Reading fan Conor visited the club's training ground after a bad experience on the road
Royals fan Conor was invited to an afternoon at the club’s Bearwood Park Training Ground, where he was shown around and got to see the inner workings of the club he loves up close...
The young fan was invited by the club after an unfortunate experience at an away game earlier this season.
The passionate Reading supporter had paid for a flight over from his native Ireland and booked travel and a hotel to watch the Royals play away from home earlier this season.
Connor has a condition sometimes referred to as 'Asperger Syndrome' and can find that he struggles with social interaction, as well as motor and sensory skills.
Some of Conor’s behaviour was misidentified by a steward at that away match earlier this season as symptoms of drunkenness and, sadly, he was denied entry to the match he had been excited to see.
Everyone at Reading Football Club was saddened to hear Conor's story and that symptoms of autism are often not recognised by security staff in these situations.
Conor was shown around the First Team building and even popped in for a cup of tea and a chat with Director of Recruitment Brian Carey – a fellow Irishman.
All of this was made possible thanks to communication from STAR (Supporters Trust At Reading), who heard the story and alerted the club to what had happened at the match – underlining how disappointing the experience had been for Conor.
This week is World Autism Acceptance Week, an event aimed toward supporting the 700,000 autistic people in the United Kingdom and educating the wider public on autism.
Supporters Trust At Reading
Visit the STAR website