LATEST NEWS ON 'The Royals'
JUNE 2001
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  • 21st June 2001 - Fixtures 2001/02

    • The Royals will kick off the new season with an AWAY game against BLACKPOOL on August 11th. Their first visitors to the MadStad will be HUDDERSFIELD on August 18th. The Xmas programme sees a double Welsh whammy with the Royals taking on CARDIFF away on Boxing Day and WREXHAM away on 29th December. They will see in the New Year with a fixture against PORT VALE at HOME. The final run in to what we all hope will be a successful season will include HOME games against OLDHAM, NORTHAMPTON and PETERBOROUGH, and away trips to BRISTOL CITY, TRANMERE and BRENTFORD in the final game.

    The full fixture list is as follows:

    Sat August 11 Blackpool A
    Sat August 18 Huddersfield Town H
    Sat August 25 Queens Park Rangers A
    Tue August 28 Wrexham H
    Sat September 1 Port Vale A
    Sat September 9 Cardiff City H
    Sat September 15 Stoke City A
    Tue September 18 Cambridge United H
    Sat September 22 Wycombe Wanderers H
    Tue September 25 AFC Bournemouth A
    Sat September 29 Bury H
    Sat October 6 Colchester United A
    Sat October 13 Swindon Town H
    Sat October 20 Notts County A
    Tue October 23 Oldham Athletic A
    Sat October 27 Brentford H
    Sat November 3 Northampton Town A
    Sat November 10 Bristol City H
    Tue November 20 Tranmere Rovers H
    Sat November 24 Peterborough United A
    Sat December 1 Chesterfield H
    Fri December 14 Brighton & Hove albion A
    Sat December 22 Wigan Athletic H
    Wed December 26 Cardiff City A
    Sat December 29 Wrexham A
    Tue January 1 Port Vale H
    Sat January 5 Queens Park Rangers H
    Sat January 12 Huddersfield Town A
    Sat January 19 Blackpool H
    Wed January 23 Wigan Athletic A
    Sat January 26 Colchester United H
    Sat February 2 Bury A
    Sat February 9 Notts County H
    Sat February 16 Swindon Town A
    Sat February 23 Stoke City H
    Tue February 26 Wycombe Wanderers A
    Sat March 2 Cambridge United A
    Tue March 5 AFC Bournemouth H
    Sat March 9 Brighton & Hove Albion H
    Sat March 16 Chesterfield A
    Sat March 23 Oldham Athletic H
    Sat March 30 Bristol City A
    Mon April 1 Northampton Town H
    Sat April 6 Tranmere Rovers A
    Sat April 13 Peterborough United H
    Sat April 20 Brentford A


  • 19th June 2001 - Hatters in the WC

    • The Royals have been drawn at home to Luton Town in the first round of the Worthington Cup. In a revised format for the 2001/02 Season, all rounds except the semi-final will be one-legged ties. The first round is due to be played during the week commencing 20th August.

    The full draw is as follows:

  • Kidderminster v Preston
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  • Mansfield v Notts County
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  • Port Vale v Chesterfield
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  • Darlington v Sheffield United
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  • Burnley v Rushden & Diamonds
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  • Hartlepool v Nottingham Forest
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  • Barnsley v Halifax
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  • Wrexham v Hull
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  • Stockport v Carlisle
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  • Scunthorpe v Rotherham
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  • Bury v Sheffield Wednesday
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  • Stoke v Oldham
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  • Huddersfield v Rochdale
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  • Blackpool v Wigan
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  • Macclesfield v Bradford
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  • Grimsby v Lincoln
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  • York v Crewe
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  • Tranmere v Shrewsbury
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  • Wolves v Swindon
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  • Exeter v Walsall
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  • Millwall v Cardiff
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  • Cambridge v West Brom
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  • Bristol City v Cheltenham
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  • Swansea v Peterborough
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  • Birmingham v Southend
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  • Oxford v Gillingham
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  • Leyton Orient v Crystal Palace
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  • Wycombe v Bristol Rovers
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  • Northampton v QPR
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  • Bournemouth v Torquay
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  • Watford v Plymouth
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  • Brentford v Norwich
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  • Brighton v Wimbledon
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  • Portsmouth v Colchester
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  • Reading v Luton
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  • 15th June 2001 - Gurney To Shag Sheep

    • Andy Gurney has been in talks with the tractor drivers from Wiltshire about a move to the sheep pen. The new Chairman of Scumdon Town immediately authorised 2 signings - Andy Gurney (for an undisclosed fee) and Frenchman Eric Sabin from Nimes. I would have liked to wish Andy Gurney all the very best for the future, but sadly, in view of his choice of new club that simply isn't possible.

  • 15th June 2001 - Worthington Cup Draw

    • The draw for the first round of the Worthington Cup will take place next Tuesday morning (June 19th). Check back here for details of the full draw.

  • 8th June 2001 - Key Fixture Dates 2001/02

    • Make sure you don't miss any of the key fixtures by booking a holiday during the play-offs (God I hope not!) or the FA Cup Final or World Cup. Check out the key dates in the 2001/02 fixture list below:
    • 21 Jun 2001 Fixture List released
    • 11 Aug 2001 Nationwide League season starts
    • 12 Aug 2001 Charity Shield
    • 14 Aug 2001 England U21 v Holland U21 (at Madejski Stadium)
    • 18 Aug 2001 Premiership starts
    • 22 Aug 2001 Worthington Cup 1st Rd
    • 12 Sep 2001 Worthington Cup 2nd Rd
    • 10 Oct 2001 Worthington Cup 3rd Rd
    • 17 Nov 2001 FA Cup 1st Rd
    • 28 Nov 2001 Worthington Cup 4th Rd
    • 01 Dec 2001 World Cup Draw
    • 08 Dec 2001 FA Cup 2nd Rd
    • 12 Dec 2001 Worthington Cup 5th Rd
    • 05 Jan 2002 FA Cup 3rd Rd
    • 09 Jan 2002 Worthington Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg
    • 23 Jan 2002 Worthington Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg
    • 26 Jan 2002 FA Cup 4th Rd
    • 16 Feb 2002 FA Cup 5th Rd
    • 24 Feb 2002 Worthington Cup Final
    • 09 Mar 2002 FA Cup 6th Rd
    • 14 Apr 2002 FA Cup Semi-Final
    • 20 Apr 2002 Nationwide League finishes
    • 28 Apr 2002 Play-off Semi-Final 1st Leg
    • 01 May 2002 Play-off Semi-Final 2nd Leg
    • 04 May 2002 FA Cup Final (To be confirmed)
    • 11 May 2002 Play-off Final (2nd Div)
    • 31 May 2002 World Cup starts
    • 30 Jun 2002 World Cup Final


  • 8th June 2001 - Eng v Hol U21 at Madstad

    • Following the huge success of the England v Luxembourg U21 International played at the Madejski Stadium nearly 2 years ago, the Royals have been awarded another, and more prestigous, U21 fixture. The Madstad will play host to the appetising England U21 v Holland U21 friendly. The game will be played on Tuesday 14th August, just 3 days after the start of the new season. Ticket details have yet to be confirmed for what should be an entertaining match against the talented Dutch.

  • 6th June 2001 - Local Boy Relishes Chance

    • Local boy Jamie Ashdown will be the second choice keeper next season following the departure of Scott Howie. Jamie, who was born in Reading, is looking forward to making the step up to the first team squad and manager Alan Pardew has no doubts that he is ready for the task. The highly rated young keeper, 20, realises though, that Phil Whitehead will take some shifting from the first team after an excellent season. It will be a case of waiting patiently for the opportunity and then grabbing it with both hands. It is likely, however, that he will have the opportunity to gain first team experience in the Worthington cup and LDV Vans Trophy matches. Still recovering from a broken finger suffered in a reserve team fixture against Bristol Rovers last month, Ashdown is hopeful of being ready for the start of pre-season.

  • 1st June 2001 - Royal Spurs

    • The Royals' close links with Tottenham Hotspur, which have earned a prestigious pre-season friendly against the Premiership club at the MadStad on 1st August, could mean some of the Spurs young players being loaned to the club next season. Alan Pardew has a good relationship with Glenn Hoddle, who lives in Sonning and used to train with the Royals, and, of course, his former No.2 John Gorman. Pardew said "We've got great connections with Spurs and might feed off them and get first option on most of their younger players if they want to loan them out. Glenn and John are big fans of the club and want to do their bit to help out".

  • 1st June 2001 - Operations Latest

    • Ricky Newman's cruciate ligament operation has been delayed by at least a week. Originally scheduled for next Tuesday, it has had to be postponed due to the surgeon having been taken ill. When the operation does go ahead however, Ricky should be in good hands as it is the same surgeon who performed the operation on Nicky Forster last season.

    Meanwhile, Jamie Cureton yesterday underwent an operation on his hernia, which had been niggling him for the last couple of months of the season.