Post by Macmoish on Jun 30, 2010 7:42:34 GMT
Reading Official Site
Long serving Royal bids farewell
Posted on: Wed 30 Jun 2010
Reading will bid farewell to one of their most loyal servants this week, as Ray Ilsley retires after 45 years on the payroll.
Since joining as a programme seller and turnstile operator in 1965, Ray has contributed to almost every department within his beloved football club - preparing pitches, running bars and overseeing some of the most historic moments of the past decades.
He attended his first Reading game at just four years of age, and after securing his dream of working with the Biscuitmen he went on to greatly aid the development of Elm Park, before helping with the transition to Madejski Staidum.
As well as continuing with voluntary work in the local community Ray can now look forward to watching from the stands with his sons and grandchildren, who are all avid fans of the Royals.
Everyone at the club would like to thank him for his extraordinary service and wish him all the best for a well-earned retirement.
The official site took time out to chat to Ray about his time with the club, so read on to discover more about his extraordinary tenure.
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Ray, what are your first memories of watching the Royals?
I remember first starting to watch Reading when I was about four years old. In those days I'd get to the ground late and people would just pass me down over their heads towards the front.
One thing I remember is taking a ball right in the face as one of the players smashed a shot into the crowd! I was knocked out cold and had to go to hospital, the next thing I remember is waking up with the Reading players around me and a bowl of apples, oranges and sweets. Back then you couldn't get that type of stuff easily so I think that's what made me come back, I could be bought very cheaply!
You've done many different jobs for the club, when did you first start work?
My first paid job was in 1965 when I became a programme seller. I think I was lucky if I got about five bob for the programmes, which were about a penny and a half each. Then I became a turnstile operator for a couple of seasons before moving on to help the groundstaff - just repairing seats and stuff like that.
After that I carried on with the ground work and joined the supporters club; we used to sort out the trains and coaches to away matches. We also helped to introduce the stewarding - at first we asked people to come along from the supporters club and be stewards and it went from there. After the Bradford Fire in 1985 the local police and fire services appointed me Safety Officer, and after arriving at Madejski Stadium I was put in charge of security and matchday staffing.
What do you remember of Elm Park?
I have fond memories of the place. Towards the end I like to think we kept it running for a little bit longer than it could but it eventually got past its sell by date and we had to move. I remember one year a book came out saying it was the most boring ground in the country! So in response we got to work and painted it all in blue and white!
I was also charged with helping to auction everything off from Elm Park, and it was my job to hand over the keys to the builders which was a very sad day.
Weren't you involved in an infamous incident with the Elm Park pitch?!
Yes there was a slight disaster in one pre-season campaign! When we played our last friendly one year the pitch was looking great but we had a couple of weeks to make sure it was in perfect condition. So I went around the stands with a weed killer to get all the bits and bobs off the terraces, and our Groundsman at the time Fred Neate used a weaker solution on the pitch to get rid of some of the tiny weeds growing there.
But that year somehow we managed to get it the wrong way round! We were sitting there in our hut and he said to me 'do you think the pitch looks a bit yellow?'. Of course it ended up wrecking the grass and our opening home game with Millwall had to be swapped around so we played away from home!
Was Robin Friday as good as they say?
In a word yes! He scored a famous goal against Tranmere that the referee Clive Thomas said was the best goal he'd ever seen, and it was. It was gobsmacking. But there have been lots of great players, some real characters over the years. The players used to come and drink in the bar after games. They'd even come in and have a bit of a set to with fans if they had been playing badly!
What are your fondest memories from your time here?
I remember helping to sell tickets for the Simod Cup, and being in charge of 108 coaches for that game! We just did whatever we could to help, tea bars and stuff like that. Obviously getting to the Premier League was a fantastic memory too but there have been plenty of little things.
I remember being four when I first went and we used to have a goalkeeper called Harry Rickets who used to stand behind the net during a game, just chatting to the fans! There have been some great times.
When I was about ten and I used to go down and help out at the ground and I used to dream of working here, it's something that's totally different to every other walk of life, you get to work within your hobby.
Other people complain about having work tomorrow and I say 'Great! I've got work tomorrow!'. I wouldn't change it and I wouldn't have done anything else different.
What are you most looking forward to in your retirement?
I went to see us at Wembley and Cardiff but bar that I've never really been able to sit down and enjoy a game with my sons, so I'm looking forward to that. I've got a couple of little jobs to do on the side but football and Reading is a way of life for me. It's kept my kids out of trouble, it kept me out of trouble and I thoroughly enjoyed all my time here and I shall be very sorry to go. People even say I should write a book on my time here, but I'm not sure about that!
www.readingfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~2081013,00.html
