Your big preview for the visit of West Bromwich Albion to the Select Car Leasing Stadium this weekend.
Paul Ince’s side welcome mid table West Brom for our final home match of the season as we play our first game at the Select Car Leasing Stadium since our memorable 4-4 draw with Swansea City last time out in RG2!
With our Championship status confirmed for next season last weekend, come down to back the boys for one last time for 2021/22!
Tickets
The quickest and easiest way to get tickets is to buy online using the link below. Our Ticket Office at the Select Car Leasing Stadium will be open from 10am on matchday until half-time to visit in person.
Please note that Club 1871 has now sold out.
BUY TICKETS
ROYALSTV
The following Match Passes are available to purchase for this fixture:
See our available subscriptions
- Audio Match Pass – UK/Ireland and International | £2.50
- Video Match Pass – International only (not available in domestic territories: UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man) | £10
Click the link above to see all available packages.
Please stay in your seats for a planned Lap of Appreciation after the final whistle this weekend...
This is our players' opportunity to say thank you to every one of you who have backed the boys and made some noise...both at home and one the road.
So, with the pressure off and fans and players breathing easy after second tier safety was confirmed last weekend, our players and their families will embark on a Lap of Appreciation after the final whistle in our last home match against West Brom this weekend.
Win, lose or draw on Saturday, the players will not return down the players' tunnel at full-time but will collect their children and together embark on a Lap of Appreication, walking clockwise around the stadium to applaud supporters in the Eamonn Dolan Stand, the Sir John Madejski Stand, Club 1871 in the South Stand and then the West Stand.
Urban matchday bus services will be delayed by 15-20 minutes in their departure after Saturday's game, so there is no need to rush to catch your ride back home or into town.
Hopefully with a win to celebrate, all we ask is that you please stay behind and allow the players and their families the opportunity to say a special thank you to their supporters.
As always, we would like to remind both home and away supporters that the Select Car Leasing Stadium is an all-seater stadium and all supporters should remain seated throughout the duration of the game in the seats allocated to them.
Travel
Please be aware that there will be a 15/20-minute delay for the Urban Buses at the end of the match to facilitate the players’ Lap of Appreciation to the fans.
All on-site stadium parking has now been pre-booked and will not be available to purchase on the day of the game. Off-site parking at Car Park 6 (old Greyhound Stadium) can be pre-booked via ticketing.readingfc.co.uk until 11am on matchday.
There are no major scheduled roadworks on the M4 or in the stadium vicinity this weekend, but please check your route before travelling.
The opposition
After leading Barnsley to the Championship Play Offs last season, hopes were high when Valerien Ismael walked through the door in June to replace Sam Allardyce after relegation from the Premier League last season.
An unbeaten first ten games saw the Baggies in the automatic spots however defeat at Stoke at the start of October began a run of just three wins in ten league matches saw Ismael’s side firmly in the play offs.
Back-to-back wins at the start of December looked to have ended that poor run of form however one win in seven matches later saw the French born boss dismissed with Steve Bruce replacing him in the hotseat on the 3rd February.
A solitary point from his first five games wasn’t quite the dream start the former Birmingham City and Aston Villa manager had hoped for to his time back in the Midlands but only three defeats in the last ten matches, including the scalps of Fulham and AFC Bournemouth have given cause for optimism as Bruce looks to add a fifth promotion to the Premier League to his CV in 2022/23.
One to watch: Alex Mowatt
Following Ismael to B71 last summer, midfielder Alex Mowatt has made 34 appearances in his inaugural campaign with the Baggies.
Doncaster born, he joined the academy of Yorkshire rivals Leeds United as a nine-year-old in 2004, rising up through the ranks to captain the Whites U18 side to the title of their respective league in 2012/13.
He was given his first team bow by former Royals boss Brian McDermott in a 3-1 League Cup win over his hometown team, Doncaster Rovers, in August 2013 with his league debut coming at Millwall a month later.
February 2014 saw Mowatt net his first goal for United as they demolish West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town 5-1, and went on to play on 31 occasions as he became a regular in his first season in senior football.
Mowatt found the back of the net nine times in his second season with the now 20-year-old winning three ‘Player of the Year’ awards at the end of a campaign where the Whites finished 15th in the Championship.
Playing under seven different managers in his three and half years In the first team, Mowatt swapped West Yorkshire for South Yorkshire when he joined Barnsley in January 2017 having played 125 for the Elland Road club.
After only 11 appearances in his first half season with the Tykes, he spent the 2017/18 season on loan at League One side Oxford United, playing 35 times as the Us finished 16th in the third tier.
Back at Barnsley he established himself in the side, scoring eight goals, as they won promotion as runners up to the Championship before missing only two games the following season as Gerhard Struber’s side achieved a miraculous final day escape, winning the club’s ‘Player of the Season’.
Mowatt continued to be key component in the Tykes side as they went on to beat all expectations to finish 5th in the Championship last season, winning the Championship ‘Player of the Month’ award for April 2021, however they were unable to overcome Swansea City in the semi-finals.
In his first season with the Baggies, Mowatt scored on his third appearance in a 4-0 win over Sheffield United, following that goal up with a first minute opener at Blackburn days later.
Having scored in the away game at Cardiff, Mowatt was sent off in the return fixture however he has continued to be a regular in the side since the appointment of Bruce, scoring his fourth of the season in the recent win over the Cherries.
Head to Head
The Royals and Baggies have met on 45 occasions ahead of this weekend’s match with the Royals achieving 13 wins compared to the Black Country side’s 21.
This weekend’s visitors did the double over us in the first season we met in 1927/28, with our first triumph coming in a 5-3 Division Two clash at Elm Park.
Earlier this season we went down 1-0 at the Hawthorns thanks to Callum Robinson’s goal, with our last league win over West Brom coming memorably in the Premier League in 2013.
Having also lost 1-0 away to the Baggies that season, then managed by Steve Clarke, the visitors thought they were on their way to doing the double with a Romulu Lukaku double however three goals scored by Jimmy Kebe, Adam Le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebnyak in the last eight minutes turned the game on its head to earn Brian McDermott’s team the points!
Ref Watch
The EFL have confirmed the appointment of Matthew Donohue for our fixture against the Baggies with it being the third time he will officiate us this season, having taken charge of our opening day defeat to Stoke City before the 0-0 draw at Peterborough United in February.
This is Donohue’s fourth season referring in the Football League and he has been the man in the middle for eight Royals’ matches, including the last time West Brom visited Berkshire in 2020.
The Mancunian Official has overseen 32 matches so far this season in the Championship, League One, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, awarding 132 yellow cards and 8 red cards.
Donohue will be assisted by Paul Hodskinson and Philip Dermot whilst Sam Allison will act as fourth official.