The Big One

By BrianC
March 23 2006

Our biggest game of the year, perhaps even our biggest ever, is now less than 48 hours away. Some of you will be old hands at this by now. For others it will be their first experience of our legendary St Patrick's game party. Most of this has been already told but here are some final guidelines.

Most of the advice given in our Madejski Guide holds good. It should be noted that parking inside the stadium complex is now completely sold out. If you already have a car park pass you will be ok. If not, don't even try. Alternatives are the HP and Foster Wheeler car parks or the nearby greyhound stadium. Be very wary of parking in nearby streets. There are often parking restrictions in place even if there are not obviously signed. Given the prominence of this match wardens and tow away lorries are bound to be much in evidence.

At the time of writing the ground appears to be filling niceley. The latest estimate we have is that the gate will in excess of 20k. The bottom line here is that there may not be any tickets available on the day. If you are planning to come book your ticket now!

There is an excellent shuttle bus service from Reading station to the stadium. If you can come by public transport the best advice we can give is to use it. Given the crowds for the game and the shopping in Reading center the traffic is at best going to be grizzly. If you are driving come early. Also, don't expect a quick getaway after the game. Reports from previous games indicate that it can take as much as an hour to get from the stadium to the M4.

The shop opens at 11am, that aside the day starts at noon. For this game the Craic is moved out from the North stand bar to a Guinness village which is set up in one of the car parks. Here there is a large stage, food and drink outlets and the supporters' club marquee. The main band this year are, of course, Le Cheile. This year they will be supported by outfits named Sweet Home Chicago and The Slaves. One first this year is that there will be a fireworks display at 7pm. A full list of the days events can be found here.

Inside the stadium things are scheduled to get going at 2pm. I don't know if this will still be the case as the listing which shows Le Cheile playing at that time also says "subject to cancellation if North Stand has to be fully opened". It is certainly open, wether fully so is still open to question. Amongst other things we are also to be treated to a stiltwalking Irish tea lady. Hmmmm..... we shall see.

Things officially wrap up at 10pm but anyone who has been through this before will tell you that is by no means the end of things. The party moves into the hotel bar and several venues in Reading town center. If previous years are anything to go by it will be a long, long night. Those planning to use the shuttle bus should note that the last one is scheduled to run at 9.30pm.

A truly monster day is ahead of us. Let's enjoy it to the full. Oh, by the way, there's a rugby match on too!