Reading Roars!

A long dark shadow has been cast across Reading, clouding the tremendous, and most unseasonal, Spring sunshine. 

After a glorious spell in the top flight of English football, Reading players saw their fairy tale end this afternoon, despite hammering four past Derby (surely the most atrocious team in Premier League history).

It’s now confirmed: the Royals are indeed relegated.  It was close, but deserved, in my opinion.  They have had a painful year.

So now what?  With the excitement over, now is the time for serious questions and sensible planning, even if that entails a whole new project.  No more niceties now.  Think Sir Alan and The Boardroom. 

About a year ago, the club chief executive Nigel Howe said that the club had the potential to be bigger than Arsenal, even describing getting into the Champions League as “achievable”.  He acknowledged that it would require a few years to realise this ambition.  Based on what I saw this season, it’s going to take a lot more than a few years. 

I believe that a reality check is in order.  Madejski has done wonders for the club and he is right in seeking a rich buyer (how else can a club compete these days?), but “filthy” rich?  Finding a billionaire interested in Reading will not be easy.  For a start, there aren’t that many billionaires about (despite that the club has grown in recent years) and then there’s Reading’s investment potential.  It’s all very good talking about the Reading “brand” but ultimately silverware is what matters most.  A few more trophies - or near enough - and corresponding bums on seats will help in growing Reading’s allure.

The Premier League was a tremendous experience for the club and there is no doubt in my mind that they will be back there, though a few years may pass before this happens (the Championship is no walk in the park, lest we forget).  We will all have to be a little patient.

I’m not feeling so perky this afternoon, thanks to the wonderful institution that is the Reading Beer and Cider Festival. My, how it’s grown! I’d been on 3 previous occasions and remember it being a fairly intimate event. Now there are 2 big tents - and a longer queue to get in.

Damn that queue. I was waiting for 90 minutes to get in. Walking across the strip of land separating the entrance from the long line of patient humanity was an absolute joy. However, once in I discovered that the tent was only half-full (or half empty, but let’s be positive). So why force people to wait an hour and a half to get in? It just didn’t seem logical. They must come up with a better system next year.

The other major surprise was the beer shortage. There were so many pink cards. Cards indicating empty barrels. This was early Saturday evening (around 6pm) approaching probably the busiest (and most profitable) time of the festival - and most beers had gone. Not ideal. But no matter - I was there mainly for the Belgian beers (I recommend the fantastic Captain Cooker) and there appeared to be many continental bottles still available. I really wasn’t disappointed and spent the next hour or so nerdily adding notes to the official festival guide.

Of course, when you are drinking stuff that is around the 10% mark, you’re going to have to eat at some stage - or face an early trip home. Thankfully, the food stalls (Thai, pies, crepes…) were pretty good. I was very pleased to see a familiar Reading face serving the festival public: Greg of Workhouse Coffee. The fact that he was about 5 minutes away from Reading’s other giant Tesco store amused me. Greg and Tesco seem to go together (sorry Greg). Anyway, his delicious croissants combined suprisingly well with my Proefbrouwerij Boerken (9.5%, ‘Dark brown ale, with hops and caramel’). A new breakfast treat, perhaps, though probably best sampled during the weekend.

On the whole, the festival vibe was magnificent. There were many young people (students, possibly) sitting on the grass, enjoying the warm weather. Others danced indoors to the entertaining (if a little unoriginal) live music. It really did feel like a giant pub, very much unlike the Great British Beer Festival. I went to the Earl’s Court event last year and it felt cold, clinical, harsh and soulless. It had all the charm of a nuclear bunker. As a conference venue attracting badge-wearing buyers in suits it’s great. But you can’t stick a beer festival in there. It’s just not right.

The Reading Beer and Cider Festival will undoubtedly continue to grow in size and importance, perhaps one day equalling Reading Festival in size (why not?). All very good, but many traditional pubs serving exactly the type of ale sold in the festival are facing a less rosy future. It’s a changing world indeed.

Following criticism by Transport secretary Ruth Kelly in February, First Great Western agreed to provide a £29 million package of benefits to customers/passengers (a significant pledge that I should have blogged about at the time).

A letter sent by First Great Western’s Chief Operating Officer at the end of last month provided an insight into what these benefits included.  As a season ticket holder, I was entitled toa free off-peak upgrade to First Class and money-off vouchers for on-board refreshments (pastries and the like), as well as a 10% discount if I renew my ticket.

That’s pretty standard fare (no pun intended), so what of the services themselves?  Have they improved in the few weeks since February?  The short answer is: no, I don’t think so.  There is still severe overcrowding on some services and, quite often, delays (First Great Western cannot be blamed for infrastructure issues, however).

It’s a tricky job, I think, satisfying both shareholders and passengers.  It must also be a tricky job for the government (itself being thoroughly tested at the moment), facing calls to act tough on train companies.  Our beleagured prime minister Gordon Brown recently offered the following words:

First Great Western is now required to produce a remedial plan in order to set out how it’s going to get its performance back on track.

Of course, you could say exactly the same of his cabinet, but that’s a different story.

The PM continued:

The Secretary of State [Ruth Kelly] then has the power to take away the franchise if they don’t implement it.

We are determined to be on the side of the passengers and people who want better rail services; I can assure you that we want better services and that remedial plan has got to be of a high enough standard to enable us to tell customers the changes that have been made

Blunter words were said by funnyman Dom Joly.  Dom fronts a new TV series (this time without his squirrel suit) about the art of complaining, called The Complainers.  Last Monday he described First Great Western as “rubbish”, adding that it was the country’s worst rail service.  Then he joined a really rather feeble protest in Bath, discovered new rolling stock lying unused and questioned a government minister about rail services.

All in all, jolly entertaining but the message was clear enough.  Here’s hoping for improvements soon.  Offering money off  on-board snacks (ooh, I think I will buy a drink with that free sausage roll)  isn’t good enough, frankly.