LATEST NEWS ON 'The Royals'
June 2004
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  • 29th June 2004 - Hammers Sky Date

    • The Royals first away game of the season at West Ham has been selected for live coverage on Sky Sports. The game takes place on Tuesday 10th August although kick-off is now put back to 8:00pm

    I also believe that the home clash with QPR will be put back to Sunday 19th December for live Sky coverage, but have been unable to confirm this yet.

  • 29th June 2004 - Wally Downes Joins

    • Not content with signing ex-Brentford players, manager Steve Coppell is taking the same route with his coaching staff. Former Bees coach Wally Downes has joined the Royals on a rolling monthly contract.

  • 17th June 2004 - Video Screen

    • Reading are to replace the existing scoreboard at the Madejski Stadium with a giant video screen in time for the start of next season.

  • 15th June 2004 - Shorey On Way Back

    • Defender Nicky Shorey has made excellent progress over the past couple of weeks in recovering from the foot infection that has kept him sidelined for 2 months. The club physio is hopeful that Shorey will be able to make the start of pre-season training when the players return on the 28th June.

  • 15th June 2004 - Goater Injury

    • Shaun Goater picked up a calf injury in Bermuda's 2:1 defeat by El Salvador last weekend. He will miss next Sunday's 2nd leg of the World Cup qualifier and could be out for up to 8 weeks, meaning he would miss the start of pre-season training.

  • 10th June 2004 - League Re-branded

    • The Football League has confirmed new names for its three divisions, after Club Chairmen approved plans at The League’s summer meeting in Chester. The 2004/05 season will see Divisions One, Two and Three being re-titled ‘The Championship’, ‘League One’ and ‘League Two’ respectively.

    In announcing the new titles Football League Chairman Sir Brian Mawhinney said: "'The Championship' is a term steeped in the history of The Football League. Reclaiming it for our leading clubs will place a new enhanced emphasis on its status at the pinnacle of our competition. Not only is it a gateway to the Premiership, it is one of Europe's leading league competitions, in terms of the standard of football being played, the high quality of stadia and the numbers of supporters attending".

    In launching ‘The Championship’, ‘League One and ‘League Two’ the League is seeking to build on the growth which professional football has experienced in recent seasons - The League recently announced its highest attendance figures for 40 years. The aim is to brighten the financial outlook for League clubs and enable them to begin closing the monetary gap that exists with the Premiership.

    To reflect its new set of names, The Football League has also revealed a re-designed logo to succeed the organisation's previous identity which has been in use since The League’s centenary in 1988.
    Football League Logo
    The new naming strategy represents the first stage of a wider ‘re-branding’ exercise that seeks to strengthen perceptions of The Football League and its competitions by emphasising both the quality of football on offer at League grounds and also the integral role football clubs play in their local communities.

    Mawhinney said: "We will be making a series of equally significant announcements over the coming months as we unveil a number of new initiatives aimed at co-ordinating and developing the outstanding work already being carried out by clubs. We want our games to become ever more attractive, not only to our core audience of football fans, but also to a new generation of youngsters on the brink of discovering the game. We also want a commercial audience to be encouraged to re-evaluate its perception of the League.”

    “The Football League is about real football for real fans.”     Mawhinney concluded, “In many towns and cities football clubs are the biggest single expression of community that exists and it is my job and that of my 72 club counterparts to ensure that the next generation of football supporters, from Sunderland to Plymouth, grow up identifying with their local clubs."

    “League football at all levels is a much-cherished part of this country’s sporting heritage. It is our aim to ensure that young supporters grow up believing that football is a game they should go to watch and be able to afford regularly. They must not be allowed to think that it can be seen only on television played by footballers with a totally different lifestyle to their own.”

  • Coca-Cola will be the title sponsors of The Football League for the next three seasons. Coca-Cola has been investing in football in this country for over 30 years at all levels from grassroots to international tournaments such as the UEFA European Championships.

  • The full, formal title for the competition is:
    The Coca-Cola Football League

  • The full, formal titles for the three league competitions are:
    The Coca-Cola Football League Championship
    Coca-cola Football League One
    Coca-cola Football League Two