A lesson for the Valley end
A recent lift from Readings history of a new song sung by Reading supporters first sung by them February 8th 1936.
It went as follows:-
Let us all shout hooray
To all who play today
Lets be bright and gay
Thats the only way…….
Give our lads a cheer
to help them win the game
When they win, should they lose
Cheer them just the same…….
they are the hope of all
the Reading fans today - help them on their way
make them bright and gay
Let us all give three cheers to Reading,
and shout HIP HIP HIP HOORAY!!
if only the Valley end could come up with a similar cultured chant instead the normal stuff like Sh*t on the floor etc.etc.
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Comments
Hm.
Is this parody?
Nah thanks I’ll stick to the far more sophisticated “waaaaaaannnnddddeeeerrrreeeerrrrrsssss”
Of course “We are the old Bucks boys” predates that Reading ditty. Just a shame the terrace don’t know the words.
Have you been on the 19 Crimes @MBS? I’m still miffed that the ‘Waaaaandereeeers’ (in the style of ‘Argyle’) dirge has completely usurped the ‘Wanderers’ chant we used to sing the team out to which has totally gone now and was far more upbeat and encouraging. Or even ‘Come on you Blues’ at corners seems to have gone mostly. At Wembley it was really noticeable that the ‘Wanderers’ dirge was pretty much our only chant!
To clarify…I’m currently in Adelaide in the company of an old Reading fan who showed me some of his memorabilia. It in no way is a slur on the gay community ( if anyone thought it was ) but it is a genuine chant from 1936 printed in a history of Reading FC. It illustrates actually how times have changed when such a song was sung by supporters!
At Wembley 40%+ of the crowd had never been to a game before
The atmosphere on the terrace is non-existent these days for much of the games. Occasionally they'll break out into song if things are going well, but even then it seems that their heart isn't really in it. It's never really been a cauldron of noise, but it's noticeably dropped off this season. As someone said on here fairly recently, it seems to be a case of the crowd only responding when things are going well, rather than encouraging the players when it isn't going as well. It's a shame when you think back to how it was against MK in the playoff semi. I don't think it would improve much if the ends were swapped either, there just doesn't seem to be enough people singing to make a decent noise.
It sounds like a tough one - obviously I'm not there, but I can imagine many folks are dealing with the cost of living crisis in addition to any other personal issues, and it must be tough to always come to the football feeling chipper and ready to sing, especially when the season has been a mish mash of injuries to key players, bad refereeing decisions and an inability to show up for second halves.
Fan excitement and displays on the pitch are necessarily symbiotic, and it's easy for one side to expect the other to come first in the chicken-or-egg scenario. For me, there is a little more responsibility on those being paid to perform to get the pulses racing, but I am sure it is difficult for the players too, as of course they are human.
The reality is that fans rarely cheer when there is not much to cheer about - look at clubs with famously "amazing/passionate fans" such as Newcastle, Liverpool etc., and they can be as quiet as church mice or as grumbly as an old curmudgeon if displays and results are not going their way.
I also suspect that the lack of a 'cheerleader' style of person or sympathetic drummer/instrument player is lacking amongst our support. Certainly not like that at away games!
What happened to the rowdy "did you got to Carlisle away / sing up gasroom" gang from a few years ago?
Have they stopped going, grown up, or something else!?
The terrace desperately needs a Bez.
If that's cultured, I'd hate to see what you call banal. 😆
Most clubs have had more vocal support away from home for as long as I can remember (long). Home support for most clubs is dire these days. Grounds I've been to recently with nothing from the home fans whatsoever: Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Doncaster, Man City, Fleetwood, Morecambe, Burton. Sunderland was good (but not as good as they like to think) and Lincoln wasn't bad. The most impressive home crowd by far was at Rotherham where they were numerous and vocal for a dismal 0-0 on a Tuesday night.
As a regular on the terrace and most away games back in the O'Neil days - i would sing myself silly week after week , every Saturday evening my throat would be sore.
I don't get to visit that often now, however when i do, I'm really disappointed with the amount, and the demographic of people singing.
We must have the "oldest average age" singing group in the divisions.
Very few of the guys I would say between 15 and 30 want to get vocal and immerses in the game.
Despite me now being 50, i still go crazy and jump up and down and am delighted to be involved in what i think are now called "limbs" - back in my day it was a "surge".
It just disappoints me that many of our supporters nowdays are happy just to go along and go through the motions - my last away game was Burton away - we had a busy away terrace, lots at stake, yet the atmosphere between us was nothing like the away games at Lincoln ( Paul Emblemn ), or a Col U or a West Brom.
The singing effort at Wembley was an embarrassment - yes , we were outnumbered , however apart from the incredibly dull " Wanderers" , we offered absolutely nothing. Zilcho.
Personally, I'm still a big fan of "ole ,ole , ole ole Wycombe , wycombe - a big tune from the 70's and 80's - and dont forget that era produced the best music !!!!
On my rare visits these days, its also very apparent that their is hatred towards Mk Dons and Oxford - and our misguided Troop of younger singers just want to bellyache on about that instead of actually doing what a team like Leeds do and actually back the team.
Our team are not gonna be inspired or motivated by a group of 15 burger smelling kids singing about how much they hate MK Dons - although admittedly as soon as Col U are sung about I'm foaming at the mouth !!!
I guess what I'm trying to say is everyone needs to pull together, and sing songs that everyone can sing - spitting out songs with swear words in has limited appeal - and the age bracket 15 - 30 year olds need to step up to the plate as currently you're being outsung by guys in their 50s 60s and 70s !!!!!!
Rant over !!!!!
There lies the problem our fans are mostly old we don't have much new blood at games probably why our club growth has shrunk or stagnated.