Fifteen of our furthest away journeys this season will be paid for by our owner, Mr Yongge Dai, this season.

The manager and the players always say how vital the support of our fans is and the impact it can have on performances and results…home and away. Our owner agrees.

You helped to make the Madejski a great place to play and watch football towards the end of last season. We all want more of the same at home this season.

And on our travels, our owner has stepped in to lend some support of his own. Travelling the length and breadth of the country in support of your side can be expensive. So, this season, we are offering free coach travel to fans to 15 of our 23 away league games, including all of our most distant destinations.

In total, round trips to Barnsley, Birmingham, Blackburn, Derby County, Huddersfield, Hull City, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Preston, Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and Wigan would see Royals fans cover more than 5,500 miles on the road.

STAR run very cost-effective coach travel to every one of our away games each season, but a seat on the coach for these fifteen fixtures this season would normally cost fans in excess of £350. Every penny will now be covered by Mr Dai.

Chief Executive Nigel Howe said, “This is another excellent example of the investment Mr Dai continues to make in helping this club evolve and achieve more success with the help of its loyal supporters.

“He recognises the commitment our fans make every season to support the team, home and away, rain or shine, win, lose or draw, and he personally came to me to ask how he can help reward that commitment. Working closely with STAR, I’m delighted this initiative will mean more away fans supporting the players on their travels this season.”

Your mileage made more affordable



Oakwell | 381.2 miles

St Andrew’s | 235.6 miles

Ewood Park | 449.2 miles

Pride Park | 289.6 miles

John Smith’s Stadium | 409.0 miles

KCOM Stadium | 457.0 miles

Elland Road | 418.0 miles

Riverside Stadium | 532.6 miles

The City Ground | 282.0 miles

Deepdale | 446.8 miles

Hillsborough | 366.4 miles

bet365 Stadium | 316.0 miles

Liberty Stadium | 299.6 miles

The Hawthorns | 242.8 miles

DW Stadium | 418 miles



Total: 5,543.8 miles

All fans who book a free seat on these coaches will need to have purchased a match ticket. And for travel insurance purposes and to follow safeguarding procedures and measures, every fan who takes up this offer will need to join STAR at a cost of £10 for adults, £5 for under-18s and 65 & over.

However, even if you are not yet a member of the Supporters Trust (STAR), signing up for a tenner or less and then registering for just one of these fixtures will immediately save you money - for example, a seat on the coach to Hull City last season would have cost supporters £30, or a trip to the Hawthorns would have set fans back £15. The membership fee is recouped by one single away day on the coach!

And were you to want to travel to all fifteen games, across the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, into Wales and back, Lancashire and Yorkshire, you will be able to do so at a saving of precisely £353 (if an existing STAR member) and £343 (should you need to spend £10 on the STAR membership fee for 2019-20).

The first of these fifteen fixtures will be our trip to Hull City (A) on Saturday 10th August, kick-off 3pm - so there is no time to waste in signing up for STAR membership and booking a seat to the KCOM Stadium. Coaches will leave Madejski Stadium at 7.45am that morning and pick up fans from West Street at 8am. Anyone who has already purchased a coach seat via STAR for this match, will be fully reimbursed.



And tickets for our trip to Hull go on sale at 9am on Thursday 1st August; visit ticketing.readingfc.co.uk, call 0118 968 1313 or visit our Ticket Office in person to secure your seat at the KCOM.

Your support can only help us improve our away record in 2019-20. And free travel will make away days all the more enjoyable regardless of the result.

“We are delighted that the club’s owner, Mr Dai, has very generously offered to cover coach travel costs for these fifteen games,” said STAR’s Paula Martin. “We go to Hull City in our first away game of the season and we have never won at the KCOM Stadium, so it’s time we gave all our support to the team trying to break that record and make some history.

Benefits of joining STAR

Joining or renewing your membership of STAR can be done via our Supporters Trust’s online store at www.star-reading.org/join-star or in person at the STAR Base at Madejski Stadium on matchdays or at other specified times.



And for the first time this season, travel will be bookable online; last season STAR ran a successful online booking pilot scheme for a limited number of their members - so it will be available to all members from the start of the 2019-20 campaign, usually up to 14 days in advance of travel. Of course, fans will continue to be able to book coach places in person at STAR Base.

STAR will be taking bookings and open to accept memberships when Madejski Stadium hosts its first league game of the season, against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday 3rd August and the STAR Base will also be open between 7.30pm-9pm on Tuesday 6th August.

Besides free travel to 15 away games in 2019-20, being a STAR member also gives you free entry to Fans Forums throughout the season, a 10% off discount voucher for the Fanstore, a credit of 20 Royalty Points added to your account and of course representation at a range of meetings with senior management at the club.

STAR members will also receive a free gift - either a traditional badge or a modern branded wristband (while stocks last). And this season STAR are even offering to pay for a 2020-21 Season Ticket for one lucky winner in a free members’ draw. To enter, all you have to do is join STAR by the end of November and you’ll be in with a shout of free football for the following season.



