Madejski cup final dates

[Stuffed Crust Pizza]

The Madejski Stadium is once again set to host some local football cup finals. Fair play to RFC for showing support in grass-roots football and giving local players a fantastic opportunity in playing on the hallowed turf. Details as follows:

Reading Challenge Senior Cup Wednesday 12th May (19:00) Westwood United v Flackwell Heath
Berkshire Trophy Centre Senior Cup Friday 14th (19:00) Wokingham & Emmbrook v Woodcote Stoke Row
Tilehurst Charity Cup Wednesday 19th May (19:00) Dee Road Rangers v Southbank

Both the BTC Junior and Intermediate finals will be played at Reading Town's Scours Lane.

Berkshire Trophy Centre Junior Cup Friday 21st May (19:30) Newtown Henley Res v Winnersh Rangers
Berkshire Trophy Centre Intermediate Cup Saturday 22nd May (14:00) Highmoor IBIS Res v South Reading

(Source: Goalpost)

Has anyone been to one of these games in recent years? Any idea of what they charge and sort of crowds they pull in?

[Dirk Gently]

Not to mention, on the 25th May : http://www.footballaid.com/events/teams/64/reading.html

[rfcjoe]

Had mine on there Thursday fellas. We won 3-1. Had music and everything when we scored and for warming up to.

[Stuffed Crust Pizza]

Had mine on there Thursday fellas. We won 3-1. Had music and everything when we scored and for warming up to.

Who do you play for? What competition was it? Details please..!

[rfcjoe]

Chronicle cup, pal.

[Four Of Clubs]

The Madejski Stadium is once again set to host some local football cup finals.

Reading Challenge Senior Cup Wednesday 12th May (19:00) Westwood United v Flackwell Heath
Berkshire Trophy Centre Senior Cup Friday 14th (19:00) Wokingham & Emmbrook 'A' v Woodcote Stoke Row - NB the 'A' side play in the Reading Premier League ie a level below Woodcote/Stoke Row
Tilehurst Charity Cup Wednesday 19th May (19:00) Dee Road Rangers v Southbank

Has anyone been to one of these games in recent years? Any idea of what they charge and sort of crowds they pull in?

... I went to both the Senior MadStad Finals last year good friendly atmosphere -

For the Reading Senior Cup admission was £3.00 + 50p Programme - but they went a bit quick - attendance 666.
Car Parks were free - RFC opened up the middle of the East Stand.

Trophy Centre Senior Cup - same price £3.00 + 50p Programme - similarly a bit scarce - i found a discarded one !
attendance about 200
... again Car Parks free BUT for this game RFC had only opened the Lower West - so beware - last season the signs re 'Local Cup Finals' were a bit misleading - some chap I know of, sat in his car wondering why no-one was going into the East Stand like they had for the game the week before!
I ended up trudging all the way round the ground too before finding the entrance open in the SW corner!

What I would say was that having the crowd in the West WAS more 'comfortable' - providing they open enough of it up - at this time of year the early evening sun can be pretty dazzling for those sat in the East Stand seats.

... you could always e-mail the club to get this years confirmed prices and Car Parking arrangements?
... might do so myself - I may well be going to both again!

UPDATE: noticed this on the Woodcote Village Web Site:

Woodcote/Stoke Row FC Senior 1st team have reached the final of the Berkshire Trophy Centre Senior Cup, which is the most prestigious cup competition in the Area.
They will be playing Wokingham & Emmbrook FC at the Madjeski Stadium, Reading , kick off 7pm.
Admission £3 (children free).

[Stuffed Crust Pizza]

Excellent work as per usual FOC! Perhaps you could explain the difference between the different competitions? I suspect that the BTC Senior/Junior & Intermediate are the RFL league cup competitions for the varying levels. The Tilehurst Charity Cup is some sort of invitational as is the Reading Challenge Senior Cup. Its just that the comment you quoted from the Woodcote Village website had me wondering over the difference between these competitions.

[TBM]

Had mine on there Thursday fellas. We won 3-1. Had music and everything when we scored and for warming up to.

http://www.scmlfootball.org/news/cup_u1 ... index.html

[rfcjoe]

Yup. Already wacked the pics on my fb, pal.

[EASTENDER MARKY]

A few of my mates play for Wokingham and Emmbrook A, good young side.

Should be a good game.

[Four Of Clubs]

Perhaps you could explain the difference between the different competitions? I suspect that the BTC Senior/Junior & Intermediate are the RFL league cup competitions for the varying levels. The Tilehurst Charity Cup is some sort of invitational as is the Reading Challenge Senior Cup. Its just that the comment you quoted from the Woodcote Village website had me wondering over the difference between these competitions.

... I had a quick 'dig about' but most of the NL info that I have readily available, is geared towards the upper steps of the Pyramid i.e. I've not ventured much below Wokingham & Emmbrook 1sts level (STEP06 = Hellenic Division One etc)

As far as I can work out the Reading (Challenge) Senior Cup is for fairly local clubs who by invitation/historical connxn can enter if they so wish.
I'm not sure why Flackwell Heath & Marlow Utd enter for example since they aren't exactly local, have until now been @ STEP05 (the same as RTFC who DON'T enter) and you'd expect them to be more proper to the Wycombe Senior Cup which has clubs at a similar level playing as well as clubs from the Wycombe local leagues.
The 'mitoo' set of websites only seems to have results for the Senior Cup going back a couple of years - with the Junior version going back a bit further - not sure if that means it is a relatively new competition though. I'm sure I'd even spotted Sandhurst TOWN in it a year or two back - but they don't enter now.

The BTC are the sponsors of the Reading Football League's, League Cup competitions - and have been since 89/90 - hence the Woodcote Row/S.Common statement above about it being the 'most prestigious' - which it is I s'pose when applied to those clubs who can enter from the Reading Leagues.
The Intermediate/Junior criteria I think is applied to clubs from Divs 1 and below - i.e. NOT the top two divisions of the RFL.
The A QUOTE Insurance League as it was known last season (not sure if they had sponsors this season ) did have a website :

http://www.rdgleague.co.uk/

... which included League Documents that went into detail about entry requirements for the various CUPs but didn't really cover the Reading Challenge Senior/Junior Cup. It seems to be purely historic now and links off to the Official FA based 'Grassroots' family of sites -

http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=6151604

- with a lot of data (Results/Fixtures etc) but not much information - if you see what I mean? You can select from the drop-down boxes and work your way around the BTC competition results from this season.

[Hoop Blah]

The two Saturday cups, BTC and the Challenge Cup (used to be the one the Evening Post sponsored) are the top two cups in the area, hence why they get played at Madejski. The BTC is for the Reading League clubs only (top two divisions I think) and the Challenge Cup is more of an external cup if I remember rightly.

The Sunday cup, Tilehurst Charity Cup, is the top cup for the Reading Sunday League and covers the top two divisions on Sundays. The winners get a cheque to donate to a charity, hence the name.

rfcjoe, you must play for Reading Youth then right? Looks like you had a good season!

[Four Of Clubs]

... bit of an update from the 'goalpost forum' RE:

Berkshire Trophy Centre Intermediate Cup Saturday 22nd May (14:00) Highmoor IBIS Res v South Reading

Allegedly South Reading have been thrown out of the final for playing an ineligible player - fellah had already turned out for someone else (Wrightchoice) in an earlier round.

The beaten semi-finalists (YMCA Rapids) have been re-instated - apparently.

PS Stunning NL coverage from the P!st today as usual - no info re which gates are open/stand availability/car parks/entry fees etc etc for either of the MadStad finals.
P'raps I'm expecting too much of them.

Interesting comment re Flackwell getting to their first Reading Senior Cup Final in 34 years - didn't know it had been going that long?
Probably need to grab a programme tonight to find out more - surprising that they didn't mention last season's final attracting a bumper crowd of well over 500 either - maybe just cos it was Wokkers vs Woodley. Like they said had it been Flackwell vs Marlow Utd tonight, I doubt if it would have touched three figures!
Further to my comments above wondering why they aren't in the Wycombe Senior Cup - I found out they've won that 12 times in their history.
They come into this game with 14 wins out of 15 too!

[Hoop Blah]

I've been to a few of these local finals over the years and as much as they're a great occassion for the players and all those involved in the teams playing, they're usually pretty turgid games.

Nobody wants to be gung-ho and risk losing on their big day out infront of the biggest crowd they're likely to play infront of so they often pretty cagey but tense games. Not that great for the neutrals.

I recommend going along though, especially if you have an interest in the local leagues.

[TBM]

I've been to a few of these local finals over the years and as much as they're a great occassion for the players and all those involved in the teams playing, they're usually pretty turgid games.

Nobody wants to be gung-ho and risk losing on their big day out infront of the biggest crowd they're likely to play infront of so they often pretty cagey but tense games. Not that great for the neutrals.

I recommend going along though, especially if you have an interest in the local leagues.

I'll be at Southbank v Dee Road next Wednesday - mainly cos i could be signing for one of them next season

[Hoop Blah]

I can probably guess which one too...

[Four Of Clubs]

I've been to a few of these local finals over the years and as much as they're a great occassion for the players and all those involved in the teams playing, they're usually pretty turgid games.

Nobody wants to be gung-ho and risk losing on their big day out infront of the biggest crowd they're likely to play infront of so they often pretty cagey but tense games. Not that great for the neutrals.

I recommend going along though, especially if you have an interest in the local leagues.

... to a certain extent that was true of last years finals - that I watched.
Unfortunately the Wokkers v Woodley ended 0-0 and went to ET - I had to pick my eldest up from Scouts, left at FT, so missed the three goals too!

Not sure that either game was exactly 'cagey' but what I did notice was how all three teams (Woodley were in both Finals) were badly caught out by the size and in particular the 'slickness' of the playing area.
Obviously most Park pitches would normally have a bit of 'give' - and @ Cintra for example you've probably got half an eye on what you might be treading in/on next , whereas by comparison the MadStad's surface must be like trying to play on a new carpet for 'local league' players.

UPDATE:
E-mailed the club - didn't want to spend too long wandering around trying to find which gate was open for the games - got an instant response!

Gate 8 in the East Stand is being used for BOTH matches this week.
Admission tonight is £4.00 for adults under 16s Free.

.... and car parking is FREE!

[Hoop Blah]

You're right on the difference in pitches. The quality of most park pitches is very poor and even playing on some of the non-league surfaces can be quite different.

I've never played at Madejski but I can imagine it plays quite different. The size of the pitch, plus the fact that it's a final and so you'd think they'll all put in a bit of extra effort usually sees a few suffering with cramp before the nights out.

[rfcjoe]

You're right on the difference in pitches. The quality of most park pitches is very poor and even playing on some of the non-league surfaces can be quite different.

I've never played at Madejski but I can imagine it plays quite different. The size of the pitch, plus the fact that it's a final and so you'd think they'll all put in a bit of extra effort usually sees a few suffering with cramp before the nights out.

JUST THE 5 TIMES

[rfcjoe]

POSSIBLY MORE ACTUALLY