Reading FC Respond To Stewarding Row

Here's the statement in full which was published on the club's official website.

As a club, it is always heartening to see any supporter try to inspire the players and other fans by creating an atmosphere inside Madejski Stadium. We all want the same thing: supporters channelling their passion to help the team.

During the first half on Saturday, two supporters were asked to leave after a complaint was made regarding foul and abusive language, and the club are looking into those events by speaking to the fans in question and reviewing the actions of all involved. When a complaint of this nature is received, the club is faced with a difficult balancing act - we want the best possible atmosphere but of course we also have to protect fans of all ages, protect our staff and adhere to the national regulations for football grounds.

The club's belief is that some of those regulations are outdated, for example we are advocates of controlled safe standing areas, we have lobbied to have football alcohol restrictions relaxed and are looking at ways to amplify and enhance our fans' efforts to create atmosphere at Madejski Stadium.

But regardless of Saturday's events and regardless of the regulations, what Saturday shows us is that when our fans make noise, others around them want to join in. So if you like the Blue Army chant during the first half as much as we did, let's hear it again, and more.

We cannot stress enough how much we want Madejski Stadium to be bouncing, lively and a great place to watch football - can our fans make it happen against Bolton, Bradford and Brighton? Saturday could be the start of something.

This pretty much summaries our own thoughts we posted in the wake of the incident on Saturday, while also taking into account the various sides of the story we debated in our pub chat segment in this week's Tilehurst End Podcast.

The stewards and club as a whole have to play a delicate balancing act between trying to boost the noise while also ensuring regulations and laws are upheld where possible, especially once a complaint has been made.

It's nice to see them try and rally the fans though rather than simply dismissing this incident as a couple of fans who took things too far. We've still not heard from the fans involved so their side of the story for now remains untold but at the very least it's a small step towards acknowledging that there is a bit of an atmosphere issue at the Madejski Stadium.

So what do you make of the statement Tilehurst Enders? Is it enough or should the club be doing even more? Let us know your thoughts below.