Reading U23s play at Adams Park
Reading U23s lost 4-0 to Stoke last night at AP. I hadn't realised we had signed an agreement with them.
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/september/report--reading-u23-vs-stoke-city-u23/
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Reading U23s lost 4-0 to Stoke last night at AP. I hadn't realised we had signed an agreement with them.
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/september/report--reading-u23-vs-stoke-city-u23/
Comments
Was Rev. Nathan in attendance?
Played a few at AP last season at least and possibly the season before. Not all games though - not sure what criteria they use to decide which to play where. A few quid for doing very little assuming the pitch can handle the extra games.
I think the Reading first team were at home last night so presumably using the pitch twice in 24 hours is not a good idea Do London Irish still play at Reading ? As you say a few extra quid in the piggy bank.
I'm fine with Reading Women playing their games here but I'm a little uncomfortable with a fellow EFL club using AP, reserve games though they are. For me it dilutes the concept of "our home".
How would we feel if it was Oxford or Luton using it? I suppose that we have never had much of a rivalry with Reading, which makes it more palatable. I accept I may be in a minority of one on this.
No I agree with you @Steve_Peart ... I have no idea how much the Reading ladies pay us, but I'd rather they didn't either ! And our ladies could instead
I’m much more bothered but Reading ladies playing at AP while Wycombe Wanderers ladies play at a 3G cage in Flackwell.
Hopefully soon our own u23s can play at AP at least.
Until WWFC ladies are at least a semi professional outfit then AP is out of the question I imagine. Would be good if they could play at a local non league ground though
Why?
The same reason the youth team and the u15s didn't play there when we had them, no one would watch and the level of football doesn't match the stadium. The odd big game (league decider/ cup game) with a big marketing drive would make sense, but otherwise it would lose money and damage the pitch.
Reading women are in the WSL so it's a completely different level
Helps the finances both short and long term. Get over yourselves;)
@Username How many people show up to watch Reading Women at AP? Don’t you think a few more would to see a team called Wycombe Wanderers?
I think that's a moot point as they're paying us to use the pitch.
Also, even as a Wwfc fan, I'd be much more inclined to see a standard Reading Women's game than a Wycombe one given the current leagues.
While it's a nice idea to have all Wycombe teams using the pitch, it does have to make sense financially and versus wear to the pitch.
You have to protect the surface as much as you can, especially now we play such Barcelona-esque football
I think you'd be surprised at how entertaining the women's game is at Wycombe's level. Often helped by the fact that the strikers seem to be much better than the keepers.
I've been to as many women's games as men's so far this season, it's a good day out.
That's still the case at the top of the women's game so I can only imagine how it is much lower down.
The women's game is growing and rightly so, in 10/15 years time I'm sure it will be unrecognisable, but right now bar the very top of the game I don't see the reason to watch it over going to watch a Sunday league game.
Our ladies are a park team that nobody watches, they should never be allowed on the pitch at Adams Park.
Ah, so that's where the Tactical Mouse has been hiding these last few days - the 1950s.
@rmjlondon is a one note poster who has nothing interesting or positive to say about Wycombe
wanderers
I find women's football more enjoyable to watch than men's, it lacks the cynicism and negativity of men's, certainly at Wycombe's level, and the players display plenty of skill and tactical nous.
Some of the tackles by the Wycombe players are fierce but fair, there are few fouls, and they clearly love playing the game. Some men have a rather old fashioned view about it, but I think they are missing out.
I don't dislike women football or women for that matter, but on that pitch yes I do not want it and I think it won't ever happen.
If Wycombe ladies get into WSL 2 and become a semi -pro outfit them it would be great for them to play "at home" at least semi -regularly.
There's obviously merits to the current team and it's great that they're winning regularly and give everything for the shirt, but the pluses that come with them being amateur (ie not the win at all costs gamesmanship) could just as easily be found in youth mens football or (some) amateur mens football with a better standard of football.
I'd pay good money to see Pep Richiola and ten of his wheezing, beer-bellied mates line up against Tara, Charlotte and co. at Adams Park.
I'm sure Richie is a bedroom dweller, but the unfortunate fact is that most half decent Sunday league players would walk into a decent standard of women's football - hence why they shouldn't be compared (and nor should the wages).
Before the to Rio world cup an amateur (a very good amateur) 5 a side team went and played against Vasco de gama women's team (with Brazil internationals) and it wasn't even vaguely competitive.
But @Username this isn't a debate about quality, but the fact that it's s bit of a shame that Reading ladies play at AP, while Wycombe Wanderers ladies don't.
Maybe something that will change in the future as the Ladies team progresses up the leagues and (hopefully) draws more support. For now, if we're getting rent from Reading we have to take it. Putting on a WW ladies game at Adams Park right now would cost the club money given the size of crowd it's likely to pull.
Be nice perhaps to play one or two more high profile games at AP and push them to young fans (free tickets for schools and local youth teams etc), though.
The two are linked though, Reading women are playing at the pinnacle of the women's game in England, while Wwfc are still essentially a park team.
Mindless' post above sums it up for me.
Have to say I was really impressed at the recent World Cup how much the technical skills on show in the woman's game had improved in just the last four years, especially the goalkeeping as it happens.
Strength, power and pace remain important factors in any game of football and as the median man is significantly ahead of the median woman in all three, it is reality that a lower level mens team may use those attributes to beat a higher level woman's team with better technical skills.
Not sure that is the point though. The woman's game stands in its own right and is now a "product" well worth supporting for those who choose too. For those who enjoy football, football at any level can be enjoyable. A sunday morning park game, kids game, a lower non-league game, a game at our level, a premier league game - watching any can be an enjoyable experience.
But there's a reason why Man City and Liverpool get higher viewing figures than Crawley and Yeovil, it's a better quality of football.
As lower league football fans we're much less snobby than the average casual fan who don't even consider watching league 1 mens level, so it's no surprise there's much less appetite.
I don't care if the players are men / women so long as it's a good game, but the truth is if you could " hide " the gender of the players and watch matches through, the women's game would look ponderous and still miles behind technically to even conference football - I'm sure that will continue to improve quickly though.
I'm not sure international level woman's football is behind conference level technically these days although it may well be in respect of pace and power. I suspect a men's conference team would probably won a match. That's not really the point though surely.
At the end of the day its up to the individual though as ever. If you get enjoyment out of watching a women's match, watch it. If not don't. Just like Liverpool v Man City, or Wycombe v Gillingham, or Tavistock v Shepton Mallet or random blue U12 team v random red U12 team at the local rec.