’ about promotion. It will be more a case of being desperate not to fail !

My mate is a Burnley fan who is, I quote, "excited about going back to the Premier League by winning the title", it might be because it's been there first trophy success for a while. I don't really know many fans who don't get excited about winning a trophy or winning promotion, although (depending how successful you are) some will live longer in the memory of others.

Nothing wrong with winning trophies !
That’s totally different to ‘getting back into the PL’.

Yeah I know, but I think most fans would be excited by the prospect of being promoted. I'd very surprised if you saw/heard Cardiff fans under Warnock say any differently to be honest, that's just me though.

[tidus_mi2]

It’s surely just sad that for you Hudds was a purely financial thing !

What kind of comment is that?

Fairly straightforward one ?
Which bit is tricky ?

I didn't insult you, you insulted me for no reason, just shows what kind of person you are.

[Nameless]

What kind of comment is that?

Fairly straightforward one ?
Which bit is tricky ?

I didn't insult you, you insulted me for no reason, just shows what kind of person you are.

Think you’re must be mistaken…
Haven’t even slightly insulted you !

[tidus_mi2]

Fairly straightforward one ?
Which bit is tricky ?

I didn't insult you, you insulted me for no reason, just shows what kind of person you are.

Think you’re must be mistaken…
Haven’t even slightly insulted you !

Fine, I'll just take it as reading too much into the reply, not gonna make a bigger thing out of this than it ever needs to be.

[Nameless]

I didn't insult you, you insulted me for no reason, just shows what kind of person you are.

Think you’re must be mistaken…
Haven’t even slightly insulted you !

Fine, I'll just take it as reading too much into the reply, not gonna make a bigger thing out of this than it ever needs to be.

It didn’t need to be anything !
I pointed out that it your response was all about the financial fall out, not about the footballing side, or the loss of the chance to lose at OT again…. That’s no more insulting you than Sutekh insulted me in his OP.
At least you apologised for your unreasonable and petty response. Ah, you didn’t….

[South Coast Royal]

Thinking back to the Bolton game I remember it being a bit of a cloudy day and getting back to the car with my daughter feeling a bit dazed by it all.
I hadn't allowed myself to dream of the Premier League but just before Archie took that penalty I thought "this is it, we are going up."

After the penalty miss I had a bit of a sinking feeling, knowing somehow that we had missed our chance.
Little did we know that so many players were carrying injuries and that Archie only kicked the ball where he did because he thought that their keeper had been watching videos of his penalties- but he hadn't.

[tmesis]

No game worse for me than the Bolton defeat. It really felt like that was maybe our only chance of going up, and even at 2-1, I was confident we were going to see it out. Boton just weren't do enough to look like they'd equalise.

Each play-off defeat has been a little easier to take, to the extent that after Huddersfield, I was just annoyed.

The only regular league game to come close was the 0-2 at home to Spurs in 2008. Knowing Fulham (who would have been dead and buried if we hadn't rolled over at our place a few weeks earlier) were now above us, and that we'd be down if they beat Portsmouth - who we knew would either put out their reserves, or play to avoid injury, with a cup final appearance the week after.

[Mr Angry]

I have watched the 95 Play Off Final many, many times...........it is just that I stop the recording as Archie is about to run up to take the penalty that would put us 3 up after half an hour........................

[leon]

No game worse for me than the Bolton defeat. It really felt like that was maybe our only chance of going up, and even at 2-1, I was confident we were going to see it out. Boton just weren't do enough to look like they'd equalise.

Each play-off defeat has been a little easier to take, to the extent that after Huddersfield, I was just annoyed.

this - the older I've got the less it's really mattered

[Zip]

Bolton was by far the worst I have felt. We played like a dream ib the first half but the saved pen gave them a lifeline. Was it Koumas who should have seen red? I can't recall

The second half was unbearable as we started dropping deeper. Took months to gey over.


EDIT it was that scrote McAteer.

[blythspartan]

Yep, Bolton was my worst ever experience. It was the excitement before kickoff, which changed to elation at halftime to utter despair at full time. I think what made it worse was that in any other season we’d have been promoted automatically.

I remember going to watch the open top bus parade and thinking we’d never get the opportunity to play in the top division again. How wrong I was.

[AthleticoSpizz]

No qualms about watching the 120 minutes again….of its time and proud to have been there…still am. JQ hitting our third when all was lost summed him up.

At 2-0 and a penalty, life was good, at 2-0 and a missed penalty, I told the wife that we would lose this….I wasn’t let-down.

Attending the open-top bus ‘parade’ of misery was probably the worst of it all….oh yes, and holidaying in Portugal that summer in a hotel full of Bolton fans

The saddest bust-up of squad followed.

[South Coast Royal]

Almost as bad as the result not long after I was on holiday in Cornwall and read in the Sunday paper that Simon Osborn was off to QPR.
As Spizz said ,the break up of the squad was hard to take.

I agree with those that said it was just the best season despite not getting promoted-the football was at times a joy to watch and when we did get promoted some 10 years later it was all a bit easy and inevitable whereas 1995 was football of the quality that we had never seen before.

[blythspartan]

I remember going to the game at Wolves in August 94 and although we lost 1-0 we outplayed them for most of the game. I remember thinking it was the best Reading team I’d ever seen. Even the season before we were called the Man Utd of the 3rd division. Happy days and memories.

[Zip]

I remember going to the game at Wolves in August 94 and although we lost 1-0 we outplayed them for most of the game. I remember thinking it was the best Reading team I’d ever seen. Even the season before we were called the Man Utd of the 3rd division. Happy days and memories.

I went to the Derby League Cup at the start of the season. I hadn't been to a Reading game for a, couple of seasons and couldn't believe the cultured style of play.
Instead of Hicks lumping the ball forward we had Darius Wdowcyzk looking like a Rolls Royce of a centre back.

It was the most stylish Reading side I can ever recall.

[Mr Optimist]

Bolton was by far the worst I have felt. We played like a dream ib the first half but the saved pen gave them a lifeline. Was it Koumas who should have seen red? I can't recall

The second half was unbearable as we started dropping deeper. Took months to gey over.


EDIT it was that scrote McAteer.

Yeah, it was painful in extra time watching Gilkesy who had obviously been patched up but was nowhere near fit, a passenger in the centre circle. A few others were dead on their feet too. Was it still one sub in those days? If we had the number of subs you can have now it may have been different, although we had a small but quality squad then too.

The memories that stick out for me was I was there with my girlfriend at the time, I was in my mid twenties, and when the final whistle went she wasn’t in to football at all but had come along for the day and wanted to get out of Wembley straight away but she couldn’t understand why I wanted to stay behind and clap the players. The second is the journey back from Paddington on a train packed with fellow fans, and it was completely silent, you could’ve heard a pin drop.

About four or five years later I moved and started work in Manchester and my boss was a big Bolton fan who took great pleasure in banging on about the day.

[Mr Optimist]

I remember going to the game at Wolves in August 94 and although we lost 1-0 we outplayed them for most of the game. I remember thinking it was the best Reading team I’d ever seen. Even the season before we were called the Man Utd of the 3rd division. Happy days and memories.

It was half way through the 92-93 season that we started to click and play some beautiful football, the signings of Parky, Kevin Dillon, Hoppo, as well a great keeper in Steve Francis and the young Adie, Archie and Scotty Parker coming through and the enigma of Jamie Lambert, we were a joy to watch.

[SCIAG]

Didn't go, was too young for an away game and wouldn't have understood the significance anyway.

I've never watched a match back... I guess that was probably more common in the days before we invented technology.

Have never been especially upset after a defeat. Bored, yes. Frustrated, sometimes. Angry, once or twice. As Nameless says, now that we've been to the promised land it doesn't really matter to me how well we do. Winning is nice but there's not much urgency - I don't follow Reading because I expect to see us win more often than we lose. I do agree with Tidus that in hindsight it would of course have been better for the club if we won against Huddersfield, but at the time I thought - oh well, how long until next season starts?

If I had a choice then I'd softly prefer us to be playing at the highest level with the best players possible, but... meh.

[Gandalf Presley]

Nothing comes close supporting RFC. Not just the result but a full stop on such a successful period. Would state that the draw against Man City (30 years ago!) was the start. Loved the idea of all the prima donnas having to visit and make do with Elm Park.