Berkshire Michael's Blog

Thursday 12 June

Well folks, that's it. It’s all over. I don’t know what to say. I've been away on a walking holiday in and around the fjords of Norway for the past few weeks and I returned home to absolutely terrible news. Not only is this year's Great Shefford 4k cancelled (due to lack of interest, apparently, but I’ve been running in it for the past six years!), but The Royals have been relegated back into The Football League.

Obviously, my association with the club must now come to an end. I've had some good times following Reading, including the team's memorable eighth place finish in 2006/07, and drinking an absolutely delicious cup of char during the second half against Derby County last season. But in the end, as in business, you can’t just blindly carry on handing over money for a sub-standard product.

A home game next season will cost £23, and for that price I could take myself and one of the boys to Thorpe Park for the day, and still have money left over for a couple of games of air hockey. There’s no way I'm going to be watching a lower standard of football when I've been used to the likes of David Wheater and Luis Boa Morte gracing the Madjeski week in, week out. I just don't think I'd be able to cope.

But it's not all bad news, because now I can savour the enjoyable process of selecting a new team to support! I've been toying with the idea of a team called QPR, who my friends tell me are on the up and up. They also play in Reading's famous blue and white horizontal stripes, so it wouldn't be too much of an adjustment. Unfortunately, while they're well-backed financially, they're also languishing in the lower leagues, so I think I will return to my old club Manchester United.

The Red Devils are in tremendous form at the moment, and have had a really positive season, taking two trophies on the pitch and maintaining a quality output on satellite channel MUTV. I can't wait to get behind the boys home and away next season (it will be easier, as Sky seem to choose their games all of the time), and I will certainly be booking a ticket up to the Old Trafford megastore before long to get the boys some Christmas gifts. I like the look of that new training top Owen Hargreaves has been wearing.

As you may have heard I am leaving The Gaffer to link up with a rival football website who have made me a very generous offer. I can't go into too many details about my package, but I will confirm that it includes a branded 512MB USB stick, which will really come in handy for storing photographs. I've enjoyed my time working here, but I must say that I'm looking forward to blogging on a site with a better grasp of Javascript and some attractive targeted advertisements next to my words.

Over and out, and COME ON UNITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!