City’s best twenty four hours of 2023 so far concluded with defeats at Swansea and Stoke respectively for Blackpool and Huddersfield, two of the three sides below us in the table. Wigan, the other team in the relegation places, followed up their vital win over Huddersfield (to be managed by Neil Warnock from this weekend) with a good 1-1 draw at in form Bristol City, but the opportunity is there for City to put real distance between themselves and the bottom three with a won over Reading tomorrow at Cardiff City Stadium.
Reading have a poor away record, but that is counterbalanced by us being probably the team with the worst home record in the EFL over the past three seasons and the fact that Reading very rarely lose in Cardiff these days.
Unfortunately, Sky coverage means a Friday night kick off at 8 pm (can’t ever remember us kicking off a home game that late before in my time supporting the club),. Therefore, the answers to the questions below will be posted on here on Saturday morning.
60s. A forward born not too far from Reading in a place where City almost came a cropper in the First Round of the FA Cup once, he did well enough at Elm Park with his first club, to get himself a move to the Second Division to a club which was so right for someone with his surname. He was able to maintain the scoring rate of around a goal every three games that he enjoyed at Reading with his new club, but when they were promoted, he dropped out of first team contention and ended up on loan to a Fourth Division side quite nearby that got him wearing blue again after a few seasons in a completely different colour. . he. stayed in blue at his next club where, again, he didn’t have to travel too far and, if anything, his strike rate improved, but not by enough to prevent his side being relegated to the fourth tier. During this time, he was frequently loaned to American clubs during the summer and he also returned to Reading temporarily. There was also a loan to a side from the north of England that played in a blue and white combination. He finally moved to the USA permanently, but it did not go well for him in the capitol and he was soon back in England playing in a team managed by Ron Atkinson. Once again though, his stay was only a brief one and he finished his playing days with a team which no longer exists, but, briefly, made it into the Football League – the modern day version of the club play on an artificial pitch and look like they will be dropping further away from the EFL at the end of the season. Can you name the player described?
70s. This forward cum midfielder was clearly rated highly in his early days as a footballer as future European Cup winners, First Division Champions and FA Cup winners all gave him a contract, but, after not playing a league match for any of the three, his first team debut came at Nuneaton Borough. However, his form in the part time game attracted the interest of Football League clubs and he was able to eke out a journeyman’s career in the lower divisions over a dozen years. He played his first Football league games at a club which has changed its mind over a letter “S” down the decades and he experienced a managerial great in action in his first job. He then moved on to Reading for four years into the early seventies with his most notable feat being his Player of the season award – ironically, shortly after receiving the award, he scored the own goal that relegated Reading to Division Four! He played most games (over one hundred and twenty of them) for his final club and had Neil Warnock as a team mate for a while. He also wore their red twice against City and was a scorer of a late winning goal against us at the play area which was home to them, but his second encounter with us ended in 1 -0 defeat at Ninian Park on a bone hard pitch. Can you name him?
80s. This Lancashire born forward’s first football was, in fact, played in the stockbroker belt at non league level, but the game then took a back seat for a while until a very brief, but noteworthy in terms of goalscoring, few games for Reading. His football career really took off at his next club after an obstacle to his progress in the game was removed and his exploits with this team earned him a big money move to a side which wore the same colours in combination if not identical kits. The next two years saw three loan moves and a bit of a stalling in his career before a move to the capital to play in the same colour combination which could not be called a success either. It was his next move, to male animals, that saw him make a big impact and he was soon the subject of a six figure transfer to a club where I recently saw him on a You Tube video of a game which saw him sent off and then trying to climb the walls of the players tunnel as he left the pitch in an attempt to get at supporters who were giving him stick! A move to his native county was next as he kept on scoring goals at a good rate and he made it into the new Millennium with stripy scamps before ending his Football League career on the south coast. Who is he?the
90s. Robot many use with Welsh house. (6,5)
00s. Speculation on “the man in the street”?
10s. He played for City against Reading during this decade and is currently in Clover with the Queen – who?
20s. Unholy Promises once at Reading, now Cambridge.
Answers.
60s. Peter Silvester signed for Norwich (Sylvester was a cartoon cat that was always trying to, unsuccessfully, catch a canary named Tweety) from Reading and, after a loan spell at Colchester, signed a permanent deal with Southend. Silvester was loaned out Reading and Blackburn during the four years he spent at Roots Hall as well as various American clubs and he eventually signed for one of them, Washington Diplomats, permanently. Within a few months though, Silvester was back in England playing, briefly, for Ron Atkinson’s Cambridge United and then there was a short spell with Maidstone United
70s. Terry Bell had spells with Forest, Man City and Portsmouth before turning up at Nuneaton after being released by all three of them. Bell played under Brian Clough at Hartlepool(s) before signing for Reading in 1969 and he was their Player of the Year in 70/71. His final club was Aldershot and he was in their sides which played us during the 75/76 season.
80s. Phil Stant played for Camberley Town before being drafted to the Falklands to fight in the 1982 war. Upon his return, Stant scored twice in four matches for Reading before Hereford United bought him out of the army to give him a contract. Stant’s goals got him a move to Notts County, but it needed a drop into the fourth tier with Mansfield to begin the phase of his career where goals came most frequently for him. Stant signed for City around Christmas 1992 and had a tempestuous, but successful, stay at Ninian Park. His two and a half years with City took in a game at Stockport in 1995 when he was sent off and then tried to climb over the players tunnel wall to get at the home fans who were taunting him. Stant signed for Bury after City, then played for Lincoln (where he was manager for a short while) and Brighton before playing for a variety of non league sides (two of which he also managed) over the next few years.
90s. Martyn Booty.
00s. (Average) Joe Gamble.
10s. Adam Matthews plays for Cypriot side AC Omonia which has two nicknames, the Clover and the Queen.
20s. Unholy and Promises are, apparently, songs by Sam Smith whose namesake is a footballer who played for Reading and is currently at Cambridge United.
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