In celebration of Reading Football Club's 150th anniversary, The Reading Chronicle spoke with 15 figures from the Reading community, past and present, to find out above all one thing: What makes Reading FC special?
Nicky Forster
Striker
1999-2005
Appearances: 215
It’s the same thing that makes any football club special. It’s the fans. It’s the fans’ dedication to a badge, to a strip, to a venue, and to a group of players - whoever that group of players is in any particular time. And what are fans supporting? Not necessarily a strip because the strip changes. The badge sometimes changes, the players definitely over a period of time changes, the manager changes, and very often the owner changes. So much changes. So what are they supporting? They’re supporting a belief.
The fans are what make every club special and some are more special than others. And the Reading fans, from my point of view, from my time there, were always fantastic. I’m always chuffed that they look at me with a nostalgic view. The period of time I was at Reading, I look back at as halcyon days within my career. Because the club was going through a real period of change and Alan Pardew and Martin Allen and John Madejski, they were pivotal to that - the club wouldn’t be where they are today without them.
The fans stood by me. I had a long-term injury when I came to the club and they were brilliant. It’s the club that I spent the majority of my playing days at, I was at Reading more than I was at any other club, and I settled there. I loved the area and I just liked the people. I will always have huge fondness for them.
Stand-out memory:
It would be the 2001 playoff semi-final game against Wigan. I can’t overlook that. It was a long hard season for me, emotionally, physically, and mentally. I had to sit out for a lot of the time injured and watch the team do well and I finally came back, finally got involved, and it was just an incredible night.
Super-charged night in terms of the action on the pitch - although it was all compressed into a three-minute period at the end. The atmosphere was charged and also the elements…the weather that night - the mist and fog came over the pitch and the visibility within the stadium was really poor. That just added to an amazing overall atmosphere. Just incredible, absolutely incredible. I’ll never forget it.
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